Election season is just beginning
Mid-terms offer challengers a chance to unseat the governor and state legislators
Don’t put your wallets away just yet
Incumbents and challengers for public office will soon be asking for a few bucks (sometimes a few hundred) for their campaign coffers. Yes, you just endured countless fundraising emails, texts, television and radio commercials all asking for your financial support. Well, it’s about to happen again with an entirely different group-welcome to the mid-terms.
Governor J.B. Pritzker will be at the top of the ticket in two years when Illinois holds its mid-term elections. The 2022 election will be his first re-election campaign after roundly defeating Bruce Rauner for the job in 2019. Unlike other state officeholders who will be seeking re-election, and soliciting campaign donations Mr. Pritzker is likely to self-fund his campaign as he did in his previous run when he spent more than $170 million of his own estimated $3 billion fortune.
Other candidates, especially Chicago area Congressman Danny K. Davis (7th) and Congressman Bobby L. Rush (1st) will reach out with the traditional tools to get your contributions. Residents also will hear from those seeking to get into office Incumbents, such as Mr. Davis and Mr. Rush enjoy name recognition which means they don’t have to work at introducing themselves-something most of their challengers have to spend a good chunk of their campaign dollars doing. The same holds true with assembling a credible campaign team. Thinking about who you want on your team instead of asking them to be on it often leads to disappointment. Your prospective opponent sees that person’s value and lures them into their camp, leaving them unavailable to work for you. It is never too early to organize.
However, both Mr. Davis and Mr. Rush are likely to be asked several times what have they brought back to their respective districts in their last two to three terms. Social media is overloaded with calls for both men to step down-an extremely unlikely scenario. A more plausible cry is to ask them not to seek re-election. That move would allow younger candidates to seek the office without the millstone of an incumbent.-at 71 and 74 Mr. Davis and Mr. Rush, respectively are well past the average age of a congressman.
Not running for re-election will allow voters, not Democratic Party committeemen to choose their successors.
Anyone who wants to challenge the incumbents needs to start organizing their campaigns immediately, including setting up their fundraising mechanisms and campaign brain trust. For the latter it is great to have friends involved, but it is imperative at this level to have at least a couple of advisers or staffers who understand all of the nuances of campaigning.