Campaign Updates
St. Louis radio talk show host Annie Frey has been mentioned for both Statehouse and congressional races in the Metro East.
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Here’s a quick summary of recent campaign news:
Kina Collins is running against Congressman Danny Davis (D-Chicago) again next year. It’s also expected Chicago City Treasurer Melissa Conyears-Ervin gets into that race.
Republican Joe Severino has filed paperwork to once again challenge Congressman Brad Schneider (D-Highland Park). Schneider beat Severino by 26 points last year, so don’t expect this to be competitive. The 10th wouldn’t even be competitive for a Mark Kirk or Bob Dold anymore. Governor Pritzker won that North Shore district by 26 points last year, President Biden won it by the same number in 2020.
We mentioned in a Free for All last week that Congressman Bill Foster (D-Naperville) is getting a primary challenge from former radio host and lawyer Qasim Rashid. He moved to Naperville from Virginia in 2022. He ran for the Virginia State Senate in 2019, then ran for Congress in Virginia in 2020.
Our friends at Cor Strategies are releasing a poll in the 12th District GOP primary between Congressman Mike Bost (R-Murphysboro) and former gubernatorial nominee Darren Bailey. Cor’s Collin Corbett wouldn’t tell me anything about it and neither campaign is telling me anything about their polling. You can watch the Cor polling release at 11:30 on YouTube.
Republican Kendall County Board member Gabby Shanahan will announce a challenge to freshman Rep. Harry Benton (D-Plainfield) this week. She’s well regarded among local GOP heavyweights. She also works for the Illinois Policy Institute, and Speaker Chris Welch haaaaaaaaaaaaaaates IPI, so don’t be surprised if the Dems try to run up the score here.
I was hearing rumors Republicans wanted St. Louis conservative talk show host Annie Frey to challenge Rep. Katie Stuart (D-Edwardsville) next year. I reached out to Frey last night and she told me she got drawn out of Stuart’s district in the new map. Don’t be surprised if you hear her name pop up for the 13th Congressional District. She told me last night her position “up until at least the last cycle” was that she can “most positively influence the election from behind the mic.” I asked her if that position had changed for 2024 and she responded she didn’t have a comment on that question. Stay tuned.