Progress Illinois

Fellow candidates in the race to fill the vacant seat in Illinois’ 2nd Congressional District had strong words for Democratic nominee Robin Kelly today, as the polls opened at 6 a.m. and voters are poised to cast their ballots throughout the day.

Republican candidate Paul McKinley called Kelly “insignificant.” Green Party candidate, LeAlan Jones, said she was a “puppet.” Independent candidate, Elizabeth Pahlke, questioned Kelly’s New York roots and suggested the people need a Chicago-native. Marcus Lewis, another Independent candidate, said voting in favor of Kelly was “essentially giving away your vote to an outside billionaire.”

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Illinois received an “A-“ when it comes to online government spending transparency, according to the Illinois Public Interest Research Group’s annual “Following the Money” report.

The transparency mark is better than the “B-“ the state received in the group’s report last year.

But despite the positive rating, Hailey Golds, an advocate with Illinois PIRG, said Illinois' could do more to be transparent.

“The state of Illinois should build upon this year’s progress and further improve the breadth and ease-of-access of online government spending information,” Golds said. “Given our state budget problems, Illinoisans need to be able to follow the money.” 

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