IL-11

Angling For A Victory, Ozinga Brings In ... Cheney?

Josh Kalven — Fri, 10 Oct 2008 14:28:21 -0700

After spending months trying to tie Democrat Debbie Halvorson to our extremely unpopular governor, 11th District GOP congressional candidate Marty Ozinga has apparently decided to tie his own horse to a politician with truly dismal approval ratings -- Vice President Dick Cheney.

There's no doubt this event will help fill Ozinga's campaign coffers in the critical weeks before Election Day. But is it really worth the awful optics?

HCAN To Attack Ozinga On Health Care (UPDATED)

Adam Doster — Wed, 08 Oct 2008 14:49:51 -0700

Marty Ozinga really should have watched his words back in July. Opponents of the 11th District GOP congressional candidate have jumped all over a cable access interview we originally flagged in which the concrete magnate opined that "very few people nowadays that have no health service at all," because anyone can "go to the hospital and you get taken care of."

First, the DCCC issued an ad calling Ozinga "oblivious." Democratic rival Debbie Halvorson joined the chorus, dropping an ad painting her opponent as "out of touch." According to The Hill, the health care reform coalition Health Care for America Now (HCAN) is also getting in on the action.

Healthcare for America Now, a union-backed liberal health reform advocacy group, is making a $4.3 million ad buy in support of Barack Obama and other Democratic candidates.

Over the next two weeks, the organization will run ads on TV and radio attacking Republican presidential nominee Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) and seven GOP congressional candidates for their views on healthcare.

In addition, the group is airing ads against three candidates seeking to fill House seats being vacated by members not seeking reelection: Blaine Luetkemeyer, who is running to replace Rep. Kenny Hulshof (R-Mo.), Marty Ozinga, who is running to replace Rep. Jerry Weller (R-Ill.), and Erik Paulsen, who is running to replace Rep. Jim Ramstad (R-Minn.).

HCAN, who netted the endorsement of both Sens. Barack Obama and Joe Biden earlier this week, will spend $500,000 on direct mail and telephone campaigning as well, although it's unclear how much will be directed at the 11th District.

UPDATE (10:45 PM): Here's the ad. It turns out not to be centered around the July comment. Rather, it asserts that Ozinga "would let insurance companies make the rules -- they could even deny coverage for preexisting conditions like cancer":

Immigrants Could Sway Tight Illinois Congressional Races

Josh Kalven — Wed, 08 Oct 2008 07:09:25 -0700

Immigrants may make up only a fraction of the electorate in the 10th and 11th congressional districts, but their influence in the increasingly tight races could have a larger-than-anticipated influence on Election Day.

The Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights (ICIRR) yesterday launched a 501(c)4 arm that will spend $513,000 over the next four weeks to do whatever it takes to deliver some 33,000 immigrants in IL-10 and IL-11 to their polling places.

Tired of lawmakers dodging the topic of immigration reform, Illinois Immigrant Action (IIA) director Lawrence Benito said he sees the campaign as an opportunity to put the congressional hopefuls on the spot.

"What we'd like to know is: if these people are elected what will they do to work toward just and humane immigration reform," Benito said.

For 10th District GOP Rep. Mark Kirk, convincing Waukegan's large Latino population that he supports their agenda might be a stretch. Just last year, Kirk suggested from the House floor that distributing condoms through border patrol agents might help to stem the flow of Mexicans into the U.S. Prior to that, he voted in favor of cracking down on illegal immigration by heightening border security. Furthermore, a local white supremacist organization -- Chicago Friends Of American Renaissance -- described his views on immigration as "encouraging."

Latinos in southwest suburban Joliet, on the other hand, will have to make their decisions based on messages from the campaign trail. Republican Marty Ozinga and Democrat Debbie Halvorson are vying to replace retiring incumbent GOP Rep. Jerry Weller.

IIA will send out the first of three mailers this week. Shortly thereafter, paid canvassers will begin knocking on doors and making phone calls to the new or reluctant voters, mostly in Waukegan and Joliet, who are the targets of this last minute push.

Elsewhere in the Chicago region, organizers also plan to reach out to an additional 100,000 immigrant voters who otherwise might not make it the voting booth on Nov. 4. ICIRR will spend an additional $500,000 on that portion of the campaign, which began three months ago with a registration drive that netted nearly 26,000 new potential voters.

Benito is fighting the perception that the campaign is merely a last-ditch effort to sway these increasingly competitive congressional races.

"This is part of a progression," Benito said. "In '06 you saw big marches. In '07 you saw increases in people filing for citizenship. And in '08 you're going to see people going out to the polls in record numbers because people know what's at stake."

Halvorson Says She Would Have Opposed Both Bailout Bills

Josh Kalven — Mon, 06 Oct 2008 08:22:33 -0700

Democrat Debbie Halvorson appeared on Fox Chicago Sunday yesterday to discuss the 11th Congressional District race. Not surprisingly, the discussion quickly turned to the two bailout bills considered by the House of Representatives last week and how she would have voted if a member of Congress. Co-host Jack Conaty seemed to expect her to say she would have voted against the first bill and in favor of the second. But in line with her comments at last week's debate, Halvorson instead responded that she would have opposed both bills, saying that neither version assisted "the average person who needs help renegotiating their mortgage." Halvorson went on to describe as "shameful" the fact that incumbent Rep. Jerry Weller was the only member of the House to miss last Monday's vote. Watch it:

Dispatch From A Different Debate

Josh Kalven — Fri, 03 Oct 2008 09:51:46 -0700

Ninety minutes before the start of the vice presidential debate last night, a different political face-off took place at Illinois State University -- this one between the 11th District congressional candidates. The event wasn't nearly as dramatic as what took place later in St. Louis, but it did have some interesting moments. We've pulled together some brief highlights in audio format.

Here's Republican Marty Ozinga's opening statement, in which he leveled a preemptive strike at Democrat Debbie Halvorson, attempting to tie her to Gov. Blagojevich:

Internal mp3

Here are the first remarks from Halvorson, in which she emphasizes health care and veterans issues as her top priorities:

Internal mp3

In his opening comments, Green Party candidate Jason Wallace took a dig at incumbent GOP Rep. Jerry Weller. Referring to the fact that Weller was the only House member to miss Monday's bailout bill vote, Wallace said, "On Monday night, I felt ashamed to be from the 11th Congressional District":

Internal mp3

The first round of questioning focused on the proposed $700 billion Wall Street bailout bill. Ozinga described himself as "totally in support of this type of measure -- not because I like it, but because it's necessary." He went on to allege that Halvorson, who opposed the initial House plan, "thinks these kind of things will just correct themselves" and "doesn't understand the seriousness of this difficulty that we find ourselves in."

Halvorson quickly dispelled Ozinga's baseless suggestion that she favors simply letting the crisis run its course. "We need to address the root of the problem, not just put another band-aid on it," she said. "So we also need more banking regulations. I'm a little concerned that this bill does not do anything to help people stay in their homes. There's nothing in there that says you can renegotiate your mortgage." Listen to the entire exchange:

Internal mp3

For his part, Wallace proposed dividing up the $700 billion among the American people. He said this would amount to $23,000 for every citizen, which isn't close to correct. If you divide $700 billion by 200 million (the estimated number of 18+ citizens), it comes to $3,500 per person. Nonetheless, the crowd liked the idea:

Internal mp3

The energy discussion provided one of the more interesting contrasts of the night. Ozinga talked about the strain rising fuel costs are putting on his concrete company and said, "I would support a policy that pursues all opportunities for energy. Especially now, as a bridge to the future, and that would be to drill and drill everywhere we think oil is found." Drill everywhere there might be oil? Ozinga also made a passing reference to the need for biofuels and endorsed nuclear power:

Internal mp3

Halvorson clearly noticed what was missing from Ozinga's answer -- any mention of wind power. So that's where she started, pointing out the potential for this industry in Illinois and emphasizing the promise of "green jobs":

Internal mp3

Finally, the candidates discussed their plans for Iraq and Afghanistan. Ozinga was predictably vague, saying: "We should get out of there as soon as we can, but not until we achieve some goals relative to the security of that country and their ability to secure themselves." He offered no further detail regarding what "goals" he'd like to see "accomplished." On Afghanistan, he said we need to "get that job done," and if we're not "getting the job done" we must "improve and increase the effort there":

Internal mp3

Halvorson didn't offer a great amount of detail either, but was more direct in her answers. Echoing the Obama-Biden ticket, she said we should bring our troops home from Iraq "as soon as possible, and at the same time safe and responsibly," adding that our focus "should be on Afghanistan":

Internal mp3

This event was apparently the only formal debate between the 11th District candidates. The rest of their meetings will be forums conducted by local organizations or interest groups.

Audio courtesy of WJBC.

Number Of The Day: 284

Josh Kalven — Tue, 30 Sep 2008 10:23:48 -0700

That's the number of votes missed by retiring GOP Rep. Jerry Weller during the current congressional session.

Yesterday, he was the only member of the House to miss the vote on the bailout bill. Several local news outlets, including the Herald News and WJBC, attempted to get an explanation from Weller's office, but received no response.

News reporter Joe Hosey was able to confirm that Weller is in the country -- so we've got that going for us.

Southtown Star Questions Ozinga's Debate Cancellation

Josh Kalven — Fri, 26 Sep 2008 08:34:30 -0700

Today, the Southtown Star editorial board offered their thoughts on GOP congressional candidate Marty Ozinga's decision to drop out of the 11th District debate scheduled for yesterday. The debate was sponsored by the Southland Chamber of Conference and was to be held at Governor's State University with Star columnist Kristen McQueary moderating:

The real issue behind it all?

We're still not so sure.

His staffers spent last week finding fault with the event, and finally suggested the sponsor, the format, the location and the choice of moderator (the SouthtownStar's political writer, Kristen McQueary) were all part of an orchestrated attack. [...]

Attempting to sully, in one big stroke, the Southland Chamber, Governors State University and the SouthtownStar ---three of the biggest players in the Southland landscape - shows more than a big whiff of worry from the Ozinga camp.

While they lost a chance to get out a message on the issues, they did send voters a different sort of one: There's a bit of paranoia here. [...]

There are big problems facing Illinois and this nation.

Ozinga missed a big opportunity to step forward and show he's not afraid.

Voters deserved far better.

Meanwhile, the blog Peoria Story wonders if all the GOP debate dodging isn't part of a national strategy.

New Halvorson Ad Highlights Ozinga Health Care Comments

Josh Kalven — Thu, 25 Sep 2008 08:15:37 -0700

Democratic congressional candidate Debbie Halvorson went on air with a new TV ad in the 11th District this week, which highlights Republican Marty Ozinga's comments about health care on a public access program in July. As Progress Illinois first noted, Ozinga said: "There are very few people nowadays that have no health service at all. Almost anybody -- I don't care who you are -- you go to the hospital and you get taken care of." In the ad, Halvorson responds, "There are 47 million people without insurance. I mean, how out of touch can you be?" Watch it:

Meanwhile, the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee has highlighted these comments in their own TV advertising.

Ozinga's controversial health care remarks are also at the heart of the dispute over the 11th District debate scheduled for today. The Southland Chamber of Commerce organized the event and chose Southtown Star columnist Kristen McQueary to moderate. In part because of a column she wrote criticizing him for the above comments, Ozinga's campaign objected to the choice, dubbing McQueary an "opinion columnist" and likening her to MSNBC's Keith Olbermann. He subsequently withdrew from the debate. Halvorson said yesterday that she still planned to attend.

Ozinga Bails On 11th District Debate

Angela Caputo — Wed, 24 Sep 2008 11:14:47 -0700

If Republican congressional candidate Marty Ozinga hoped to stay off the political hot seat by backing out of tomorrow's 11th District debate ... well, he didn't do a very good job of it.

Among those quick to take shots at Ozinga this morning is his Democratic rival Debbie Halvorson. Her campaign manager, Brian Doory, released this statement today:

"This disappointing action speaks volumes about Marty Ozinga and his campaign. If he cannot even stand up and address business issues among his fellow chamber members, how can he expect to communicate with regular voters on the issues important to them?” [...]

"Even though Martin Ozinga is on the wrong side of the tracks on the EJ&E Acquisition, and so many other issues important to local voters, it's deeply troubling that Martin Ozinga lacks the courage to look people in the eye and tell them he's not on their side.”

Ozinga had earlier signaled he was unhappy with the set-up of the debate, organized by the Southland Chamber of Commerce. He initially requested that Southtown Star columnist Kristen McQueary be replaced as moderator because, he claimed, she holds a bias against him.

In today's press release announcing his decision to back out, Ozinga's campaign further argued that Halvorson "used her family ties to slant in her favor what was pitched as a fair forum by a purportedly non-partisan organization," referring to the fact that her husband chaired the Chamber years ago. The Halvorson campaign responded by pointing out that Ozinga's concrete company is a Chamber member.

Rich Miller's analysis is that Ozinga -- by repudiating the Chamber, McQueary, the Star, and Governor's State University (the location of the forum) -- dissed "pretty much everybody who is anybody in that region."

Debating The Debates

Josh Kalven — Fri, 19 Sep 2008 08:40:09 -0700

Lots of congressional debate news this week, so let's run through it all.

First, 11th District GOP candidate Marty Ozinga is complaining about the choice of Southtown Star columnist Kristen McQueary as the moderator of a September 25 debate between he and Democrat Debbie Halvorson. From a campaign press release posted by Capitol Fax:

It would be hard to imagine a presidential debate moderated by MSNBC’s Keith Olbermann. Similarly, we cannot imagine a congressional debate moderated by Kristen McQueary. [...]

We propose one of two options to rectify this problem: 1) for balance, have fellow Southtown Star opinion columnist Fran Eaton to serve as the comoderator with Mrs. McQueary; OR 2) have an objective news reporter familiar with the race, such as the Joliet Herald News’ Patrick Ferrell, to serve as the sole moderator.

Rich Miller effectively skewers the Ozinga's campaign suggestion that McQueary needs to balanced by a right-wing figure such as Eaton. He concludes: "What a buncha whiners."

Meanwhile, in the 6th Congressional District, GOP Rep. Peter Roskam has apparently refused to debate Democratic challenger Jill Morgenthaler. From a press release:

Morgenthaler said, “Peter Roskam likes to talk to voters in his pre-scripted 'virtual town halls' but will not answer the hard questions on his record or on the issues. I have agreed to every debate and joint appearance request that has come our way, and Peter Roskam has continued to hide. This is a critical year and the voters of the 6th District deserve the opportunity to hear where the candidates stand on the issues that affect their day-to-day lives.”

To date, Roskam, has refused to appear with Colonel Morgenthaler in any venue.

The release goes on to point out that, during his 2006 race for the open 6th District seat, Roskam accused then-Democratic candidate Tammy Duckworth of ducking several community debates. Duckworth did agree to four debates with Roskam prior to Election Day that year.

Finally, Sen. Dick Durbin and GOP challenger Steve Sauerberg have agreed to two debates: one on October 6 on WTTW's Chicago Tonight and the other on October 9 at Knox College.