Chicago Young Republicans

CYRs in the Polish Costitution Day Parade

Angel Garcia, Republican candidate for Cook County Clerk (USA! USA! USA!)

By Karen Tumulty

Every now and then, there comes a congressional race so fraught with history and symbolism that it becomes as much about sending a message as winning a seat.

This year, Republicans are looking to hit the trifecta in the Senate.

As things stand now, they are well within striking distance of winning President Obama's old seat in Illinois and Vice President Biden's former perch in Delaware, and of toppling Majority Leader Harry M. Reid in Nevada.

By Bill McMorris Illinois Statehouse News

CHICAGO – Illinois may be one of the bluest states in the country, but that has not stopped the state Republican Party from pulling in the green.

Curt Conrad, executive director of the Illinois GOP, said the party has raised more money in the first four months of 2010 than was raised in all of 2009 — when it collected more than $500,000.

By Benjamin Yount, Illinois Statehouse News

SPRINGFIELD – Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn's "credit card" solution to the state's budget is coming under fire from outside the Capitol.

The Civic Federation, a Chicago-based business and tax policy organization, has issued a new report that blasts Quinn's budget for relying too much on borrowing and not cutting nearly enough spending.

Lawrence Msall, president of the Civic Federation, said Quinn and lawmakers in Springfield have not done enough to gain control of Illinois' $13 billion budget deficit.

By John Patterson | Daily Herald Staff

SPRINGFIELD - Local schools now scrambling for money collectively paid more than $1.8 million to the state in recent years because they granted excessive raises and sick leave benefits for retiring employees, boosting their pensions beyond limits lawmakers put in place to try to combat skyrocketing pension costs.

Statewide, the payments by school districts for inflating pensions beyond the limits enacted in 2005 totaled nearly $8.3 million during the first three years.

By Benjamin Yount, Illinois Statehouse News

SPRINGFIELD – There are a lot of moving numbers in Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn's proposed budget.

So many that Republicans in the state Senate say they're having a hard time figuring out the total price tag.

The Senate Republicans on Thursday released an analysis of Quinn's proposals that lawmakers say show only $200 million in cuts, not the $2.6 billion the governor's office claims.