Chicago Ald. Ed Burke over and out

By Shia Kapos

With help from Olivia Olander

Good Tuesday morning, Illinois. Turns out Chicago and Aurora are also cities of love, according to a new survey .

Chicago Ald. Edward Burke, speaking during a 2016 City Council meeting, isn't running for reelection in 2023. | AP file photo/M. Spencer Green

Ald. Ed Burke once said there are only three ways to exit the Chicago City Council: “The ballot box. The jury box. Or the pine box.” He chose to avoid all three.

A no show: On Monday, the last day to file petitions to run in the 2023 municipal election, Burke was nowhere to be found. After more than 50 years, he won't be running for office or representing the 14th Ward.

“He will go down as one of the most influential and powerful aldermen in the history of the City Council. You will never see the likes of him again,” former Ald. Joe Moore told Sun-Times’ Fran Spielman.

Two candidates are now running in the 14th Ward: Jeylu Gutierrez, who’s endorsed by Congressman Jesus “Chuy” Garcia, and Raul Reyes, a Burke ally.

Burke’s exit from Chicago’s political scene comes as he faces a federal trial next year on charges of bribery, extortion and racketeering.

The beginning of the end: Burke had chaired the council’s powerful finance committee before facing a federal indictment. He was booted out of the post by Mayor Lori Lightfoot who campaigned four years ago that she’d clean house on corruption.

Joining his wife: Burke’s exit comes on the heels of Anne Burke retiring from the Illinois Supreme Court, where she had served as chief justice.

RELATED

— New item in Burke’s long bio: Court filings Monday reveal “9,000 recorded calls from the wiretap on Burke’s phones,” report Tribune’s John Byrne, Alice Yin, A.D. Quig and Jason Meisner.

Illinois House Speaker Emanuel "Chris" Welch is photographed in his Springfield office in the state Capitol in 2021. | POLITICO's Shia Kapos

BACK TO SPRINGFIELD: Illinois House Speaker Emanuel “Chris” Welch says the midterms sent a clear message that Democrats have a mandate to keep managing the state, but he acknowledges his party’s historic public-safety legislation still needs work.

Clarifying the law with a trailer bill will be the goal of this week’s legislative session in Springfield, Welch told Playbook in an interview Monday.

There’s “confusing language” that needs to be cleaned up before the SAFE-T Act legislation goes into effect Jan. 1, Welch said. “We’ll finish it Wednesday or Thursday. That’s our goal, and I have no reason to believe we won’t accomplish it.”

Though they took a Thanksgiving break, lawmakers and key players who will enforce the new SAFE-T Act law have met every day for a week to resolve concerns about the legislation.

Those players include state House and Senate lawmakers, state’s attorneys and public defenders.

Welch says there are two areas they already agree on. There will be language clarifying what officers of the court should be doing during the transition days of Dec. 31 and Jan. 1. That’s when state’s attorneys should be acting in “good faith” to file motions to make sure people who are dangerous to another person or community are detained in jail, said Welch. “Those acting in bad faith — saying Jan. 1 is when people will be let out of jail — that’s not what the law says in any way,” Welch said.

A second area that’s agreed upon is language that clarifies that a judge can issue warrants from the bench. “There’s some confusing language in the statute as it’s written now that says judges don’t have the ability to issue bench warrants. We agree on language that will clear that up.” Welch explained.

An issue they’re still debating: Language about when police officers can arrest someone for trespassing.

Once working groups nail down language for the trailer bill, it will go through committees where Republican legislators will be able to offer their two cents before the measure goes to the floor and then the Senate for a vote.

Also this week: Welch and his super-majority Democratic Caucus will meet at a location away from the Capitol on Wednesday to reelect him as speaker. ... Newly elected House members — who officially start their legislative work in January — are in Springfield this week for a freshman orientation on how the Illinois General Assembly works. ... And don’t be surprised if you see Welch and newly named House Minority Leader Tony McCombie huddling. They’ve been playing phone tag since she was named minority leader.

RELATED

— State Sen. Michael Hastings set to lose committee chairman’s post: “Senate President Don Harmon will not re-appoint the south suburban Democrat to head a legislative panel after domestic violence accusations,” reports WBEZ’s Dan Mihalopoulos.

— Democrat Maria Peterson has conceded to Senate Minority Leader Dan McConchie in the 26th District Senate race. According to Peterson’s team, McConchie received 50.22 percent of the vote to Peterson’s 49.78 percent, a difference of 393 votes. “Although the razor-thin margin would allow Peterson to trigger a recount, she chose to accept the results,” Peterson's team said in a statement.

If you’re Ald. Ed Burke, Playbook would like to hear your take on the changing City Council. Email skapos@politico.com .

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At the Governor’s Office in Springfield at 2:30 p.m. to give a fiscal update.

At Saint Leonard's Ministries at 10 a.m. to mark its 25th anniversary.

No official public events.

Have a news tip, suggestion, birthday, anniversary, new job, or any other nugget for Playbook? I’d like to hear from you: skapos@politico.com

Mayor Lori Lightfoot, with her election attorney, Michael Dorf, file her nominating petitions for the 2023 Municipal Election at the Chicago Board of Elections Super Site on Monday. | POLITICO's Shia Kapos

Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot submitted more than 40,000 signatures Monday morning in her reelection bid.

Congressman Jesus “Chuy” Garcia, who entered the mayor’s race after he won his congressional seat on Nov. 8, turned in 50,000 signatures to run for mayor Monday afternoon, according to his team. Because he was the last to file, Garcia will be listed last on the ballot.

And Ald. Roderick Sawyer didn’t say how many signatures he had but he also turned in his petitions for mayor.

A few new names are still in the mayor’s race, too, including Frederick Collins, a veteran Chicago police officer, and Johnny Logalbo, a self-described counselor. Not turning in signatures: real estate developer John Thomas.

— Video of comments from Lightfoot, Garcia and Sawyer, via ABC 7’s Craig Wall.

— Here’s the list for now. There are 11 candidates for mayor who face the next phase of the mayoral contest: challenges to the authenticity of their petition signatures, via WBEZ’s Tessa Weinberg and Mariah Woelfel.

— SIZE DOESN’T MATTER: Lightfoot submitted petitions with 15 signature lines on each page, while Garcia and Brandon Johnson, who submitted petitions last week, turned in paperwork with 10 names per page. That meant the stacks of petitions varied in size. Garcia and Johnson’s teams tried to poopoo Lightfoot’s stack in emails and tweets, a signal of the rough and tumble nature of this race. Take a look: Lightfoot’s petitions, Garcia’s petitions, Johnson’s petitions.

— ALSO FILING: Ald. Carlos Ramirez-Rosa (35th) turned in his petitions for reelection on Monday afternoon, too.

— ALREADY WINNERS: City Treasurer Melissa Conyears-Ervin, City Clerk Anna Valencia, and Alds. Brian Hopkins (2nd), David Moore (17th), Walter Burnett Jr. (27th), Scott Waguespack (32nd) and Matt Martin (47th) are uncontested going in to 2023.

— Democrats prepare to upend presidential primary calendar: “The DNC's rules committee is set to meet later this week to consider booting Iowa from its first-in-the-nation slot and add new early states,” by POLITICO’s Elena Schneider.

What it means for Illinois: likely rejection, reports Sun-Times’ Lynn Sweet

— COMMENTARY | Celeste Fisher: My husband, Republican Jim Durkin, is an endangered species, via Tribune

— Illinois’ Inclusive Athletic Attire Act was first of its kind in the U.S.: “But some athletes say there is still confusion on the courts,” by Tribune’s Shanzeh Ahmad.

— On final day of filings, the field in three races for Springfield alderman gets crowded, by State Journal-Register’s Steven Spearie

— ARRIVED: Chicago welcomed four new migrants Sunday, according to the Chicago Department of Family and Support Services. The city has now welcomed 3,720 asylum-seekers bused from the Texas border since Aug. 31.

— Heather Mack says she wants Stella back if judge lets her out of jail while awaiting trial: “The future of Heather Mack’s daughter has been uncertain since her arrival with Mack in the United States a little more than a year ago. Mack spent seven years in Indonesian custody for helping murder her own mother, Sheila von Wiese-Mack,” by Sun-Times’ Jon Seidel.

— Former Plainfield Township supervisor pleads guilty to stealing nearly $1.4M from private firm, by Tribune’s Jason Meisner

— Whistleblower trial begins in alleged CPD cover-up in shooting of unarmed autistic teen, by Sun-Times’ Andy Grimm

— Google, iHeartMedia to pay Illinois $1.5M for allegedly airing misleading smartphone ads, via NBC 5

— City Colleges enrollment uptick outpaces state, national averages but still short of pre-pandemic levels: “City Colleges enrollment stands at 34,798 this fall, up 6.9 percent or 2,233 students from 32,565 a year ago,” by Sun-Times’ Nader Issa.

— ‘No path’ forward: Biden calls on Congress to avert rail strike, by POLITICO’s Tanya Snyder

— Report of smoke in cargo hold prompts plane to make emergency landing at O’Hare, by CBS 2’s Kris Habermehl

GO INSIDE THE MILKEN INSTITUTE FUTURE OF HEALTH SUMMIT: POLITICO is featuring a special edition of our “Future Pulse” newsletter at the 2022 Milken Institute Future of Health Summit from Dec. 6 to 8. The newsletter takes readers inside one of the most influential gatherings of health industry leaders and innovators solving the biggest global health issues to ensure a healthier, more resilient future for all. SUBSCRIBE TODAY TO RECEIVE EXCLUSIVE COVERAGE .

We asked what you’ve learned about your family history:

Dominic Calabrese: “Despite my Italian name, I am more Irish due to my mother's background. I have ancestors who were in America during the days of the Revolutionary War.”

Steve Smith: “My great-great grandmother was a Cherokee Indian.”

Graham Grady: “My great-great grandfather served in the United States Colored Troops and died in service to the Union Army in 1864 during the Civil War, leaving a widow and four children.”

Steve McKenzie: “My grandfather on my dad’s side joined the Royal Flying Corps as a plane mechanic. When he was shipped home, he developed the flu and while recuperating in Montreal became fascinated by medicine by watching the doctors and nurses and determined that he'd become a doctor. After being discharged, he lived in a small town, and when the flu hit again, he used the techniques he saw from his own experience to tend to the ill and sick. A year later, in appreciation, the townspeople raised enough funds to send him to the first class of the University of Manitoba College of Medicine.”

Rich Norman: “One of my relatives on my father's side was pardoned by Abraham Lincoln. He had been arrested as a spy when he went back to check on his farm during the Civil War and was arrested because he was in civilian clothes. He had to take an oath of allegiance to the United States and remain on his farm for the duration of the war.”

Brent Zhorne: "My dad was arrested for a bar fight in 1958 and fined $25.”

What clothing style do you wish would become fashionable again? Email skapos@politico.com

— During visit to Chicago: Pence doubles down on denouncing Trump meeting, writes Tribune’s Rick Pearson

— GOP lawmakers mostly decline to condemn Trump over white supremacist meeting, by POLITICO’s Olivia Olander and Nancy Vu

— MEDIA MOVES: Nicole Trottie has been named publisher of The Chicago Reporter. “As the founder and former publisher of West Suburban Journal Newspaper, she is Illinois’ first African-American woman to launch an accredited weekly newspaper and her extensive journalism experience will continue The Chicago Reporter’s legacy of investigative, community-driven journalism,” the Community Renewal Society said in announcing Trottie’s appointment.

— Campaigns to champagne: Jared Melamed Dubnow and Molly Kamykowski, alums of the 2014 Bruce Rauner gubernatorial campaign and administration, tied the knot over the weekend in a ceremony at The Arbory in Chicago, with family, friends and political alums in attendance. The newlyweds got engaged a year ago after dating for three years. Kamykowski is now a manager of global brand marketing at CME Group and Dubnow is SVP at The Hawthorn Group, an Alexandria, Va.-based public affairs firm. Pic!

— Today at noon: A panel discussion on “Humanitarian Efforts to Assist Ukrainian Refugees,” sponsored by WorldChicago. Panelists: Chris Boian, Jonathan Ornstein and Krish O’Mara Vignarajah. Register here

— Today at 1 p.m.: Champaign Mayor Deborah Frank Feinen joins John Shaw, director of the Paul Simon Public Policy Institute, for a “Meet the Mayor” discussion. Register here

MONDAY’s ANSWER: Congrats to William Singer and Mark McCombs  for correctly answering that the late Ald. Thomas E. Keane was nicknamed “the professor” for his knowledge of Chicago City Council rules.

TODAY’s QUESTION: What are the names of the two hotels where the Cook County Democratic Party had its offices and held endorsement sessions? Email skapos@politico.com  

U.S. Ambassador to Japan and former Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel, Illinois Democratic County Chairs’ Association Executive Director Dan Kovats, Chicago Federation of Labor President Bob Reiter, Walgreens National Director for Local Government Relations Donovan Pepper and Roberts Enterprise Development Fund CEO Maria Kim.

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