Life could get tough for House Republicans

By Rich Miller

Without a doubt, the worst place to be right now in Illinois politics is the state’s House Republican caucus.Their leader, Tom Cross, went “all in” this year against House Speaker Mi

Politics - Rich Miller | Thursday, November 4,2010

A word of advice to the new governor

By Rich Miller

I will never forget the night Paul Lis was fired.My parents were at my house, but I refused to budge from my barstool because I couldn’t miss this. Not for them. Not for anybody. Lis was a bigti

Politics - Rich Miller | Thursday, October 28,2010

After the bloodbath, who will pull us together?

By Rich Miller

I joked to a Democrat last week that I seriously doubted state Rep. Kevin McCarthy (D-Orland Park) would ever vote for a legislative pay raise again after getting whacked so hard by the Republicans fo

Politics - Rich Miller | Thursday, October 21,2010

Who’s behind Stand for Children?

By Rich Miller

It’s not every day that a group almost nobody has ever heard of gives $175,000 to a single state legislative candidate. But that’s just what happened on Oct. 7 when Stand for Children Illi

Politics - Rich Miller | Thursday, October 14,2010

Speaker Madigan acts like he’s running scared

By Rich Miller

The race for governor appears to be seriously tightening. The U.S. Senate race has been close all along. Attorney General Lisa Madigan and Secretary of State Jesse White, both Democrats, are surely he

Politics - Rich Miller | Thursday, October 7,2010

Governor’s race tightening up

By Rich Miller

While the Republicans say the pollsters are contacting the wrong people, the fact remains that three polls released last week had the Illinois governor’s race within two points. And five polls r

Politics - Rich Miller | Thursday, September 30,2010

Democrats look for sunny spots in gloomy election outlook

By Rich Miller

If you talk to state legislative Democrats, they’ll tell you that their latest round of polling is showing improvement in most of their races since the summer. The Republicans, however, believe

Politics - Rich Miller | Thursday, September 23,2010

AFSCME decides to sit out House Democrats’ campaigns

By Rich Miller

The union that represents thousands of state and local government employees, AFSCME, was one of the bigger Democratic campaign contributors in the final six months of the 2008 campaign. But this year

Politics - Rich Miller | Thursday, September 16,2010

Contest for Chicago mayor a historic opportunity

By Rich Miller

Chicago Mayor Richard M. Daley’s stunning decision to step down at the end of this term has at least temporarily sucked almost all the oxygen out of Illinois politics and focused just about ever

Politics - Rich Miller | Thursday, September 2,2010

Open up Illinois politics to let the sunshine in

By Rich Miller

A Virginia-based group that wanted to play in Illinois politics, but didn’t want to disclose its donors has lost Round One in what could be an extended court battle. The Center for Individu