
Rich Miller
Yingling’s rant no big surprise
By Rich Miller
The state’s political world may have been shocked, but I doubt many in that world were surprised at the level of vitriol in Rep. Sam Yingling’s (D-Grayslake) press release last week, which claimed he’d been “attacked” by Gov. JB Pritzker.
Pritzker’s “offense” was endorsing Yingling’s Democratic primary opponent Mary Edly-Allen in the race to replace retiring state Sen. Melinda Bush (D-Grayslake).
Edly-Allen is a former Democratic state representative and is also backed by Sen. Bush. She had a pretty good couple of weeks leading up to the Pritzker endorsement. Edly-Allen had by then reported raising about $266K just since the middle of May, including $25K reported last week from the Illinois Pipe Trades PAC. Rep. Yingling started the second quarter with more money (his $109K compared to her $11K), but has struggled ever since, reporting just $38K in contributions to date.

Rich Miller
Pritzker has yet to give any legislator more than $5,000 in campaign contributions during the primary, but Edly-Allen clearly has the funds to get the word out about his support. And while there is no polling that I could lay my hands on in that district about Pritzker, he’s generally polling very well among Democrats. So, the nod will likely help.
I privately thought going into this Senate contest that Yingling had a decent edge, but if Edly-Allen is working like she did when she first won a House race in 2018, along with all this money and numerous important endorsements, well, I may have been very wrong.
And then Yingling let loose on the governor. “As a gay man, I am used to being bullied,” Yingling was quoted as saying in his press release after Pritzker announced his decision. “But, I did not expect to be attacked on the first day of PRIDE month by a fellow Democrat.” The press release issued by the governor’s campaign did not contain a single reference to Rep. Yingling. It was all about Edly-Allen’s positive traits.
I’m told the governor made his decision to endorse Edly-Allen the week earlier, but there was reportedly some Senate Democratic involvement in the decision to hand the story to a suburban newspaper over the Memorial Day weekend. The short-staffed and possibly disinterested paper didn’t run it. So, the announcement was pushed out the door Tuesday evening in a wide blast. No thought was apparently given to the fact that the following day would be the beginning of LGBTQ+ Pride Month.
The reason most in the political world probably won’t be surprised by his reaction is that Rep. Yingling, plain and simple, does not work well with others.
Since January 2021, for instance, Yingling has introduced 183 bills and not a single one of them has made it to the governor’s desk. Just four have passed the House. The Senate, where Yingling is trying to land, has taken up none of them. The four bills never even made it out of the Assignments Committee.
Yingling has sent out four mailers that I could find. Three of them were negative.
One mailer paired up Edly-Allen with former House Speaker Michael Madigan, and Yingling also mentioned the Madigan connection in his press release. Madigan did not originally back Yingling for the House, but he sent plenty of foot soldiers to the district to keep him there. Madigan’s committees also directly gave Yingling $1.75 million over the years and Madigan’s allies in the House and in organized labor gave him millions more.
Rep. Yingling did not join colleagues to call for Madigan’s ouster until after the November 2020 election was over and his Republican opponent was vanquished with the help of about $300,000 in contributions from Madigan’s Democratic Majority PAC and the Democratic Party of Illinois.
To be clear, there’s nothing inherently wrong with that. But using Madigan as a cudgel against a primary opponent after taking help like that while Yingling is clearly demonstrating that he is having a difficult time raising money on his own without backing from a party caucus is a bit much.
Pritzker’s campaign had no comment about Rep. Yingling’s remarks. Coincidentally or not, the governor appeared the following day with two prominent LGBTQ+ state legislators Rep. Kelly Cassidy and Sen. Mike Simmons “to tour LGBTQ+ owned businesses in Chicago’s Andersonville neighborhood and kick off PRIDE Month.” He was not asked by reporters about Yingling’s statement.
Rich Miller also publishes Capitol Fax, a daily political newsletter, and CapitolFax.com.
Local News

Area Sports Roundup: Shepard, Sandburg and Marist win cheerleading sectional titles
Spread the loveBy Jeff Vorva Staff Writer The area collected three sectional cheerleading championships and head into the state competition with a head of steam. Sandburg, Marist and Shepard came out of sectional competition with trophies and will compete in the IHSA state finals, to be held Friday and Saturday at Grossinger Arena at Illinois…

College Notebook | Grace Hynes helps Maroons end NYU’s unbeaten run
Spread the loveBy Mike Walsh Correspondent Mother McAuley alum Grace Hynes was the University Athletic Association’s Athlete of the Week in women’s college basketball for the timeframe ending January 17. Hynes, a senior at the University of Chicago, had 22 points and 10 rebounds as the Maroons’ handed top-ranked New York University its first loss…

Boys Basketball | TF North ends Oak Lawn’s win streak at seven
Spread the loveBy Steve Millar Correspondent Oak Lawn had a seven-game winning streak snapped last week in Calumet City, but Spartans coach Jason Rhodes knows it’s still been a heck of a January for a team thriving despite the loss of its leading scorer. Junior guard Corey Lee scored 14 points and senior guard Ayham…

Girls Basketball | Trunk a treasure late as Sandburg tops Lockport
Spread the loveBy Randy Whalen Correspondent On Senior Night at Sandburg, it was a freshman who saved the Eagles. Zoe Trunk stole the ball and hit a layup with 10 seconds to play, completing Sandburg’s rally from a 12-point third-quarter deficit in a 37-34 victory over Lockport on Jan. 26 in Orland Park. The Eagles…

Girls Wrestling | Sandburg’s Sophia Figueroa eyes state tourney bid
Spread the loveBy Steve Millar Correspondent Sophia Figueroa is fired up for the girls wrestling postseason. The Sandburg sophomore competes for the Andrew co-op girls team, which also includes wrestlers from Stagg. As a freshman last season, Figueroa fell one win short of qualifying for the inaugural IHSA girls wrestling state finals. She was pinned…

Boys Basketball | Evergreen Park breaks out, but can’t overcome Hillcrest
Spread the loveBy Steve Millar Correspondent Evergreen Park coach Jim Sexton knows he has a team capable of putting up big offensive numbers behind a bevy of strong shooters. That just has not happened consistently this season for the Mustangs, who have struggled to score more often than not. The offense, however, had a breakout…

Boys Basketball | Adam Stuursma scores 30, helps rally Chicago Christian to win over Shepard
Spread the loveBy Steve Millar Correspondent Chicago Christian went into last week’s game against crosstown rival Shepard having lost eight games in a row. It didn’t seem likely the Knights were going to end that streak when they went to halftime down by 16 points. Knights coach Kevin Pittman implored his team to focus on…

Viking girls are golden
Spread the love The St. Laurence High School cheerleaders (aka the Golden Girls) won first place in their division at the Spartan Showdown at Marian Catholic High School late last month. Clearing and Garfield Ridge girls played a key role in the team’s success. Those girls (and their grade schools) are: Lauren Weyer (St. Jane…

She kept her promise
Spread the love. . By Joan Hadac Your correspondent in Clearing and Garfield Ridge (708) 496-0265 • [email protected] . Never underestimate a woman’s love for her man. Gary and Kimberly Hughes met in 1996. They fell in love and were wed in 1998. They bought a home near 61st and Natchez and were on their way…
Neighbors

Area Sports Roundup: Shepard, Sandburg and Marist win cheerleading sectional titles
Spread the loveBy Jeff Vorva Staff Writer The area collected three sectional cheerleading championships and head into the state competition with a head of steam. Sandburg, Marist and Shepard came out of sectional competition with trophies and will compete in the IHSA state finals, to be held Friday and Saturday at Grossinger Arena at Illinois…

College Notebook | Grace Hynes helps Maroons end NYU’s unbeaten run
Spread the loveBy Mike Walsh Correspondent Mother McAuley alum Grace Hynes was the University Athletic Association’s Athlete of the Week in women’s college basketball for the timeframe ending January 17. Hynes, a senior at the University of Chicago, had 22 points and 10 rebounds as the Maroons’ handed top-ranked New York University its first loss…

Boys Basketball | TF North ends Oak Lawn’s win streak at seven
Spread the loveBy Steve Millar Correspondent Oak Lawn had a seven-game winning streak snapped last week in Calumet City, but Spartans coach Jason Rhodes knows it’s still been a heck of a January for a team thriving despite the loss of its leading scorer. Junior guard Corey Lee scored 14 points and senior guard Ayham…

Girls Basketball | Trunk a treasure late as Sandburg tops Lockport
Spread the loveBy Randy Whalen Correspondent On Senior Night at Sandburg, it was a freshman who saved the Eagles. Zoe Trunk stole the ball and hit a layup with 10 seconds to play, completing Sandburg’s rally from a 12-point third-quarter deficit in a 37-34 victory over Lockport on Jan. 26 in Orland Park. The Eagles…

Girls Wrestling | Sandburg’s Sophia Figueroa eyes state tourney bid
Spread the loveBy Steve Millar Correspondent Sophia Figueroa is fired up for the girls wrestling postseason. The Sandburg sophomore competes for the Andrew co-op girls team, which also includes wrestlers from Stagg. As a freshman last season, Figueroa fell one win short of qualifying for the inaugural IHSA girls wrestling state finals. She was pinned…

Boys Basketball | Evergreen Park breaks out, but can’t overcome Hillcrest
Spread the loveBy Steve Millar Correspondent Evergreen Park coach Jim Sexton knows he has a team capable of putting up big offensive numbers behind a bevy of strong shooters. That just has not happened consistently this season for the Mustangs, who have struggled to score more often than not. The offense, however, had a breakout…

Boys Basketball | Adam Stuursma scores 30, helps rally Chicago Christian to win over Shepard
Spread the loveBy Steve Millar Correspondent Chicago Christian went into last week’s game against crosstown rival Shepard having lost eight games in a row. It didn’t seem likely the Knights were going to end that streak when they went to halftime down by 16 points. Knights coach Kevin Pittman implored his team to focus on…

Viking girls are golden
Spread the love The St. Laurence High School cheerleaders (aka the Golden Girls) won first place in their division at the Spartan Showdown at Marian Catholic High School late last month. Clearing and Garfield Ridge girls played a key role in the team’s success. Those girls (and their grade schools) are: Lauren Weyer (St. Jane…

She kept her promise
Spread the love. . By Joan Hadac Your correspondent in Clearing and Garfield Ridge (708) 496-0265 • [email protected] . Never underestimate a woman’s love for her man. Gary and Kimberly Hughes met in 1996. They fell in love and were wed in 1998. They bought a home near 61st and Natchez and were on their way…