Tuesday’s Primary Results and the First Official GOP Candidate for Governor—Smoke-Filled Room—Ep. 93

It’s not spring in the air (sadly), it’s election season. Primary voting in certain municipalities and townships took place on Tuesday and we’re just 32 days away from the April 1st Consolidated Election. Add everything coming out of Springfield, and we have plenty to cover in this week’s Smoke-Filled Room.

Former House Republican Floor Leader Mark Batinick, State Central Committeeman Aaron Del Mar, and Cor’s political experts Michael Butler and Chris Jackowiak join host Collin Corbett for this week’s episode.

Some big elections took place on Tuesday, including new leadership in Homer Township and Tiffany Henyard being ousted in a blowout in Dolton. And Aurora and Waukegan now have their ballots set for what will be two of the biggest races to watch on April 1st. 

Buckle up because announcements for 2026 have begun. DuPage County Sheriff Jim Mendrick announced this week he is running for governor, which will likely start the domino of other announcements. We already had Aaron scheduled to be on this episode before Mendrick announced, which allowed us to get his reaction as he has made no secret he is also exploring a run.

We then get into the audit uncovering $1.6 billion in spending on healthcare for non-citizens over the past few years. Pritzker and his staff are trying to brush it off, yet that’s half the previously projected $3.2 billion deficit. Mark later provides insight on his company’s latest polling showing Brandon Johnson with historically low approval numbers, as well as some early number on who Chicagoans want as their next mayor.

We close out our main topics discussing how Republicans continue to make gains nationwide and how we can see that same momentum in Illinois, and Trump’s pollster released polling emphasizing the need to focus on cost-of-living and working families.

Then in this week’s News You Can Use section, a Democrat wants pediatricians to ask children if their parents have guns, another Democrat wants to allow municipalities to impose an additional gas tax, and an audit that’s been swept under the rug finds Pritzker’s IDNR suffers from “significant financial mismanagement.”

00:00: Introductions
2:57: Surprising and Unsurprising Results from This Week's Consolidated Primary Election
17:15: DuPage Sheriff James Mendrick First Republican to Officially Announce for Governor
31:46: Audit Uncovers Runaway Spending by Pritzker on Healthcare for Non-Citizens
41:46: New Poll Shows Brandon Johnson with Record Low Approval Rating
49:20: Republicans Continuing to Make Gains Nationwide
58:46: Trump's Pollster Emphasizes Need to Focus on Cost-of-Living and Working Families
01:08:38: West Chicago Democrat Would Force Pediatricians to Ask Children If Their Parents Have Guns 
01:09:36: Chicago Democrats Want to Allow State Pensions to Invest in Companies Boycotting Israel 
01:11:31: While Directly Raising Energy Costs, Chicago Democrats Claim Bills Will Lower Energy Costs
01:13:30: Dems Try to Remove Training Requirement for School Officials on Domestic and Sexual Violence
01:15:15: Chicago Heights Democrat Wants to Allow Municipalities to Impose an Additional Gas Tax
01:15:56: Audit of Pritzker's IDNR Finds "Significant Financial Mismanagement and Internal Control Deficiencies"
01:18:24: Pritzker's Raid of Transportation Funding Comes from the State's Double Tax on Gas
01:19:46: OG & Clown of the Week 
01:27:20: Closing Thoughts