(SPRINGFIELD) The Capitol News Illinois is reporting that Clay County farmer Darren Bailey plans to run for Governor for a second time in 2026. The former State Senator would become the highest-profile Republican to enter the race, having lost the 2022 campaign to Governor J.B. Pritzker and a close primary race in 2024 against U.S. Representative Mike Bost for the downstate Congressional seat. A formal announcement is expected next week.
(WASHINGTON, D.C.) An Illinois Congresswoman says that liberal state policies have turned the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) into a magnet for abuse and a drain on taxpayers. U.S. Representative Mary Miller of Oakland took time yesterday to zero in on one of her sharpest criticisms, that some states allow undocumented immigrants to improperly access benefits. Miller noted she had worked with colleagues to include language in reconciliation that would remove illegal immigrants from SNAP eligibility, a move that Miller and other lawmakers say is “only one small step in the right direction.”
(CHICAGO) The Illinois Supreme Court has selected Justice P. Scott Neville, Jr. as the 123rd Chief Justice. He will be the second black Chief Justice in Illinois history, following the late Justice Charles E. Freeman, who served from 1997 to 1999. Chief Justice Neville’s three year term begins on October 26th, next month, succeeding Chief Justice Mary Jane Theis, who has led the state’s High Court since 2022. Justice Neville became a Cook County Circuit Court Judge in 1999, an Appellate Court Justice in 2004, and a Supreme Court Justice in 2018.
(SPRINGFIELD) The U.S. Department of Justice will take part in oral arguments in the appeals court challenge of Illinois’ gun and ammunition magazine ban later this month. The Seventh Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals approved a motion for the Assistant U.S. General to argue against the law, alongside other plaintiffs’ attorneys. While a downstate federal judge ruled the 2023 ban as unconstitutional, the appeals court later upheld the state ban.