Progress Illinois

About an hour ago, Mike Quigley was sworn-in as the newest representative of Illinois' 5th Congressional District.  Watch it:

An excerpt from the remarks Quigley delivered to the House chamber following the swearing-in ceremony:

You all know trust is a hard thing to come by these days in this business. And the people of my district gave me their trust.  I can't tell you what that means to me.  It's a humbling experience to take a job when people are losing theirs and to become a member of this House when people are losing theirs.  It's mean the world to me that the public gave me their trust.  It is for them --  for every American confronting these challenges -- that I draw my strength.  And I look forward to working with each and every one of you to make those things happen. 

Some clips from last night's coverage of Mike Quigley's victory in the 5th Congressional District special elecion:

More from the Tribune, AP, and Chicago Public Radio.

Congratulations to congressman-elect Mike Quigley! With 92 percent of precincts reporting, he's garnered 70 percent of the vote.  We'll try to get some video of his victory speech a bit later.  

UPDATE: Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee chairman Chris Van Hollen responds: "I look forward to welcoming Congressman-elect Quigley to the House and working with him to take our economy and our country in a new direction.” 

In Iraq today, Air Force officer and "lover of all things Chicago" Nate Van Loon asked White House chief of staff Rahm Emanuel if he'd remembered to vote absentee in the 5th Congressional District special election today.  Van Loon broadcasted the answer on Twitter:

I jokingly asked Rahm if he sent in his absentee ballot to vote for Quigley. He paused and said, "I f***ed up!"

If you live in IL-5, don't be like Rahm.  The polls are open until 7 p.m. tonight and you can find your polling place here if you live in the city and here if you live in the suburbs. 

(H/T Ben Smith)

During last night's WTTW debate betwen the three candidates in the IL-5 special election on Tuesday, GOP candidate Rosanna "Chicagolady" Pulido not surprisingly laid out a few of her extreme right-wing policy positions. For instance, she said she opposes a cap-and-trade policy because global warming is a "hoax" and a "charade being played upon the American people."  On the topic of immigration, she proposed cutting off federal funding to Chicago and Cook County because they provide sanctuary for undocumented immigrants and are purportedly "causing chaos and anarchy."  Watch it (full video here):

This is all par for the course for Pulido, but it's nonetheless interesting to see her spouting these theories in the local mainstream media.  It would have been nice to see anchor Carol Marin ask Pulido about her inflammatory online writings, but unfortunately the format didn't seem to allow for it.

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In her recent note on the right-wing website Free Republic, 5th Congressional District GOP candidate Rosanna "Chicagolady" Pulido apologized for her inflammatory comments in that forum over the years, acknowledging that her racist and homophobic statements (which she simply described as "stupid") had hurt even some of her own supporters. 

To wit, Pulido described her conversation with a Muslim friend regarding the controversy:

A Muslim man who is my good friend called me. We talked about some other stupid comments I made and I had the opportunity to take responsibility for what I said. Actually this campaign is not as important to me as doing the right thing when I screw up and hurt people and my friends.

To refresh your memory, among Pulido's various heinous postings was a March 10 comment asserting that praying Muslims reminded her of dogs "smelling buts [sic]."

Since her "apology" on Free Republic a week ago, the Muslim friend in question -- York Township Trustee Moon Kahn (pictured above) -- wrote Pulido to withdraw his endorsement of her candidacy, citing her "disturbing mindset."  We have a copy of the full letter, which you can read below:

Dear Ms. Rosanna Pulido,

In the tradition of Islamic forgiveness, while I still believe in pardoning you for pronouncing some hateful remarks against Muslims, assuming it might have happened in a moment of rage and ignorance, the continuous revelations of plethora of your provocative statements, which were completely unknown to me until a few days ago, delineate a disturbing mindset.

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In their editorial endorsing Mike Quigley in the 5th Congressional District special election today, the Sun-Times takes a moment to point out that they're no fan of GOP candidate Rosanna "Chicagolady" Pulido:

A brief word about Pulido. She is the founder of the Illinois Minuteman Project, a far right group that battles illegal immigration. The national Republican Party is offering Pulido no help, which speaks volumes about her candidacy. She is well outside the mainstream.

It's not clear that the national GOP would have supported Pulido anyway.  After all, IL-5 is a lost cause for a Republican candidate, no matter how "mainstream."  What's notable is the withdrawal of support by local conservative bloggers after Pulido's heinous online comments surfaced last week.  

On a related note, a coalition of civil rights groups held a press conference yesterday to denounce Pulido's hate speech.  From a press release:

“Mrs. Pulido’s statements under the blog moniker “Chicagolady” contain vicious remarks targeting groups such as Catholics, Mexicans, Muslims, immigrants, and gays,” said Ahmed Rehab, Executive Director of Council on American Islamic Relations (CAIR) Chicago. “Diversity must not be attacked, and such discourse is particularly disturbing from those seeking to lead our country.” 

After endorsing Mike Quigley in the 5th Congressional District special election today (no surprise there), the Chicago Tribune editorial board goes on to note that Quigley's successor on the county board will be chosen at an April 11 public meeting of the Democratic committeemen whose wards overlap with his county district. They asked Quigley to list the qualifications he would prefer for his replacement.  Here's what he gave them:

- Experience with county issues -- particularly the need to radically reinvent county government -- would let the newcomer be effective from Day One.

- This board seat needs to deliver a reliably unwavering vote for reform—not a "most of the time" vote for reform.

- Independence from political bosses and other forces of clout. Example: "If you're doing the job the right way," Quigley says, "organized groups won't always like you."

Now here's the subtext:

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