Kevin McDermott

Technically, Illinois Gov. Bruce Rauner’s election victory on November 4, 2014, marked the end of his first political campaign. But in some ways that…

Constitutional Offices The state of Illinois is routinely $5 billion or more behind in paying its day-to-day bills. Its borrowed debt stands at some $44…

It was May 31, 2013, and the cause of same-sex marriage rights was gusting through America like a spring squall. Public opinion had recently swung around…

For years, they’ve shuffled across Illinois’ front pages, a parade of tragedy.There was Christopher Valdez, 4, of Chicago’s southwest side, whose mother’s…

In the final weeks of 2013, Illinois was among more than 20 states tripping over each other like eager suitors to woo a new Boeing production plant for…

Willie Sutton reputedly said he robbed banks because that’s where the money was.That kind of stark mathematical logic also could explain why Illinois’…

Even the most optimistic citizens of Dixon don’t think they’re ever going to get their $53 million back.At this point, they just hope they’ll at least get…

When Chris Matthews of MSNBC’s Hardball needed a guest early this year to express progressive outrage at the treatment of Wisconsin’s public-sector union…

On the morning of Wednesday, November 3, it was still unclear whether Democrat Pat Quinn had held on to the governor’s office in the previous day’s…

Soon after Rod Blagojevich was led in handcuffs from his Chicago home in December 2008, comedian Jon Stewart of Comedy Central’s The Daily Show noted that…