Politics

Former U.S. Rep Aaron Schock's executive assistant testified before a federal grand jury investigating allegations of improper spending by the onetime rising Republican star.  

Sarah Rogers was in Springfield's federal building for a total of five hours Wednesday. But her attorney, Bill Coffield, says she did not testify the entire time.  

Prosecutors began reviewing Schock's travel expenses and spending after reports surfaced that he had decorated his Capitol Hill office in the style of TV's ``Downton Abbey.''  

Federal prosecutors have indicted former U.S. House Speaker Dennis Hastert on bank-related charges.

 The son of former White House cabinet member and longtime Congressman Ray LaHood remains the overwhelming favorite as the field takes shape for the race to replace ex-U.S. Rep. Aaron Schock.  

Monday is the final day to file nominating papers for the July 7 primary. Donald Rients of Benson and Mike Flynn of Quincy have filed paperwork to challenge Darin LaHood in the Republican primary. Adam Lopez of Springfield and Rob Mellon of Quincy have filed to run as Democrats.  

A former State Representative and Lieutenant Governor candidate from Quincy says she won't seek an open congressional seat. 

Jil Tracy issued a statement today that says she won't try for the Republican nomination in the 18th congressional district.   

Tracy left her position in the Illinois House to team up with Kirk Dillard as he ran unsuccessfully for Governor last year.    

Tracy indicated she talked with her family about a political bid to replace Aaron Schock and decided against it.  

A friend and former House colleague of Jesse Jackson Jr. says Jackson is being released from a federal prison Thursday and into a halfway house.  

Former Congressman Patrick Kennedy told The Associated Press he recently spoke with Jackson at the minimum security federal prison camp in Montgomery, Alabama.

The son of the civil rights leader has been serving a 2 1/2-year sentence after pleading guilty to illegally spending $750,000 in campaign funds on personal items.  

A person familiar with the case tells The Associated Press
that the Justice Department is formally investigating whether Rep. Aaron Schock
of Illinois, who has submitted his resignation, committed crimes with his office
expenditures and business dealings.
 
 The government is convening a federal grand jury in Springfield, Illinois, this
source says, and the FBI has started issuing subpoenas to compel people close to
the Republican congressman to testify. The source spoke only on grounds of

Republican Rep. Aaron Schock of Illinois says he's resigning his House seat amid questions about his spending.

In a statement on Tuesday, Schock said he would step down effective March 31.

Schock, a four-term lawmaker, said he was taking the step with a "heavy heart." He said that questions about irregularities in his campaign finance and congressional spending accounts over the past six weeks have proven to be a "great distraction" and have made it too difficult for him to serve.

After 19 years as the Sangamon County Circuit Clerk, Tony Libri is stepping down at the end of the month.

Libri, who also previously served as Sangamon County Auditor before becoming Circuit Clerk and made an unsuccessful run for Springfield mayor, did not give a reason for his retirement.  A statement says he will be able to spend more time with his family.

The Sangamon County Board will appoint a new circuit clerk to fulfill the remainder of Libri's term.  That post will then be up for election in 2016.

Illinois Rep. Aaron Schock has reimbursed the U.S. government for more than $1,200 to travel to a Chicago Bears football game last November.  

A spokesman said late Monday that Schock wrote a check to cover the costs of the trip. The congressman previously charged the private air travel to his House office account, which is funded by taxpayers.  

Newly released congressional expense reports show Schock charged more than $14,000 in private air travel last fall. Those costs add to a list of several flights he took on planes owned by donors.  

Illinois Congressman Aaron Schock says he hopes
constituents see him as ``still the same person'' after a week dogged by
controversies in Washington.
 
 The Peoria Republican returned to his central Illinois district Friday. It was
his first visit since a watchdog group called for an ethics probe into how he
paid for extravagant decorations of his Washington office, and after a staffer
resigned because of racist remarks on Facebook.
 
 Schock got a warm reception at one of his first stops. Several locals at a

Chicago officials are trying to shore up their bid to bring the Obama Presidential Library to the president’s hometown.

Illinois' next state treasurer won the Nov. 4 election
by 9,225 votes _ the third-closest statewide race since at least 1900.
 
 Democrat Michael Frerichs  beat Republican Tom Cross 48 percent to
47.8 percent out of 3.5 million votes cast. Records collected and analyzed by
The Associated Press show that the 0.261 percentage-point difference ranks it
behind only the 198-2 race for governor and 1952 campaign for secretary of
state.
 
 The Illinois State Board of Elections formally declared Frerichs the winner at

Democratic state Senator Mike Frerichs appears to have won the race to be the next state treasurer.

If the current totals hold, this will go down in history as one of Illinois' narrowest general election victories.

According to the independent Illinois Election Data website, Frerichs won by fewer than 10,000 votes — a fraction of a percent of the 3.5 million votes cast.

No matter, a win is a win, and Republican state Rep. Tom Cross conceded the race.

U.S. Sen. Mark Kirk is requesting a federal inquiry into what he's calling ``voting irregularities'' and ``mishandling of ballots'' during this month's election.
 
In a letter dated Monday and obtained by The Associated Press, the Illinois
Republican asks U.S. Attorney Zachary Fardon to ``secure'' questioned ballots
and ensure proper handling.
 
Kirk references allegations raised last week by a lawyer for GOP candidate for
treasurer Tom Cross. Among them is that elections officials couldn't account for
all mail-in and provisional ballots.
 

There are still thousands of votes yet to be counted in the race for Illinois State Treasurer. The contest between Republican Tom Cross and Democrat Mike Frerichs is shaping up to be the closest in Illinois history. Currently, Cross holds a 500 vote lead over Frerichs -- one one-thousandth of a percentage point, and still too close to call.

But Cross' campaign alleges some voters who cast provisional ballots voted more than once. Cross' campaign manager Kevin Artl says his team saw the same names coming up twice in lists provided by the Cook County Clerk's office.

The race for state treasurer remains too close to call days after Illinois voters went to the polls.
 
Both Republican Tom Cross and Democrat Mike Frerichs remain hopeful that uncounted absentee and provisional votes break their way.
 
Cross led Frerichs by 21,000 votes out of 3.4 million cast when The Associated Press stopped tabulating the vote count on Wednesday evening.
 
Cross spokesman Kevin Artl contends that Frerichs is not getting enough votes
still being tallied to make up the difference.
 

Gov. Pat Quinn is keeping a low profile after refusing to concede his re-election bid to Republican Bruce Rauner. 
Rauner has a nearly 5 percentage point lead over Quinn with 99 percent of precincts reporting. The Winnetka venture capitalist declared victory on election night.  
But Quinn says he wants to wait for every vote to be counted.  

The Chicago Democrat had no public appearances Wednesday. Quinn aides say they're watching election results.  
Quinn has waited to concede before.  

Republican candidate for governor Bruce Rauner is distancing himself from the resignation of longtime Chicago Sun-Times Springfield reporter Dave McKinney. McKinney quit Wednesday, blaming the Rauner campaign for "intimidation and interference" in his reporting.

Earlier this month, the Sun-Times published a story detailing allegations of Rauner's former associate, who said Rauner threatened her and her family after a soured business deal.

The runner up in the 2011 Springfield mayor's contest issued a statement today saying she won't run for the office next year.  

Sheila Stocks-Smith indicated it's not the right time for her to make a bid.  Stocks-Smith finished second to Mayor Mike Houston in the last election. 

Her statement:

"After carefully thought, I have decided that this is not the right time for me to run for Mayor. Instead, I will continue to serve my community and influence positive change in Springfield through my social policy and program work and community activism.”