Guzzardi wins in a rout

-- M. Klonsky photo

State House - District 39 - Dem Primary

March 18, 2014 - 11:04PM CT

Illinois - 91 of 91 Precincts Reporting - 100%

Name Votes Vote %

Guzzardi, Will 5,245 61%

Berrios, Toni (i) 3,402 39%

All you had to do was walk into the Logan Square Auditorium on Kedzie last night and take a look around to see why Will Guzzardi won big. The room was packed, not only with a diverse, raucous crowd of celebratory election night supporters, but also with a cadre of skilled campaigners, strategists, media, supporting politicians and field organizers young and old, who knew how to win an election and did.

-- M.Klonsky photo

In the end, despite the usual last-minute polling place shenanigans,  it wasn't even close. Toni Berrios conceded early, a little after 9 p.m. In an election that was watched closely statewide and even nationally, Guzzardi won in a 22-point rout over the machine's ncumbent, Berrios, the daughter of Cook County Democratic Party Chairman Joe"Big Daddy" Berrios. Her confused and floundering campaign was taken over mid-stream by machine Boss Michael Madigan's professional election thugs who made Toni take a "vow of silence" and then threw every bit of smut and garbage they could muster at Will, but couldn't make it stick.

DNAInfo reported:

 But some voters said Berrios' advertising blitz worked against her, especially when it came to attack ads. "To see what Toni Berrios [is saying], it really makes me sick to my stomach, so that makes me come out and vote just because of how yucky politics is," said Logan Square resident Amanda Fitzgerald.

-- M.Klonsky photo

Guzzardi gave a rousing victory speech calling on supporters to keep the movement alive or "my victory will have been in vain."

"We said with one voice that every child deserves access to a great public education," Guzzardi told the crowd. "We said with one voice that the very wealthy and the biggest corporations ought to be held accountable to paying their fair share just like the rest of us. And we said with one voice that working people who have earned their retirement deserve to get it, right?"  

WGN is calling it a "victory for the unions," especially for the CTU which backed Guzzardi with money and field organizers. Chicago Party regulars, including Rahm Emanuel, are now worried that Guzzardi's successful campaign could mark the beginnings of an independent political movement capable of a new round of election victories. They are right to worry, especially with the mayor's race coming up next year. One of those capable of taking on Rahm is Ald. Bob Fioretti who backed Guzzardi and who, along with several other progressive pols, including Senator Willie Delgado, Aldermen Arena, Waguespack and Moreno, were celebrating with the crowd in the auditorium.

CONGRATULATIONS... to Jay Travis who ran a strong campaign in the 26th against great odds in her attempt to unseat incumbent Christian Mitchell. All the experts predicted this race wouldn't even be close, with Mitchell getting tons of money from school privatizing groups like Stand For Children and DFER as well as a last-minute gift from California billionaire power philanthropist Eli Broad.

But by midnight last night, with the press reporting a win for Mitchell, the race is so close that Jay isn't giving in. She says:

I am not conceding. Throughout Election Day, we constantly received reports of voter suppression and intimidation, judges tampering with ballots, wrong ballots, ballots missing my name, and illegal electioneering. I personally was turned away from the polls at 6 a.m. due to alleged problems with the voting machine, along with a group of elderly senior citizens who had been waiting in line to vote (I returned over an hour later and was able to cast my ballot at that time).

We have received these kinds of reports from precincts across at least five different wards in the 26th District. This scale is significant in a race separated by just several hundred votes. We will be at the Board of Elections with our attorney tomorrow. In the meantime, I want to thank those of you who did incredible work in the streets today and packed our Election Night party tonight. You inspire me to continue fighting for a more just and democratic world.

Win or lose, Jay Travis should be proud of the campaign she waged. This is only the beginning for her. Her race, taken together with Guzzardi's victory in the 39th, shows the way forward.