Big Money’s blue Tuesday. HuffPost: Cash-rich special interests hit a wall in Illinois as their favored candidates suffered primary defeats.
■ In a test of Gov. Pritzker’s political power, his lieutenant governor, Juliana Stratton, took the Democratic nomination for senator—defying crypto cash and overcoming Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi’s flabbergasting $29 million ad campaign …
■ … positioning herself to become the state’s fourth Black emissary to the Senate—and the second Black woman in that role.
■ Newsweek: The American Israel Public Affairs Committee spent $12 million losing Illinois primaries …
■ … notably to Evanston Mayor Daniel Biss, who beat back AIPAC’s $7.5 million to become the Democrats’ candidate in the fiercely fought 9th Congressional District contest …
■ … as, in other congressional primaries, La Shawn Ford is poised to become the West Side and western suburbs’ first new U.S. rep in almost 30 years …
■ … potential Chicago mayoral candidate Mike Quigley won renomination to the 5th District seat …
■ … Donna Miller beat Jesse Jackson Jr. in a crowded primary for a 2nd District seat …
■ … and Melissa Bean got a nod to try in November to retake the 8th District seat she lost 16 years ago.
■ November’s race for governor will be a rerun of 2022.
■ Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle’s job looks safe for another four years.
■ County Assessor Fritz Kaegi’s on the way out.
■ Oak Park voters drowned a proposal for a new indoor pool.
■ Veteran political consultant Dave Lundy is grateful it’s over: “I’ve never seen an uglier, more personal, more nasty primary season than this.”
■ Injustice Watch rounds up those judicial primaries.
■ Here’s an updating page of all Chicago-area federal, state, and countywide vote totals.
Next? Updating coverage: Trump’s pick to take over for Kristi Noem at Homeland Security, Markwayne Mullin, was facing Senate confirmation hearings today.
■ Attorney General Pam Bondi has a date with the House to talk about all those Epstein files she hasn’t released.
■ Lawyer and columnist Mitch Jackson: “The Senate is debating the SAVE America Act right now. Every voter should be alarmed.”
‘Maybe, just possibly, Trump pulled the whole thing out of his ass.’ The Daily Show’s Jordan Klepper turns a skeptical eye toward the president’s claim that a former U.S. president said he regretted not doing what Trump’s done in Iran.
■ Updating coverage: Israel’s reportedly killed a “slew of Iranian officials.”
■ Nobel-winning economist Paul Krugman ponders Trump’s motivation in the war: “What really stands out is the centrality of oil money from the Persian Gulf.”
■ Columnist Jeff Tiedrich: “White House Energy Vampire” Kevin Hassett admits that the war’s impact on the U.S. economy is “really the last of our concerns.”
■ Philadelphia Inquirer columnist Will Bunch (gift link): “Trump will be impeached. … Dems in ’27 have a lot to work with.”
College Republicans’ ‘bigoted’ leader. Popular Information: The 23-year-old college student named the new political director for the College Republicans of America is a champion of white supremacy who’s posted to social media that Jewish people are “delusional cosplayers” and most pedophiles are gay men.
■ ABC News alumnus Terry Moran on “Trump’s zombie Republicans: He promised no more wars. They believed him. Then he started one. They cheered.”
■ Sun-Times columnist Neil Steinberg marvels at a Trump-appointed federal appeals court judge’s unrestrained dissent in—to quote the judge—“a case about swinging dicks.”
‘Exciting news … for political journalism.’ Press Watch columnist Dan Froomkin celebrates word that billionaire media entrepreneur Robert Albritton is bankrolling “the next great Washington newsroom”—to challenge the gutted Washington Post.
■ A federal judge has ordered the Trump administration to revive the Voice of America, rehiring hundreds of journalists.
■ After his arrest last fall while filming a protest outside the Broadview immigrant detention facility, a Chicago reporter says the Transportation Security Administration suspended his and his wife’s TSA PreCheck status.
■ Law prof Joyce Vance celebrates “a subtle win for the First Amendment” vs. Trump.
■ Oligarch Watch: Amazon founder Jeff Bezos’ $10 billion “climate charity” has a new mission: Promoting AI.
Lollapalooza lineup. The Smashing Pumpkins, Olivia Dean, Lorde and Charli XCX are on deck for this summer’s edition.
■ Tickets go on sale tomorrow at 10 a.m.
‘A crown, in case you guys wanna do royal stuff.’ Tina Fey drops in with props for the cast of the new Saturday Night Live UK series—debuting this weekend.
■ U.S. viewers can see it Sundays on Peacock.
Thanks. Mike Braden and Amy Zekas Reynaldo made this edition better.
A Square public service announcement
Know an aspiring journalist? Spread the word from the Chicago Headline Club and the Chicago Headline Club Foundation: April 6’s the deadline to apply for the Les Brownlee Memorial Scholarship. A committed undergrad attending a Chicago-area institution can land $5,000. Apply here.