Until 2008...!

Thank you for visiting this blog. The 2006 Whitney for Governor Campaign is wildly inspired by the broad support we received throughout this state. We look forward to enjoying our new status as an established political party in Illinois! Please visit ilgp.org for current information about the Illinois Green Party in between campaigns. Once again, THANK YOU for all your support and encouragement! Jennifer Rose, Campaign Manager

Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving, from the Whitney-Bradshaw family! :-)

Back to (normal?) life

Sorry, folks, the election seems like ancient history to me now! ;-) No, really, this week just flew by. I'm still slightly sick. Work has been... work. And I have a new project, I guess you could say, to keep me busy. No rest for the weary!
Seriously, I can't believe it's been over a week since the election. On Tuesday, I was saying that. Then Wednesday, I was thinking about the week before (when I was so tired I thought I would die). And so this week went. It is kind of weird. I haven't seen any of the usual suspects. It's nice to not have to be at headquarters all the time. I can actually go HOME after work! And I have time to cook (no more Chinese from the place next door to HQ). So I don't miss much of that. I do need some sort of release, or something, I think. (No nights of partying - yet - got to rid of this cough/cold first! ;-)
So its weird. I don't know if I'll keep this blog, or keep checking my dad's Facebook and Myspace pages (if we keep the special election page that Facebook set up.) I don't even know if anyone is reading this anymore! I kind of enjoy blogging, though, so I might keep it up.
I know you all are here for Rich, though. What has Rich been up to? Well, he's my dad - many assume I would know, but I'm not too sure, other than working (of course!) And he checked in on me a couple of times last weekend when I was sick! :-) Someone said he was on the TV news earlier this week, talking about some legal case in Herrin. Not sure what's going on there. I hope his legal business picks up a bit, with the name recognition he should receive.
I've also seen a few e-mails from him about Green Party stuff. I'm sure the ILGP Legal list serv is buzzing. And I still have over 80 e-mails since last weekend, about ILGP's status, with precinct committeemembers and county locals and who knows what else. I am not that interested in the legalities. I just want ILGP to gain new members, establish new locals, and run some candidates! Municipal elections are not that far away - Cdale already has mayoral candidates campaigning and stuff. They're non-partisan offices, but most people know what direction candidates lean to. So I hope some folks will run locally, for something. And the '08 elections are not all that far away! (hint hint, to any ILGP members out there!) I am looking forward to the next Shawnee Greens meeting. I'm hoping we'll get to inject some new energy into these locals! :-)
But really, I'm just enjoying regular sleeping hours, cooking and chilling out at home, and having time to dedicate to my other project. Maybe I'll even catch a movie or two, or go out with friends. I love having "spare time" again!

Post-election fever

Literally - I'm very, very sick. I got 11 hrs of sleep Wednesday night. Woke up with a little bit of congestion in my throat/lungs. But went to work feeling refreshed. (Work on Wednesday was just AWFUL - I was SOOO zonked!) But then throughout the day (Thursday), I could feel the energy just draining out of me. By 3:00, I was feeling so bad, I had to go home. I slept almost all last night and til noon today. My head still hurts and my throat is sore, but I'm rebounding on the fever. Ugh. I thought it would happen, too, so I tried not to get THAT much sleep Wednesday night, but, man, I was exhausted!! (You know how it goes - when you're stressed out, your body's on edge. But as soon as you relax, your body does, too, so it stops fighting off viruses. I learned that in college, cause I'd almost always get sick during holidays/breaks.)
So yeah, I've missed a lot of the post-election talk - I have over 70 e-mails. Blah. I was hoping to spend this weekend CLEANING, cause my house is a friggin' mess. And I'm missing the last W4G coordinating committee meeting tonight... Though most of it will be working on thank-you-cards, cause we got a lot of donations in the last couple of weeks. I don't miss being at HQ (one of our volunteers/hangers-around is to blame for this cough-fever-thing!) Oh well, I will hopefully be better by Monday. Just in time for work again!
Well, I need to get to bed, but here are the county totals for the Gov's race. My Dad did quite well in the Rockford area and Southern IL - not very surprising - but there are some surprises. Like in Will County, he actually beat Blago!
http://www.cnn.com/ELECTION/2006//pages/results/states/IL/G/00/county.000.html

Am I dreaming?

I could not be happier when I woke up and heard "Nancy Pelosi is set to become the next House Majority Leader after Democrats won seats across the nation." Followed soon by "The Green Party is now officially an established party in the state of Illinois." Am I dreaming?! OMG! I hate that I have to be at work in 13 minutes.
Rich got 11% - though, to be fair, there are still some outstanding precincts. I'll be back after (ugh!) work.
Oh, also, last night, the word was that Rod would be calling Rich this morning!!! Finally acknowledging his presence - yay!

So far

So far Rich is at 11% statewide, with 79% precincts reporting. Some final tallies for Counties-
boone - 22
winnebago - 24
jackson - 26
williamson - 17

Dorian Breuer is at 5%
Tom Abram is at 10% so far, but that was a while ago... Champaign results for the gov's race say just 60% are reporting.

More later, maybe. Things are wrapping up here.

Jackson Co update

Jennifer Vaughn, one of our Jackson Co Board candidates, finished STRONG with 39% of the vote!! Against a strong/popular Democrat incumbent.
Brad Klein, another candidate, is running strong at 20% in a 3-way race.
Charlie Howe is at 28% with 93% of precincts reporting
Rich is at 26% in Jackson Co!!

News from David Black in Rockford

News from David Black in Rockford:
In three middle-class white precincts
Tonpinka 199
Blago 148
Rich 138
That's THIRTY percent!!

Weee!!!

This is Jessica. This is very exciting. The atmosphere here at Whitney central is ELECTRIC! Cliche, right? BUt true! I can barely type straight. Media cameras, two TVs, and i'm constantly refreshing the windows I have open - Capital Fax blog, CNN, and the local Jackson County results page.
The AP already called the election at 7:05 pm and is now saying it'll be 49-39-11, for Blago. But sheesh, Kane Co will be voting til 9:30, and that's a lot of people.
So far, CNN says 10% whitney.
Our local candidates are doing well - both Jackson CO board candidates are over 20%, along with Charlie Howe (in Jack. Co only)
More to come - WOO!!

Waiting

It's always about the waiting game... It's too early for results, but I am anxious. HQ has been relatively slow lately, but we've had a few folks come in throughout the day. Some contractors were over earlier, anxious themselves, to start working on this building for the next tenants (a nail salon, I found out.) An old friend of my brothers stopped in. My dad, the candidate that he is, is out handing out palm cards now. Our other candidates and some supporters have been in and out.
I'm going to work on a results-tracking spreadsheet for our county.

0

It's here - go vote today! Thanks for your support!
BTW, it turns out you're not supposed to wear campaign buttons or t-shirts when you actually go vote in Illinois. So zip up your coat inside, then display your Green pride outside the polling place.

If you have any problems voting, you can contact Election Protection at 866-OUR-VOTE Election Protection is a toll free hotline administered by the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law at call centers across the country.

One

Tomorrow, tomorrow, there's always tomo... Oh. Oops. It's already here. Darn.
Yep, I've been meaning to update this since I got home at 9 pm. I blew it, cause now, technically, it's already election day. But since the polls don't open til 6 am, I'm going to pretend the clock has not already hit midnight on 11/7. Besides, I am one of those folks who's going to be getting up at the butt-crack of dawn tomorrow morning for the campaign, so I don't want to think about it.
Still, polls do open in 6 hours - er, 5 hrs, 54 minutes... Which means I should be getting up in 5 hrs and 20 minutes, at least. Oh man! What have I gotten myself into! (The battlecry of ALL candidates and campaign staff for the last couple of hours, or days, if not weeks.)

Here's what I've been working on - so please pass it on and get it out there!

Tomorrow is the day. Here are five things you can do tomorrow to help:
1. VOTE!
Remind your friends, family, colleagues, classmates, and anyone else you can to vote Green tomorrow. Polls are open from 6AM to 7PM. If you're not sure where to vote, call your local county clerk's office, or go to http://www.vote411.org/pollingplacebysta... Bring an ID or two, just in case.
2. Volunteer.
It's not too late to help! See below for ways to help in Carbondale, Chicago and Cook County, and Champaign-Urbana.
3. Work your polling place.
If you're not in one of those cities, you can still help. By law, you have to stay 100 feet away from the entrance to a polling place. Beyond that, you can hand out campaign literature or wave a Whitney yard sign. You can also wear a Whitney button or t-shirt all day long - including to the polls!
4. Be alert.
Keep your eyes open. Report any fishy business (malfunctioning machines, election judges displaying bias, or voter harrasment). Call the county clerk or tell an election judge (if they're not the ones causing it.) See http://www.voteraction.org/wtv/wtv-tipsh... for more info.
5. Stay involved.
This is just the beginning! To join the Illinois Green Party, go to http://ilgp.org/groups/membership/forms/... No local in your area? Start one!

Thanks again for all your support and dedication! Now let's go vote!

Here's some info on activities in certain areas-
Chicago:
For poll watching, in the city of Chicago, contact Walt at 773-637-6701.
If you're nearer to Oak Park, call Bruce at 708-383-7711.

Join Dorian Breuer for State Senate (Dist 1) on Election Day -
Join us at Campaign Headquarters (1856 S. Throop St. #2F) any time from 6AM – 8PM. We'd love to have you! We have 93 polling places to cover. Free food, coffee, etc. for our volunteers!
Contact Steph or Jerry at 1856 S. Throop St. #2F, (312) 315-5158 or (312) 502-7867, http://votebreuer.org

Champaign-Urbana: Prairie Greens HQ, Channing Murray Foundation Basement, 1209 West Oregon, all day. Call Susan or Dave, 619-985-3553 or 773-557-9411.

NORMAL: Phil Huckelberry for State Representative HQ, 1704 Taft Drive, all day (but CALL AHEAD!) Call Phil or Eric, 309-268-9974 or 309-242-7401

Carbondale:
Join us at Campaign Headquarters (606 S. Illinois Ave, next to New Kahala) anytime from 6AM - 7 PM. We'd appreciate any help you can give us! Call 618-351-VOTE or 528-VOTE (8683) to get involved, or just stop by.

Tomorrow night, join us at a party nearest you (see previous post), and check http://whitneyforgov.blogspot.com for updates throughout the night.

Election Night festivities

Join a Green Party "party" on Election Night!

The Illinois Green Party and its candidates for state
and local offices will host a series of election night
parties for its supporters and the media across the
state.

Media is encouraged to RSVP with the appropriate
contact for each party location.


**********************
*****CARBONDALE*******
**********************

Holiday Inn Carbondale
2300 Reed Station Parkway
Carbondale, IL 62991

Candidates in attendance:

Rich Whitney, Governor
Alicia Snyder, Comptroller
Charlie Howe, 115th State Rep.
Brad Klein, 4th Jackson County Board
Jennifer Vaughn, 6th Jackson County Board
Julie Sommer, write-in, Union County Commissioner

Media contact: Jennifer Rose, 618-528-8683
Internal contact: Jessica Bradshaw, 714-331-1022

Media interviews and campaign communications will take
place in Room 350. Wireless Internet available.

Jessica Bradshaw will be live blogging from the event.
Visit http://whitneyforgov.blogspot.com


**********************
***CHAMPAIGN-URBANA***
**********************

Joe Futrelle's residence
1205 S. Race St.
Urbana, IL 61801

Candidates in attendance:
Tom Abram, 103rd State Rep.
Kostas Yfantis, 7th Champaign County Board
Joe Futrelle, 8th Champaign County Board
Nick Mann, 9th Champaign County Board

Contacts:
Joe Futrelle 217-390-2971
Tom Abram 217-417-7118


**********************
*****CHICAGO**********
**********************

Decima Musa
1901 S. Loomis St.
Chicago, IL 60608
Restaurant phone: 312-243-1556
www.decimamusa.com

Candidates in attendance:
Dorian Breuer, 1st State Senate
Dan Rodriguez Schlorff, Illinois Treasurer

DSL available

Contact: Patrick Kelly, 773-203-9631


**********************
*****WEST SUBURBAN****
**********************

Molly Malones
7652 Madison Street
Forest Park, IL 60130
708-366-8073
www.themollymalones.com

Candidates in attendance:
Julie Samuels, Lt. Governor
Nathan Helsabeck, 8th State Rep.

Internet access availalbe

Nathan Helsabeck will be live blogging from the event.
Visit http://nathanforthe8th.blogspot.com

Contact: Nathan Helsabeck at 708-955-1120.


**********************
**BLOOMINGTON/NORMAL**
**********************

Phil Huckelberry's residence
1704 Taft Drive
Normal, IL 61761

Candidate in attendance: Phil Huckelberry, 88th State
Rep.

Wireless Internet available

Contact: Phil Huckelberry, 309-268-9974


**********************
*****PEORIA***********
**********************

Vonachen's Old Place
5934 N. Knoxville Avenue
Peoria, IL 61614
Restaurant phone: 309-692-7033


**********************
*****EVANSTON*********
**********************

Pick-a-Cup
1813 W Dempster
Evanston, IL
Cafe phone: 847-332-2834
www.pickacup.com

Wireless Internet available