Voters selecting nominees for secretary of state’s seat left open by Jesse White’s retirement; GOP choosing challenger for AG Kwame Raoul

Illinois voters went to the polls Tuesday to select their party’s nominee to succeed retiring six-term Democratic Secretary of State Jesse White, while Republican voters also cast ballots to choose who will take on first-term Democratic Attorney General Kwame Raoul in November.

The Democratic primary for secretary of state has been dominated by accusations of ethical lapses between former state Treasurer Alexi Giannoulias and Chicago City Clerk Anna Valencia, while a third candidate, South Side Ald. David Moore, has tried to stay above the fray.

[ [Live results] 2022 primary election in Illinois ]

In the Republican secretary of state’s race, state Rep. Dan Brady of Bloomington faced off against former U.S. Attorney John Milhiser of Springfield. Milhiser ran on a slate of statewide candidates led by Aurora Mayor Richard Irvin for governor and backed by billionaire Citadel founder Ken Griffin.

Also on the Griffin-backed slate was attorney general candidate Steve Kim, in his second bid to be the state’s top legal officer and his third run for statewide office. He faced southern Illinois attorney Thomas DeVore of Sorento, an antagonist of Democratic Gov. J.B. Pritzker over the governor’s COVID-19 mandates.

Giannoulias was only 30 when he was elected in 2006 as the nation’s youngest state treasurer. He had the backing of then-U. S. Sen. Barack Obama, with whom, he frequently mentions, he once played pickup basketball.

But the treasurer’s office was clearly a steppingstone for Giannoulias’ political ambitions. In 2010, when Obama was president, Giannoulias mounted an unsuccessful bid for Obama’s old Senate seat, losing it to Republican U.S. Rep. Mark Kirk.

[ See Secretary of State election results here ]

During that campaign Kirk excoriated Giannoulias for his time as a senior loan officer at his family’s bank. Broadway Bank, which came under scrutiny when it was revealed that the institution had issued questionable loans to crime figures. The bank collapsed in 2010 during the Great Recession.

Since that election, Giannoulias, 46, has stayed out of the political limelight, working in the private sector while sitting on a couple of obscure public boards and various nonprofits. From 2018 until last year, he was on the Chicago Public Library board.

Giannoulias was chair of the Illinois Community College Board from 2011 to 2015, overseeing policies of the state’s two-year colleges. He also invested in a handful of restaurants and took a job as wealth director in the Chicago office of Bank of New York Mellon.

Giannoulias told the Tribune he wouldn’t disclose the identities of his BNY Mellon clients, saying only say that his clients were “individuals and families” and that “none of my clients were elected officials.”

Long viewed as an up-and-comer in Chicago political circles, Valencia, 37, has been city clerk for over five years and has attempted to essentially follow in the footsteps of the woman she replaced, Illinois Comptroller Susana Mendoza, by making the move from clerk to statewide office.

Valencia enjoyed endorsements from the highest-ranking Democrats in Illinois, including Pritzker and U.S. Sens. Tammy Duckworth and Dick Durbin, whose reelection campaign Valencia oversaw in 2014. Valencia also secured an endorsement from White, one of the state’s more popular politicians.

But the contest between Valencia and Giannoulias has focused less on their approaches to modernizing the office and more on the two highlighting each other’s ethical shortcomings.

Valencia repeatedly attacked Giannoulias for issues that played a major role in his Senate loss: the failure of Broadway Bank and its controversial loans. Giannoulias has raised questions about whether Valencia’s husband’s lobbying practice has interfered with her role as city clerk and whether she built a strong enough wall to separate the personal financial interests of her family from her public duties.

Valencia has admitted she didn’t disclose on city ethics statements that her husband, Reyahd Kazmi, was a lobbyist for clout-heavy Monterrey Security and acknowledged “growing pains,” and that she “made an honest mistake.” Later, her campaign even put out a statement to say Valencia “shut (Kazmi) down any time he’s even come close to crossing a line.”

The issue has become a focus of the campaign due to emails Valencia wrote and received from her clerk’s account, as well as texts, that involved her husband’s businesses.

Valencia has since vowed that Kazmi would not lobby state officials if she were to become secretary of state, an office that also oversees registrations for all state lobbyists.

Moore, 56, stayed out of the Giannoulias and Valencia feuding. Both far outpaced him in campaign funding. At the end of the first quarter of 2022, Giannoulias had more than $4 million, Valencia had just over $1 million and Moore had a little over $38,000 in his campaign account, state records show.

Moore, accepting the role of underdog, tried to make the case that his constituent-based service as an alderman for seven years would translate well into being a secretary of state.

Also on the Democratic ballot for secretary of state was Sidney Moore of south suburban Homewood.

In the Republican race for secretary of state, Milhiser, 52, emphasized his background as a state and federal prosecutor with a goal of restoring people’s faith in government and in an office that he acknowledges has a history of corruption under both parties.

Brady, 60, a Bloomington funeral director, is one of two deputy GOP leaders in the Illinois House. He’s touted his experience over the years in working on legislation that directly related to the operations of the secretary of state’s office and says he will work to improve the nuts and bolts of an office that connects with citizens more than any other statewide agency.

Last month, Irvin shifted $700,000 from his Griffin-funded bankroll to Milhiser’s campaign fund. Before that money came in, Milhiser had about $274,000 in his campaign fund at the end of the first quarter, just slightly more than Brady’s $243,000, according to state records.

In the Republican race for attorney general, Kim got a last-minute endorsement Monday from his onetime boss, former GOP Gov. Jim Edgar, who represents the moderate wing of the party that has been losing ground to conservatives.

[ View Illinois attorney general primary results here ]

Kim, 51, of Deerfield, is a partner in a boutique international law firm based in Chicago and a former international trade adviser to Edgar, who made his endorsement public in an automated phone message on the eve of he primary. Kim has little name recognition outside political circles after two failed bids for statewide office, including a 33-point loss to Democratic incumbent Lisa Madigan in the 2010 general election for attorney general.

Kim ran a low-key campaign, joining members of the Irvin-led slate in small meet-and-greets around the state. He made crime and corruption his top issues, like many other GOP candidates on the ballot this year.

DeVore, 52, first gained statewide attention two years ago as he launched unrelenting, if largely unsuccessful, legal challenges to Pritzker’s executive orders.

DeVore is an ally of Republican state Sen. Darren Bailey of Xenia, whose bid for governor on Saturday won the endorsement of former President Donald Trump. DeVore has made his opposition to executive power the cornerstone of his campaign and maintains a relatively unfiltered presence on social media, where he has harsh words for the state’s Republican establishment along with the Democrats who control Springfield.

At the end of March, Kim had close to $75,000 in his campaign account, state records show. But in May, Irvin transferred $500,000 to Kim from his Griffin-funded coffers. DeVore reported just under $26,000 in his campaign fund through March and since then, he’s picked up about $10,000 from various donors, state records show.

Also on the ballot was Orland Park attorney David Shestokas.

Raoul was unopposed in the Democratic primary.

Also unopposed on the Democratic ballot were Mendoza, the state comptroller from Chicago, and state Treasurer Michael Frerichs of Champaign.

In the Nov. 8 general election, Mendoza will face McHenry County Auditor Shannon Teresi, while Frerichs will face state Rep. Tom Demmer of Dixon. The two Republican challengers ran on the Irvin slate and were unopposed in their primaries.

dpetrella@chicagotribune.com

jgorner@chicagotribune.com