Chicago City Wire

If Illinois' political journalists were the only ones voting on Tuesday, J.B. Pritzker, Mike Madigan and the rest of the state's Democrats would win in a landslide.

Chicago City Wire analysis of the primary voting records of 100 leading Illinois political journalists found that 93 percent of the primary votes they've collectively cast have been for Democrats, versus just seven percent for Republicans.

All told, out of 424 total primary votes recorded by the Illinois State Board of Elections (ISBE), 395 of them were for Democrats.

In the March 2018 primary, 57 of the 100 journalists reviewed voted in the Democrat primary. One, Fox 32 Political Editor Mike Flannery, voted in the Republican one. 

Of the 100 journalist voting records analyzed, 79 had cast more Democrat ballots than Republican ones and 18 recorded no primary votes. One journalist cast an equal number of Democrat and Republican ballots, and two cast more ballots for Republicans than Democrats.

Those two are Capitol Fax's Rich Miller (5 GOP / 4 DEM) and Doug Finke, a veteran reporter of the Springfield State Journal-Register (1 / 0).

Miller, who founded the popular Capitol Fax newsletter in 1993, voted in Democrat primaries in 1994, 1996 and 1998, then Republican ones in 2000, 2010, 2012, 2014, and 2016 before pulling a Democrat primary ballot again this past March.

Finke has cast one primary ballot since 1992, in a four-way 2006 Republican primary that included State Treasurer Judy Baar Topinka, Jim Oberweis, Bill Brady and Ron Gidwitz. Topinka won 38 percent of the primary vote before falling to incumbent Democrat Rod Blagojevich in the general election.

16 to 0

Democrat-voting journalists have showed considerably more commitment.

Chicago Sun-Times Political Editor Scott Fornek and Crain's Chicago Business Political Writer Greg Hinz have both voted in 16 Democrat primaries and zero for Republicans.

CBS 2 Chicago's Derrick Blakley has voted in nine Democrat primaries and one Republican one (2014). Fox 32's Flannery has voted Democrat eleven times and Republican just once, in March. NBC 5's Carol Marin and her longtime partner-producer Don Moseley have voted in a combined 26 Democrat primaries versus three Republican.

All 19 journalists at the Chicago Sun-Times analyzed voted only Democrat, including Fornek, Editor-in-Chief Chris Fusco, political columnist Dan Mihalopoulos and state politics beat reporter Tina Sfondeles; none have voted in a Republican primary.

All nine journalists at Crain's Chicago Business analyzed voted only Democrat, including Hinz, newly-hired publisher Jim Kirk, editor Michael Arndt and senior reporter Lynne Marek.

The Chicago Tribune's City Hall reporter John Byrne has voted in six Democrat primaries and no Republican ones. Reporter David Heinzmann has voted four times for Democrats, never for Republicans.

"Environment and public health" reporter Michael Hawthorne, who has reported frequently, and critically, this election cycle on U.S. Rep. Peter Roskam (R-IL), has voted in three Democrat primaries and none for Republicans.

Rick Pearson, the longtime Chicago Tribune chief political reporter, has no primary voting record. His wife, Margaret, works for Democrat Illinois Secretary of State Jesse White. 

Dave McKinney, the former Chicago Sun-Times Springfield bureau chief who currently covers state politics for WBEZ radio in Chicago, also has no primary voting record. His wife, Ann Liston, is a Democrat political consultant working this cycle for House Speaker Michael J. Madigan (D-Chicago) and Democrat Cook County Assessor Joseph Berrios. She has voted in six of six Democrat primaries.

"Non partisan"

Pro Publica Illinois has hired several veteran Chicago journalists over the past year. All are regular Democrat voters, ISBE records show, including Jason Grotto (formerly of the Chicago Tribune), Jodi S. Cohen (Chicago Tribune), Louise Kiernan (Chicago Tribune), Steve Mills (Chicago Tribune) and Mick Dumke (Chicago Sun-Times).

The editor of the Politico Illinois Playbook, Shia Kapos, formerly of Crain's Chicago Business, has voted in six Democrat primaries and no Republican ones. Her assistant, Adrienne Hurst, is also a Democrat voter, as is Kapos' predecessor and now Barrington-based political writer Natasha Korecki.

Korecki has voted in four Democrat primaries and one Republican one.

Staff at the "non-partisan" Better Government Association (BGA) includes no Republicans and nine Democrats, including Chief Executive David Greising of Evanston, formerly chief business correspondent for the Chicago Tribune. He has voted in seven Democrat primaries and none for Republicans.

BGA reporter Brett Chase, formerly a Crain's reporter and the wife of Rahm Emanuel communications executive Tammy Chase, has voted in six Democrat primaries and none for Republicans. He has written the BGA's "Politifact Truth-O-Meter" series, where he "fact checks" claims by politicians. 

Other recent BGA hires include former Chicago Tribune Reporters David Kidwell (2 DEM/0 GOP) and Bob Secter (4 DEM, 0 GOP), who served as its Illinois political editor from 1995-2005.

How do your favorite Illinois political journalists vote in primary elections?

Chicago City Wire analyzed the voting records of 100 of the state's top politics and government journalists to test the conventional wisdom. Are they really Democrat-leaning?

Name	Age	Media outlet	D	R	Total
Craig Wall	46	ABC 7	0	0	0
Caryn Rousseau	40	AP	2	0	2
Jeff McMurray	42	AP	0	0	0
John O'Connor	55	AP	0	0	0
Sara Burnett	45	AP	0	0	0
Sophia Tareen	38	AP	2	0	2
Brett Chase	53	BGA	6	0	6
Casey Toner	35	BGA	1	0	1
Danish Murtaza	25	BGA	2	0	2
David Greising	58	BGA	7	0	7
David Kidwell	57	BGA	2	0	2
John Chase	48	BGA	0	0	0
Kathleen Drews	31	BGA	2	0	2
Madeline Doubek	55	BGA	5	4	9
Rachel Leven	33	BGA	2	0	2
Robert H. Secter	67	BGA	4	0	4
Flynn McRoberts	54	Bloomberg	11	1	12
Rich Miller	56	Capitol Fax	4	5	9
Derrick Blakley	64	CBS 2	10	1	11
Yana Kunichoff	30	Chalkbeat	2	0	2
Chris DeLuca	55	Sun-Times	4	1	5
Chris Fusco	45	Sun-Times	5	1	6
Dan Mihalopoulos	44	Sun-Times	2	0	2
Fran Spielman	60	Sun-Times	2	0	2
Lauren FitzPatrick	42	Sun-Times	6	1	7
Mark L. Brown	63	Sun-Times	12	0	12
Maudlyne I. Ihejirka	54	Sun-Times	5	0	5
Mitchell Armentrout	27	Sun-Times	2	0	2
Mitchell R. Dudek	38	Sun-Times	3	0	3
Neil Steinberg	58	Sun-Times	8	1	9
Rachel Hinton	23	Sun-Times	1	0	1
Sandra Guy	57	Sun-Times	4	0	4
Scott Fornek	59	Sun-Times	16	0	16
Stephanie Zimmerman	53	Sun-Times	11	0	11
Steve Warmbir	50	Sun-Times	2	0	2
Thomas Frisbie	65	Sun-Times	13	0	13
Timothy Novak	60	Sun-Times	11	0	11
Tina Sfondeles	35	Sun-Times	1	0	1
Tom McNamee	64	Sun-Times	1	0	1
Bill Ruthhart	38	Tribune	0	0	0
David Heinzmann	50	Tribune	4	0	4
Elvia Magalon	57	Tribune	0	0	0
Gregory Pratt	29	Tribune	2	0	2
John Byrne	43	Tribune	6	0	6
John P. McCormick	68	Tribune	7	2	9
Michael Hawthorne	51	Tribune	3	0	3
Mike Riopell	36	Tribune	0	0	0
Patrick M. O'Connell	41	Tribune	2	1	3
Rick Pearson	60	Tribune	0	0	0
Robert Channick	60	Tribune	10	0	10
Steve Johnson	55	Tribune	8	0	8
Bettina Chang	29	City Bureau	1	0	1
Ann Dwyer	54	Crain's	8	0	8
Danielle Narcisse	43	Crain's	1	0	1
Frank R. Sennett	50	Crain's	2	0	2
Greg Hinz	68	Crain's	16	0	16
Jan Parr	57	Crain's	8	0	8
Jim Kirk	53	Crain's	1	0	1
Lisa Bertagnoli	57	Crain's	8	1	9
Lynne Marek	52	Crain's	4	0	4
Michael D. Arndt	62	Crain's	5	0	5
Michael J. Flannery	67	FOX 32	11	1	12
Carol Marin	70	NBC 5	14	2	16
Don Moseley	67	NBC 5	13	1	14
Brian Mackey	41	NPR Illinois	0	0	0
Dusty Rhodes	56	NPR Illinois	0	0	0
Rachel Otwell	30	NPR Illinois	0	0	0
Ryan Denham	34	NPR Illinois	2	0	2
Joe Vince	45	Patch	2	0	2
Jonah Meadows	34	Patch	2	0	2
Adrienne Hurst	26	Politico	1	0	1
Natasha Korecki	44	Politico	4	1	5
Shia Kapos	55	Politico	6	0	6
David Eads	38	ProPublica	2	0	2
Duass Eldeib	36	ProPublica	1	0	1
Jason Grotto	45	ProPublica	1	0	1
Jodi S. Cohen	42	ProPublica	8	0	8
Louise Kiernan	54	ProPublica	8	0	8
Melissa Sanchez	34	ProPublica	2	0	2
Mick Dumke	47	ProPublica	8	1	9
Steve Mills	57	ProPublica	10	0	10
Bernie Schoenberg	64	State Journal-Register	0	0	0
Doug Finke	65	State Journal-Register	0	1	1
Hannah Meisel	27	Daily Line	0	0	0
Heather Cherone	40	Daily Line	2	0	2
Brent McDonald	40	NY Times	1	0	1
Julie Bosman	39	NY Times	1	0	1
Monica Davey	54	NY Times	3	0	3
Robert Chiarito	44	NY Times	3	1	4
Alex Keefe	35	WBEZ	0	0	0
Dave McKinney	54	WBEZ	0	0	0
Kristen Schorsch	37	WBEZ	3	0	3
Linda Lutton	47	WBEZ	8	0	8
Michael Lansu	36	WBEZ	1	0	1
Monica Eng		WBEZ	3	0	3
Patrick K. Smith	32	WBEZ	1	0	1
Tony Arnold	36	WBEZ	0	0	0
Mark Maxwell	29	WCIA-TV	1	1	2
Dan Ponce	41	WGN-TV	6	1	7
Amanda Vinicky	37	WTTW-TV	0	0	0
		TOTAL	395	29	424

Source: Illinois State Board of Elections