Willy Nilly has some very interesting inside-baseball type revelations and insights about the Aaron Schock campaign. It turns out his campaign manager is a former house mate of a woman who resigned as director of Freedom House in Princeton after being accused of misuse of funds and sexually harassing some male employees. The misuse of [...]

Did you think I was kidding when I said that the Journal Star’s editorial page would go to any length to criticize Bill Spears? Consider today’s anonymous editorial about the CeaseFire referendum:
It’s interesting that CeaseFire’s primary proponent, 92nd District Democratic House candidate Bill Spears, is a city councilman. He’ll forgive Peorians who view this do-nothing [...]

This just arrived in my inbox:
Spears Proposes New State Law Limiting Child Murderers’ Access to Children
Democratic Candidate Unveils Plan to Protect Kids from Convicted Child Killers
PEORIA—Democratic Candidate for State Representative of the 92nd District Bill Spears on Monday announced his plan to file legislation that would fix a disturbing flaw in the legal system [...]

I got the following email from Yellow Dog Democrat:
Once again, Aaron Schock is talking out of both sides of his face. Two years ago it was abortion. Now it’s taxes.
Schock tells Peorians that he’s keeping all options on the table, because he needs the support of the Peoria teachers to win.
But what’s he’s [...]

I attended Barack Obama’s appearance at a rally for State Senate candidate Dave Koehler this afternoon outside the Peoria County Courthouse.
I made the decision that If I wanted to shake Obama’s hand, I was going to have to stand next to Peoria City Council members Barbara Van Auken and Gary Sandberg, both of whom have [...]

A lot has been said about the support Bill Spears is getting from Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan. But Willy Nilly has an interesting post about supposedly high-priced Washington D.C. consultants that Aaron Schock is paying to stave off Spears’ challenge.
I seem to recall that trick not working for Dave Ransburg, who hired high-priced mercenaries [...]

From a press release:
In the interest of providing an educational opportunity for Peoria citizens, the Neighborhood Alliance is hosting a candidate’s forum. Each candidate will have an allotted time period with which to speak and/or answer questions.
Date of event: September 18, 2006. Time: begins at 5:30pm. Where: Advanced Medical [...]

From a press release:
State Representative Candidate Calls for Blockage of Rate Hike to Save Consumers Money
PEORIA-Democratic Candidate for State Representative Bill Spears on Friday lambasted the state’s utility companies as they unveil the results of a power auction on Friday afternoon predicted to increase utility rates for consumers and small businesses by nearly 55 [...]

Speaking of Bill Spears, I want to make something clear about the “CeaseFire” petition he is backing: It has nothing to do with gun control. I admit I was worried a bit. Any “stop the violence” organization coming out of Chicago has to be suspected of being involved in depriving folks of their Second Amendment [...]

Several weeks ago, I commented on the efforts of Peoria City Council member Bill Spears to get the city administration to consider purchasing replacement vehicles that use ethanol-based E-85 gasoline
It also has to be noted that Spears is running for the seat now held by State Rep. Aaron Schock. Promoting Illinois agriculture and reducing [...]

WMBD 1470’s Dave Dahl seemed to go out of his way to not mention 4th District city council member Bill Spears’ name in his report about the council instructing city staff to do more to get bids on vehicles powered by E-85 ethanol-based fuel.
The press and bloggers who attended last night’s council agreed that politics [...]

Looks like its going to be Bill Spears running against Aaron Schock. Clyde Gully has decided against seeking the Democratic Party nomination, leaving fellow Peoria City Council member Spears alone in the primary.
Why the change of heart?
Gulley said it was a very difficult decision for him, and he’s still confident he could win, but [...]

You can stick a fork in the idea that Aaron Schock will run for the Illinois State Senate. The GOP has hand-picked candidate.
Blair Gambill, 48, who owns an insurance company specializing in health plans for small businesses, is expected to announce his candidacy today.
—
Gambill is a graduate of Southern Illinois University in Carbondale and has [...]

To the surprise of none, the muckety-mucks who run the Democratic Party have annointed Bill Spears as its chosen candidate top run against State Rep. Aaron Schock.
Of course, the final decision will be up to voters in the primary, but having the state party organization behind Spears makes it an almost certain-lock. Besides, Spears is [...]

UPDATE (5:22 a.m.) : The Journal Star’s Jennifer Davis reports that Dave Koehler is rumors to be Shadid’s pick to replace him. I wouldn’t be surprised if Shadid resign early and let the powers-that-be appoint Koehler.
WEEK is reporting that long-time State Sen. George Shadid plans to retire. That’s sad news for his fans, but [...]