Happy Monday, Illinois. The municipal elections are down to the wire. Be nice out there.

Mayor Lori Lightfoot has spent the past few days rallying Black voters in her reelection bid. She sees Black women, especially, as key to reelection.

Taking nothing for granted: “I’m very confident that we will be in a runoff, but we can’t take anything for chance,” Lightfoot said in an interview last week after a breakfast with Black business leaders at Daley’s Restaurant, one of the city’s oldest (and not related to the former mayors). “We’ve got to get people out to the polls.”

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Big endorsement: Former Congressman Bobby Rush has endorsed Lightfoot, speaking passionately, that she’s “the only one since Harold Washington to confront the real problems in the Black community.”

Will it push her into a runoff? Lightfoot’s eight rivals were also on the campaign trail over the weekend. They’ve criticized the mayor about crime, management style and, even, temperament. Hard to imagine given her predecessors are Rahm Emanuel and two blustery Daleys. Lightfoot doesn’t take the criticisms lightly.

Her pitch: “We have been through hell and back in the last four years. No one could have anticipated that we were going to go through a once-in-a-lifetime global pandemic,” she said. “Am I completely understanding that people are feeling a sense of disquiet and concern? I absolutely get it. How could we not? But we need to keep forging ahead together.”

Echoing her: At final rally, Lightfoot revs up crucial backers: Black women, by Sun-Times’ Lynn Sweet

Everyone’s watching:

— From The New York Times: “Lightfoot has attempted to embrace her spot in the middle, arguing that the city needs to stay the course,” by Mitch Smith.

— HuffPost spoke to more than 30 rank-and-file Chicago voters, “What emerged is a portrait of a mayor with considerable accomplishments, beset both by crises that are not entirely in her control and some problems of her own making,” reports Daniel Marans.

— From The New Yorker: “The attacks on Lightfoot’s character have worn on her. ‘Do I like the way that I’ve been portrayed in the media as the person who can’t get along or collaborate?’ She noted that she has reduced the city’s large budget gaps, won approval for a four-billion-dollar extension of the Red Line and launched a downtown casino that had been in the works for 30 years. “And, look, also, I am a Black woman — let’s not forget,” she said. “Certain folks, frankly, don’t support us in leadership roles.” Peter Slevin reports.

— Washington Monthly asks: Will Paul Vallas be the next mayor of Chicago? “Called a ‘compassionate mechanic,’ the never-elected public servant is an unlikely top contender thanks to a tough-on-crime approach that says much about what voters want in America’s troubled post-pandemic cities,” Storer H. Rowley writes in Washington Monthly.

RELATED

— Mayoral candidates make the final push, by Gregory Pratt, Alice Yin, A.D. Quig and Hank Sanders

— Canvassing churches — and warning of ‘false prophets,’ by Sun-Times’ Mitchell Armentrout and David Struett

— A hundred years ago, Chicago elected a reform mayor. He was voted out four years later, by Tribune’s Ron Grossman

— Paul Vallas blames unnamed hackers for his Twitter account’s likes of offensive posts, by Tribune’s Gregory Pratt

BUDGET REVAMP: The way state Rep. Jehan Gordon-Booth looks at it, this year’s budget-making process will be the first in eight years in which lawmakers will operate under a normal budget process.

There were the four years of upheaval under Gov. Bruce Rauner’s administration, including a few years of no budget at all. Then Gov. JB Pritzker came in for a honeymoon year that saw sweeping measures legalize cannabis and raise the minimum wage, followed by three years of virtual meetings because of the pandemic.

“There’s been enough turnover that very few members have participated” in a rigorous budget-making process that includes in-person discussions and debate, says Gordon-Booth, the speaker pro tempore and chief budgeteer of the Democratic-controlled House.

It’s back to the basics: “We’re no longer Zooming, and we don’t have a divided government. It’s important now to get back to basics and deal with the budget-making process so members have a better understanding about how it works and how to engage,” she told Playbook.

Virtual meetings prevented new lawmakers from leaning over and asking veterans for insight. And forget about talking across the aisle back then.

How the sausage is made: This year’s legislative session will be a return to in-person subject-matter hearings and the “pain-staking work” of everyone pulling through the budget, Gordon-Booth said. “It’s a lot of work, but I think when we engage in the process, new members will have a greater understanding about how budget-making works.”

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On the campaign trail.

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— SPARKS FLY: In dueling letters, Dem lawmakers and Kane sheriff trade accusations on police input for gun ban: Sens. Cristina Castro and Karina Villa joined state Reps. Anna Moeller, Martha Hirschauer and Barbara Hernandez in saying Kane County Sheriff Ron Hain was wrong when he said no law enforcement officers were involved in crafting the law. Daily Herald’s Susan Sarkauskas reports.

— Here’s the status of the law that allows the ban on assault weapons, by Kerry Lester Kasper for Center for Illinois Politics

— Lawmakers seek protections for children of vloggers: “Bills in Washington state and Illinois pertain to parents who document their kids’ lives on video and share it to YouTube and TikTok for money,” by Pluribus News’ Austin Jenkins.

— DCFS blocking undocumented survivors of child abuse from applying for visas allowing them to stay in U.S.: “The Illinois child-welfare agency for years has refused to issue ‘U visa’ certifications to survivors of child abuse despite a law mandating that it must decide whether they qualify within 90 business days after they apply,” by Injustice Watch’s Carlos Ballesteros.

— A battle simmers in Illinois over plans to pipe in and store millions of tons of planet-warming carbon dioxide underground, by Tribune’s Nara Schoenberg

— Nearing 100, Artist Laureate of Illinois Kay Smith says her passion for painting keeps her going, by WBEZ’s Vanessa Lopez

— PACs representing charters, realtors and business spend more than $1M on aldermanic races, by A.D. Quig. Includes CHART by ward.

— 19th Ward: Ald. Matt O’Shea is feeling the squeeze: On the right is the Fraternal Order of Police-backed former Chicago Police Sgt. Mike Cummings, and on the left is computer consultant Tim Noonan, by Tribune’s John Byrne.

— 20th Ward: Ald. Jeanette Taylor aims to fend off rivals in a ward where persistent challenges abound, by Tribune’s Shanzeh Ahmad

— Voting insight: Older voters are leading the charge in early voting, according to the Chicago Board of Elections.

— Ward breakdown, according to the Chicago Board of Elections.

— Mayor, city workers union announce tentative agreement, averting strike before election: “A joint statement from Mayor Lori Lightfoot and Roberta Lynch, executive director of AFSCME Council 31, said the agreement would ‘improve the economic security and working lives of thousands of dedicated frontline’ employees in about a dozen city departments,” by Sun-Times’ Fran Spielman.

— Chicago is expanding the types of 911 calls that get a mental health response: “The city’s first crisis response teams together have handled fewer than two calls a day. New 911 protocols are expected to lift that number,” by WBEZ’s Shannon Heffernan and Chip Mitchell.

— After pollution rules revised, two asphalt makers in the lead for city work, by Sun-Times’ Brett Chase

— Newberry Library online exhibition showcases Great Migration, by Sun-Times’ Vanessa Lopez

— Longtime Bears lobbyist who secured Soldier Field financing now trying to do same at Arlington: “Roger Bickel, a partner at Chicago-based Freeborn & Peters, is behind the Bears’ latest lobbying effort in Springfield as the NFL franchise seeks legislative approval for a massive property tax break at the 326-acre Arlington Park site it just purchased,” by Daily Herald’s Christopher Placek.

— Aurora City Council set to vote on $4.5M restaurant and brewery project downtown, by Aurora Beacon-News’ Steve Lord

— How Gov. JB Pritzker doled out his campaign cash before the November election: “Pritzker’s campaign committee — which has been nearly entirely self-funded — transferred more than $8 million to political organizations as Election Day approached,” by Daily Herald’s Russell Lissau.

We asked who you call every day.

Mariyana Spyropoulos and Matthew McLoughlin both call their moms every day.

Bill Kresse sends early-morning texts to his brothers in Chicago and Arizona “to check in and see how they’re doing.”

Lisa Wagner calls “one or more of my kids. Gotta check in and say I love you.”

James Castro calls his mom and dad.

Matthew W. Beaudet calls his daughter in D.C. and son in Madison. “It’s a simple but important ‘Love you and proud of you!’ And more often than not it’s a text.”

Vincent Brandys texts with friends Rick Giglio and Scoop Glinski.

What’s keeping you from voting in your municipal election? Email [email protected]

— Reps. Raja Krishnamoorthi, an Illinois Democrat, and Mike Gallagher, a Wisconsin Republican, joined CBS’ Face “The Nation” to discuss their work on the Select Committee on Strategic Competition Between the United States and Chinese Communist Party. The panel’s first hearing is Tuesday. “The Chinese Communist Party likes nothing better than for Democrats and Republicans to have divisions,” Krishnamoorthi said. “So, we have to get over that to be effective.”

He also defended Rep. Judy Chu after another lawmaker last week questioned her loyalty to the United States because of her Chinese heritage. “I find that offensive as an Asian American myself,” Krishnamoorthi said. Video here

— Rep. Mary Miller is among Republicans backing Matt Gaetz’s resolution to end Ukraine aid, via Newsweek

— IN WISCONSIN: The biggest election of 2023 reaches final sprint, by POLITICO’s Zach Montellero and Megan Messerly

— The strengths and weaknesses of Volodymyr Zelenskyy, by POLITICO’s Jamie Dettmer

— Biden on economy: ‘It’s understandable why people are just down,’ by POLITICO’s David Cohen

— Weeks after Ohio derailment, feds mull merger set to bring more freight trains to the Chicago area, by Tribune’s Sarah Freishtat and Ezra Maille

— Valerie Jarrett, a former top aide to President Barack Obama, reflects on the anniversary of Trayvon Martin’s murder 11 years ago. It’s as relative today as ever. Tweet here

— Circuit Court Judge Adrienne Davis, attorney Cannon Lambert and community advocate Martin Coffer received the C.F. Stradford Award from Cook County State’s Attorney Kim Foxx. The award honors contributions of African Americans through their professional lives.

— Agustin M. Torres has been named executive director of the nonprofit Reading Between the Lines, which supports adults previously incarcerated. Torres replaces the interim executive director, Kelly Kleiman. Torres had worked for Acclivus Inc. and READI Chicago (Heartland Alliance). He also serves on the Illinois Sentencing Advisory Council.

— March 9: Former Navy Secretary John Dalton headlines a discussion on his book, “At the Helm: My Journey with Family, Faith and Friends to Calm the Storms of Life.” Details here

— March 11: FOIA Fest is back, and it’s virtual. Register here

— March 20: Sen. Dick Durbin will be feted at a fundraising luncheon. Details here

FRIDAY’s ANSWER: Congrats to former Roger Flahaven for correctly answering that Sen. Everett McKinley Dirksen had a cameo in “The Monitors,” a 1969 production featuring Keenan Wynn and Larry Storch. It was a sci-fi thriller about aliens who wore bowler hats.

TODAY’s QUESTION: What Illinois city center was destroyed by a train derailment fire? Email [email protected]

Political commentator and former Congressman Adam Kinzinger, former state Rep. Coy Pugh, nonprofit leader Sara Albrecht, United Airlines VP Sasha Johnson, attorney Ted Tetzlaff and cannabis lobbyist Trevian Kutti.

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