Sheila Simon Carries On "Tree Planting" Tradition On Election Day

What a nice, thoughtful Election Day tradition from Comptroller candidate Sheila Simon where she planted a tree this am.  She says that her father started the tradition because that way they guaranteed 'something good would come from the day'.

Simon might be facing the slaughter rule tonight against Judy Baar Topinka, but we hope that she doesn't fade away from the political spotlight.  If...only for things like this and her rad "Throwback Thursday" postings...

Today's Best Fashion Statement In Illinois

The most important thing you can wear today isn't your sweet new jacket (or...earmuffs if you are Mike Frerichs!), but rather that simple 'I voted' sticker.

As we said earlier this year, this is all about 'participating'.  From March:

There's one thing I tell my son every weekend when we go to his basketball practice: I'm not asking you to be the best. I'm not asking you to be the star. All I'm asking you to do is to PARTICIPATE. 

From the full team here at the Illinois Truth Team that's all we're asking you to do: make sure you get one of these handsome stickers to wear around your office today.

Just do it. Participate.

We're rockin' our sticker today.  We hope you are, too.

Why We Did All Of This...

Here's the top 10 search terms that have come into the Truth Team recently.  The majority of the traffic came to us in the last 60 days was via search.  As you can see, we successfully intercepted lots of interested parties and shared the 'truth' with them.

Content marketing is a 'long game'.  It takes time to create the content, develop the authority, and connect with intended searches.

With Mike Frerichs running his 'measure up' tv spot, we successfully introduced thousands of voters to the 'real Mike Frerichs' on the web.

#SecondScreenFTW

What Were Mike Frerichs And Lisa Madigan Discussing This AM?

Over on Twitter, Mike Frerichs posted this photo of himself with some other members of the Democrat ticket.  We have to ask:  What were Mike and Lisa Madigan discussing?!?

We'll make this multiple choice:

Was it...

A. Their shared participation in patronage scandals
B. The times Mike diss'd the Speaker and what he can do to get back in good graces
C. The Frerichs Vortex and what happened to Ann Callis

Top 5 Illinois Truth Team Posts From October 2014

October 2014 was the highest traffic month here on the Truth Team, so we first wanted to say 'thank you' to all of the readers who have come to check out our coverage and engaged with us online.

We thought it would be worthwhile to document the top 5 stories of the month.  These are the stories that had the most social shares, readers, and attention paid to them over the past 31 days.

TOP 5 MOST-READ STORIES IN OCTOBER 2014 ON ILLINOIS TRUTH TEAM

5.  Trust A Retired Marine...Not the "Madigan Machine":   Where we revealed the latest Paul Schimpf for Illinois Attorney General radio ad.

4.  Governor Pat Quinn Asks If Buying Votes With Taxpayer Money Is A Crime?: Where we chronicle how Illinois Governor Pat Quinn's spokesperson wonders if 'buying votes' #IsACrime?!?

3.  Look Who's In the Background At The Quinn/Obama Rally in Chicago: Where we reveal the sad fact that Mike Frerichs - candidate for Illinois Treasurer - was caught holding up a 'Meet Mike Frerichs' sign at the Obama/Quinn rally.

2.  How Tall Is Politician Mike Frerichs?: Where we tell voters there are more important questions about Mike Frerichs than just wondering what his height really is during this election time.

1.  Like a Boomer Mom With A New iPhone, Mike Frerichs Insists On Posting Blurry Pictures on Facebook: Where we goof on Mike Frerichs for acting like our mother by posting a ridiculously blurry photo on Facebook.  (as is his standard practice!)

Candidate Facebook Weekend: Schock, Bost, Cross, Topinka, Demmer, Dold, Kirk, Roskam, Mendoza, Rauner, Senger

This is the last weekend recap before tomorrow's General Election here in Illinois.  Let's take a spin around Facebook to see what the candidates were up to in the home stretch!

Congressman Aaron Schock joined Bruce and Diana Rauner and Lt. Governor candidate Evelyn Sanguinetti at a rally downstate.

Congressional candidate Mike Bost spent the weekend contacting voter door-to-door.

Treasurer candidate Tom Cross and Comptroller candidate Judy Baar Topinka joined forces for a tour of the state including a stop in Rockford...

Where they were joined by State Representative Tom Demmer:

Congressional candidate Bob Dold was joined by United States Senator Mark Kirk and Congressman Peter Roskam in the 10th District where they helped 'get out the vote' for Dold's campaign:

Chicago City Clerk Susana Mendoza attended the rugby game at Soldier Field this weekend.  

Governor's candidate Bruce Rauner was joined by a big crowd at a rally in Hickory Hills:

And Congressional candidate Darlene Senger was joined by ILGOP Chairman Tim Schneider at her campaign HQ where volunteers were busy hitting the phones.

Schimpf: Shouldn't Our AG Investigate This 'Vote Buying' Stuff?

Republican Attorney General Candidate Paul Schimpf asked if Lisa Madigan is doing anything in response to reports of vote buying in Pike County:

“This is a clear violation of Section 29-1 of the Illinois Election Code (10 ILCS 5/29-1) that prohibits a person from giving something of value to another person to influence their vote. Furthermore, the involvement of the Pike County State’s Attorney in this event proves that State’s Attorneys are not capable of addressing all cases of government corruption. Attorney General Lisa Madigan needs to immediately and publicly initiate an investigation to ensure the integrity of our voting system and bring any wrongdoers to justice.”

Aaron Schock Graces Pages Of People Magazine

The wife of one of the members of the Truth Team (yeah...that's it...his wife!) shared this image with us over the weekend.

In this edition of People Magazine that covers the George Clooney wedding...

There's this photo of Congressman Aaron Schock buddy-ing up with Katie Holmes and Coach Taylor's wife.  

Pretty awesome.

#MostInterestingCongressmanInAmerica

Judy Topinka and Tom Cross Barnstorm Illinois In Final Days

With just one full day between now and the opening of the polling places, Tom Cross - candidate for Illinois Treasurer and Judy Baar Topinka - candidate for Illinois Comptroller hit the state at a series of meetings, events and campaign stops.

Great to see Cross and Topinka partnering up to share their message and encouraging voters to get out and vote on Tuesday!