Daywatch: As governor’s race heats up, it’s battle of the billionaires | State senators with ties to Madigan drop reelection bids

Good morning, Chicago.

Illinois’ political battle of the billionaires has long been thought to be Democratic Gov. J.B. Pritzker and businessman Ken Griffin. But now a new battle may be shaping up in the race for the Republican nomination for governor.

Late Wednesday, conservative megadonor Richard Uihlein, founder of the privately held Uline office supply business, gave $2.5 million to state Sen. Darren Bailey’s effort for the GOP governor nomination. That’s on top of $1 million Uihlein already contributed to Bailey’s campaign.

One issue in the governor’s race: the state’s long-term debt problems. That’s why Pritzker is touting Illinois’ third credit upgrade in less than a year after previously going more than two decades without one. That bolsters Pritzker’s reelection campaign message that he and fellow Democrats are slowly fixing the state’s long-running financial problems. Even with the upgrade, Moody’s Investors Service said Illinois’ credit remains lower than that of any other state in the nation.

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Two longtime Democratic state senators whose names have come up as part of the wide-ranging federal corruption probe that led to charges against former Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan have dropped their reelection bids.

Sens. Tony Muñoz of Chicago, an assistant majority leader, and Steve Landek, who doubles as mayor of Bridgeview, withdrew their names from the June 28 primary ballot, each likely clearing the way for their political allies to take over the respective seats. Neither Muñoz nor Landek has been accused of any wrongdoing.

A federal prosecutor delivered an impassioned defense of the deferred prosecution deal with former Ald. Daniel Solis, telling the federal judge overseeing the high-profile case that Solis’ cooperation was perhaps “singular” even in the city’s long history of political corruption.

“Some may view (Solis’ cooperation) as being with little precedent, but what Mr. Solis did also was with little precedent,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Amarjeet Bhachu said during a status hearing in Solis’ case. “He didn’t just talk. He took action. He worked with the federal government for six years to expose corruption.”

Embroiled in an internecine battle between two owners who rescued it from dissolution nearly four years ago, the Chicago Reader, the city’s alternative newspaper for more than 50 years, is running out of money and time.

The Reader has been stuck in limbo since December, when a planned transition to a nonprofit model was delayed over concerns about alleged censorship of an opinion piece written by co-owner Len Goodman, who has pushed for an investigation into the matter and more representation on the successor board.

Reader editorial employees organized a rally Thursday in front of Goodman’s Lakeview East home in a “last ditch effort” to get the criminal defense attorney to relinquish control and let the newspaper move forward as a nonprofit. Goodman blames Reader management for not addressing his concerns.

Richard M. Daley was destined to plant lots of trees on the median strips of Chicago’s streets, but first he had to get elected mayor.

The Tribune’s Ron Grossman looks back at his formative political years ahead of his 80th birthday this weekend.

Word began to spread about their long-awaited return. He hadn’t been spotted at his Texas home and the winds were right for travel. She was known to take off around the same time from her Florida island, sometimes arriving before him. Wishes of safe flights came in from across the country as Chicagoans itching to catch an early sight made plans to head to the beach.

By Thursday afternoon, Monty, the Great Lakes piping plover, was back in Chicago. Now, birders are waiting for Rose.