The Mincing Rascals 10.28.26: Alaska Senate race controversy, midterm predictions, millionaire tax, hotel strike

The Mincing Rascals this week are John Williams of WGN Radio, Eric Zorn of The Picayune Sentinel, Austin Berg, Executive Director of the Chicago Policy Center and author of the The Last Ward on Substack, and award-winning journalist and political pundit Marj Halperin. The Rascals begin the podcast discussing their predictions for the midterm elections. Next, the Rascals discuss the New York Times story about how Mary Peltola’s Senate campaign recruited candidates in an effort to take votes away from Republican Sen. Dan Sullivan in Alaska. Is this a big scandal? Sticking to scandals, the Rascals talk about the controversial ad run by the Vivek Ramaswamy campaign and what it means for his chances to win the election. And how are President Trump’s policies impacting the most important midterm races? Switching to local issues, the Rascals talk about Chicago’s election system and how some candidates are running for two offices at the same time. Do the Rascals believe this is a big deal? The Rascals also talk about referendum questions on this year’s ballot including one about a millionaire tax and another about a permanent fairgrounds space. And downstate, voters in 11 Illinois counties will decide whether to explore separating from Cook County and forming a new state. What’s the point of these non-binding questions? In Chicago, the hotel workers strike continues. What are the Rascals thoughts on the dispute?