McHenry County Board Chair Mike Buehler speaks to the Senate Transportation Committee at Elgin Community College on Wednesday. [Blue Room Stream] 

Suburban officials asked state lawmakers on Wednesday to make sure they don’t lose representation if any changes are made to the governing boards of the Chicago area transit agencies as discussions about major public transportation reforms continue.  

The Illinois State Police present the flag on the first night of the Democratic National Convention at the United Center. [PBS]   

The Democratic National Convention (DNC) in Chicago last week was the Illinois State Police’s largest deployment for a single event in the agency’s 102-year history.  

Rep. Nabeela Syed (D-Palatine) speaks at a news conference in Springfield in January. [Ben Szalinski/The Daily Line]  

State legislators and advocates are hoping to move forward a bill to create a state board that will review prescription drug prices in hopes it makes the costs more affordable to people.  

Gov. JB Pritzker speaks at an event hosted by CNN/Politico at the Democratic National Convention on Tuesday. [Ben Szalinski/The Daily Line]   

Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson called the 2024 Democratic National Convention (DNC) the “best political convention this country has ever seen” in a victory lap news conference on Friday.  

Fears of civil unrest were quicky brushed aside during the convention that featured four nights of high energy speeches, a packed United Center, celebrities and a new twist on the typically dull delegate roll call. All it took was one night of the convention for Gov. JB Pritzker to float the idea last Tuesday of bidding for the 2028 DNC. 

The Illinois delegation seating section on the floor of the United Center at the Democratic National Convention. [Ben Szalinski/The Daily Line]

Democrats have seen a new surge of enthusiasm since Vice President Kamala Harris launched her presidential campaign last month and the 2024 Democratic National Convention in Chicago left Illinois Democrats fired up for the home stretch of the election.  

Former U.S. Rep. Adam Kinzinger speaks at the Democratic National Convention on Thursday. [Ben Szalinski/The Daily Line] 

Former U.S. Rep. Adam Kinzinger was once a key face of the new generation of Illinois Republicans. Now loathed by his party, Kinzinger returned Illinois Thursday to deliver a message of national unity to Democrats.  

U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin speaks at the Illinois delegation breakfast on Thursday. [Ben Szalinski/The Daily Line] 

U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin took time to criticize Republican vice presidential nominee Ohio Sen. JD Vance for blocking President Joe Biden’s nominee to fill the open U.S. attorney position in Chicago.  

Former Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan made a brief return to politics on Thursday. And U.S. Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi of Hoffman Estates spoke at the Democratic National Convention (DNC).  

Gov. JB Pritzker speaks at a Think Big America panel at the Chicago Cultural Center on Wednesday. [Ben Szalinski/The Daily Line]   

Gov. JB Pritzker is staying on the frontlines of the 2024 campaign supporting the expansion of reproductive rights through ballot questions around the country through Pritzker’s Think Big America political action committee.  

Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson speaks at the Illinois delegation breakfast on Wednesday. [Ben Szalinski/The Daily Line]   

Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson is happy with the direction the Democratic Party is going since he first attended the Democratic National Convention (DNC) in 2016.