DL Open Thread: Wednesday, March 18, 2026
I Told You From The Very Beginning That the Underwater City At Ft. DuPont Was A Scam. Here’s more proof:
Land that was once publicly owned and later became the focus of plans for a private RV park within the state’s Fort DuPont redevelopment project could now be headed for a sheriff’s sale.
In 2021, the publicly funded Ft. DuPont Redevelopment and Preservation Corp. sold the 135-acre Grassdale property, which was formerly state-owned open space near the Chesapeake and Delaware Canal and Delaware River, to RV park developer Todd Burbage.
To facilitate the deal, the redevelopment corporation financed $2.1 million of the $3.6 million for Burbage, who who paid the rest in cash.
The financing agreement was conditioned on the purchase of an upscale RV park (in the shadows of Delaware’s leading serial polluter) on the property, and attorneys for the corporation told the court the loan came due late last year. But Burbage has not developed the park, nor has he repaid the loan, according to court documents.
As a result, the redevelopment corporation filed suit against him and his business, securing a ruling that holds him personally liable for the loan and pushing the property towards a potential sheriff’s sale to recover the debt.
There’s more, including the name of yet another feckless political insider engaged in this boondoggle–Richard Forsten.
I did some of my best coverage on this from the very beginning. This article will catch you (almost) up to speed. A sample:
The scheme was so crazy that it might well have been dreamt up by a tiny group of cronies downing a few libations at Crabby Dick’s in Delaware City. In fact, it was. Two of those cronies being then-drinking buddies Nicole Poore (more on her appearing in DL very soon) and Valerie Longhurst, along with Crabby Dick’s owner and then-Delaware City Mayor John Buchheit and disgraced former legislator and Delaware City Manager Dick Cathcart.
Thanks to Jack Markell, Nicole Poore, Valerie Longhurst and some shady Delaware City cronies, the State continues to throw taxpayer money at this project. That should stop right now.
If indeed this project is the economic goldmine that Buchheit and Cathcart claim that it is, then it’s time for private development money to replace taxpayer money. Very few taxpayers will see any benefit from this project. Conversely, well-connected developers (and well-connected politicians?) could well realize windfalls. Which reminds me. Xerxes Wilson? Follow the money. Who will benefit? Look very closely at the elected officials and former elected officials involved. Will they benefit financially and, if so how? While I don’t know for sure who will make $$’s off it, here’s one thing I know for sure. Getting between Sen. Nicole Poore (much much more on her coming very very soon) and a pile of money headed for her bank account is more dangerous than (legislative old-timers will appreciate this one) getting between former Rep. Ben Ewing and an all-you-can-eat buffet.
It’s 2026. Tom Wagner is no longer the State Auditor. Neither is Kathy McGuiness. I hereby call on State Auditor Lydia York to conduct an audit of every single state dollar that went to this enterprise, and to report to us just where (and to whom) all that money went. This should have happened years ago.
Illinois Voters (Mostly) Do The Right Thing On Tuesday. Before I get into particulars, I will just share how, in practical terms, we are no longer a democracy. There was an overwhelming presence of tech bro millions and AIPAC funding (channeled through organizations not named AIPAC). In a couple of instances, that funding paid off. Citizens United remains the decision that in effect killed democracy as we know it.
Illinois Lt. Gov. Juliana Stratton defeated Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi 40-33 in a come-from-behind victory to win Tuesday’s Democratic primary for U.S. Senate, with Rep. Robin Kelly taking third place with 18%. The Associated Press estimates that 92% of the vote has been tabulated as of Wednesday morning so the margin could shift as more votes are counted, but Stratton’s victory is not in doubt.
Krishnamoorthi, who has long been one of the strongest fundraisers in the House, used his massive war chest to start running TV ads all the way back in July—a full eight months ahead of the primary—and he had the airwaves to himself through January.
That sustained TV monopoly helped the congressman spend most of the race as the undisputed frontrunner, and even Stratton’s allies released polls showing him far ahead. Stratton’s backers, though, argued she would pull ahead after voters learned more about her.
And that’s just what happened. A super PAC partially funded by Gov. JB Pritzker, who, along with Sen. Tammy Duckworth, was Stratton’s most prominent supporter, started airing ads two months before the primary, and its intervention came at just the right time for her. Kelly, meanwhile, struggled to raise money or convince well-funded outside groups to aid her.
Democrats dodged a bullet here:
To win, Ms. Stratton overcame not just the $20 million head start Mr. Krishnamoorthi had, but $10 million in attack ads from Fairshake, a super PAC funded by cryptocurrency interests. Another super PAC, from a group called Indian American Impact, spent $1 million in an attempt to boost Mr. Krishnamoorthi and Ms. Kelly, whom it hoped would cleave votes in Black neighborhoods away from Ms. Stratton.
Stratton was the most progressive candidate, making her an instant upgrade over Dick Durbin,
The Downballot’s rundown aptly describes who was behind several other candidacies. Some good news, some bad:
Cook County Commissioner Donna Miller comfortably won the Democratic primary for Illinois’ open 2nd Congressional District, thanks in part to more than $4 million in spending from a super PAC reportedly linked to AIPAC.
State Rep. La Shawn Ford edged past a crowded field in Tuesday’s Democratic primary as he seeks to succeed retiring Rep. Danny Davis, who endorsed him last year.
Ford pulled off a 24-20 victory against Chicago Treasurer Melissa Conyears-Ervin, who benefited from $5 million in outside support from a super PAC affiliated with AIPAC and finished a close second. The rest of the pack was considerably further back.
Former Rep. Melissa Bean completed the most difficult part of her comeback bid, defeating many rivals to capture the Democratic nomination for Illinois’ 8th District in Chicago’s western outer suburbs.
Her closest opponent was businessman Junaid Ahmed, who staked out turf well to the left of the centrist Bean. But the ex-congresswoman received $6.5 million in help from groups connected to AIPAC, the AI industry, and the crypto sector and outpaced Ahmed 32-27. (In other words, they bought her.)
In Tuesday’s most closely watched Democratic primary for the House, Evanston Mayor Daniel Biss defeated political commentator Kat Abughazaleh 29-26 in Illinois’ 9th District, while state Sen. Laura Fine finished in third with 20%.
Abughazaleh was the most vocal in wanting to disrupt the status quo, calling on Democrats to “grow a fucking spine.” But Biss, a longtime elected official, was well-known as a progressive in the district and won the endorsement of retiring Rep. Jan Schakowsky.
Two different super PACs reportedly tied to AIPAC mounted a furious effort to push Fine past the goal line, spending an eye-popping $7 million to both boost her and damage Biss and Abughazaleh, but the campaign fell far short.
This is the present and future of campaigns, meaning democracy has next-to-no future. BTW, I got a paid subscription to The Downballot today. Nobody does a better job of day-to-day coverage of elections.
There must certainly be a word-stacking German term for the uncanny feeling of watching as a patently unqualified, far-right, election-denier white nationalist freak becomes the only administration figure to resign over the increasingly disastrous Iran War with an at least vaguely anti-Semitic gripe. It is an interesting moment. Let’s remember that Kent isn’t just some administration official. He’s a white nationalist extremist who had no business holding any position of trust in the U.S. government. He’s been friends to numerous anti-Semites long before today’s news broke.
Some people are inclined to be sympathetic to the ideas contained in Kent’s claim that “[i]t is clear that we started this war due to pressure from Israel and its powerful American lobby.” If that’s you, think a bit more seriously about just how Israel would be in a position to exert this “pressure” and don’t let your animus toward Trump make you a fellow traveler with someone as odious as Joe Kent.
Benjamin Netanyahu is a lifelong manipulator, schemer and liar. No foreign country can pressure the U.S. into doing something as catastrophically stupid as what we’ve seen over the past three weeks. Did Netanyahu want this? Of course he did. Netanyahu has wanted to convince American leaders to believe they have interests identical to his narrow, usually wrongheaded and always regional goals for 30 years. Only Donald Trump is so stupid, so desperate for the adrenaline fix of another regime change on the cheap that he went for it.
I, too, was taken in by Kent. Mea culpa.
What do you want to talk about?
