Two years ago this month, state lawmakers finalized a package of state and local tax breaks for Hoffman Estates-based Sears Holdings Corp., answering the question about whether that company would flee Illinois but raising questions about how future ...

SPRINGFIELD — Tuesday could be high noon for the highest-profile debate over Illinois' disastrous finances as lawmakers prepare for a possible vote on a plan to cut public workers' pension benefits. But more than two duelers are involved as supporte...

Soon after Republican Mike Webster announced his bid for Illinois secretary of state this week, the party sent out an email plea to its faithful: Please help the Naperville attorney get on the March 18 ballot. “Here’s the problem: We have an extreme...

WASHINGTON — As partisanship renders Washington largely dysfunctional, voters in two states signaled this week that they want consensus-building even when there’s divided government. Even so, heading into a 2014 midterm election year, Tuesday’s res...

Illinois state Sen. Kwame Raoul will discuss “Illinois’ Fiscal Crisis: Decades in the Making” on Nov. 18 as a part of Elmhurst College’s “Fixing Illinois: A Great State’s Problems and Promise” lecture series. Raoul’s talk will begin at 7 p.m. in Elm...

In what’s shaping up to be an expensive suburban rematch, Democratic U.S. Rep. Brad Schneider and likely Republican challenger Robert Dold received financial support from a bevy of political heavy hitters and high-profile organizations this past qua...

A new conservative group will meet Saturday in Lake County to talk to potential primary challengers to Republican state Rep. Ed Sullivan of Mundelein, one of three Illinois Republicans who have pledged to vote for same-sex marriage. The meeting is b...

WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court is beginning a new term with controversial issues that offer the court’s conservative majority the chance to move aggressively to undo limits on campaign contributions, undermine claims of discrimination in housing and...

BOSTON — With no end in sight to the federal government shutdown, Republican governors eyeing the 2016 presidential race are pitching themselves as can-do politicians and highlighting records of achievement. Although unstated, their goal is clear — ...