TGIF, Illinois. Drum roll for the first-ever “Thirsties,” the awards for those who excel in D.C.’s signature art form of trying to get on TV, via POLITICO.

TOP TALKER

SCOOP: Organizers of the 2024 Democratic National Convention will hold their first meeting today, and the subject is partying.

On the Zoom call: Choose Chicago CEO Lynn Osmond, Chicago Restaurant Association President Sam Toia, Democratic National Convention representative Kaitlin Fahey — an alum of Sen. Tammy Duckworth’s office — and some 250 restaurateurs.

The purpose of the briefing is “to outline the benefits” for restaurants and venues to participate with the Democratic National Convention, according to an email sent to participants and obtained by Playbook.

What that means: Organizers will connect restaurants and venues to states’ Democratic delegations. Restaurants that participate will need to sign a memorandum of agreement to work with the DNC and the state that it gets assigned.

The catch-22: Restaurants that sign up with the DNC won’t be able to open their doors to big private companies that want to rent out space during the convention. That matters because even if a large company – an Amazon or Google, for example – might be able to pay more than the DNC, once you’re locked in with a state you can’t try to also do something else.

Restaurants will have to decide whether to commit for a sure thing with the DNC or throw caution to the wind and hope private companies come through with party business.

States with big delegations like California and Texas are likely to be connected to some of the city’s larger restaurants in town. Gibsons Bar & Steakhouse, for example, has multiple floors that can accommodate more customers than many restaurants.

Teaming up a delegation with a restaurant or venue is just the precursor to the real chess game: connecting delegations to specific hotels.

THE BUZZ

Mayor-elect Brandon Johnson names transition team: “It includes a diverse mix of four dozen business, union, faith, education and community leaders whose responsibility will be to advise the next mayor on policy issues,” report ABC 7’s Diane Pathieu and Craig Wall.

Also on the team: a former Chicago Police chief of detectives and a fired reform boss, reports WTTW’s Heather Cherone

Johnson isn’t ready to clean house at City Hall, adviser Jason Lee says: “Don’t expect ’wholesale, universal changes’ in city departments, said the senior adviser to Johnson’s mayoral campaign and transition team, citing a need for ‘at least some initial continuity so that we can make sure that government maintains its core functions,’” by Sun-Times’ Fran Spielman.

The mayor-elect sits down for a conversation with David Axelrod for the Axe Files. Johnson gets personal talking about his mother’s health problems and how she tried to pinch pennies on medication before her death.

Praise, advice for Johnson at his last Cook County Board meeting, by Tribune’s A.D. Quig

How an unconventional media strategy helped power Brandon Johnson to victory: “The Chicago mayor-elect’s use of smaller, alternative outlets to reach niche audiences could be a blueprint for future candidates seeking to drive voters to the polls, by Crain’s Corli Jay.

If you are Steve Lombardo, owner of Gibsons, Playbook would like to know the pluses and minuses of signing the memo of memorandum with the DNC. Email [email protected].

WHERE'S JB

No official public events.

WHERE'S LORI

No official public events.

Where's Toni

No official public events.

Thank you for reading Playbook! Drop me a line sometime: [email protected]

TAKING NAMES

— FIRST IN PLAYBOOK: Congressman Jesus “Chuy” García has been appointed deputy whip of the Congressional Progressive Caucus. “Our work is urgent and our mission is clear,” he said in a statement to Playbook. “The Progressive Caucus is writing the policy for a more equitable and sustainable future. I’ve spent my career building coalitions, and I look forward to continuing that work in this position to build the power we need to deliver for working people.”

Garcia was a mayoral candidate who ran under a progressive banner for mayor of Chicago. though wasn’t able to find a clear path with so many candidates in the race, including fellow progressive Brandon Johnson, who ultimately won.

— Illinois Supreme Court Justice Mary Jane Theis talks about how she got to be the state’s top justice in this Q&A on the Portia Project Podcast, which features women in the law.

— La-di-da Lincoln: The Lincoln Laureates will be honored in Springfield on Saturday at the Lincoln Academy of Illinois Convocation. Gov. JB Pritzker will bestow the honors to former first lady of Illinois Jayne Carr Thompson, Catholic Archbishop Wilton Cardinal Gregory, former state legislator and former Springfield Mayor Karen Hasara, Ariel Investments co-CEO John W. Rogers Jr., WGN meteorologist Thomas E. Skilling III and Paula Wolff. Illinois, policy advisor for three Illinois governors and the former president of Governors State University.

ELECTION FALLOUT

— STUNNER | Inside a private portal from GOP campaigns to local news sites: The Washington Post reports that an Illinois publisher of far-right mailings didn’t just spin a far-right message during last year’s election. The publisher also allowed some GOP candidates access to a “password-protected portal” that allowed them to curate the information being shared under the guise of news.

How it worked: The effort allowed users “to pitch stories; provide interview subjects as well as questions; place announcements and submit op-eds to be ‘published verbatim’ in any of about 30 sites that form part of the Illinois-focused media network, called Local Government Information Services,” which is connected to Dan Proft, the far-right political consultant who ran the super PAC that ran ads supporting Darren Bailey for governor.

Illinois Democrats call the practice “deceitful,” according to a follow-up piece in the Chicago Tribune.

There’s more to it: The network is run by Brian Timpone, who has spoken to two allies of former President Donald Trump “about expanding his operation,” a source told The Post. “The discussions suggest that Illinois could be a testing ground for much broader work leading into 2024.”

THE STATEWIDES

— Calls to reform estate tax grow, but Gov. JB Pritzker mum on the issue: “As it stands, net assets in Illinois assessed at $4 million or higher are subject to a tax ranging from 0.8 percent to 16 percent. Calls to reform the estate tax have grown in recent weeks in the Capitol, albeit with varying methods,” by State Journal-Register’s Patrick Keck.

— Illinois Gaming Board slammed video gambling company for alleged ties to bookmaker, but it’s still reaping millions: “In 2021, the state agency proposed stripping the lucrative video gaming license held by Frank Cortese’s company. Nearly two years later, with no ruling yet, he’s still in business,” by Sun-Times’ Tim Novak and Robert Herguth.

— Audit finds Illinois State Police did not properly manage equipment inventory, by Illinois Times’ Don Howard

— Mom of Olympian Cathy Boswell gets hearing implant just in time for daughter’s induction into Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame, by Tribune’s Robert McCoppin

CORRUPTION CHRONICLES

— ‘ComEd Four’ jury ends a third day of deliberations and will return Monday: “So far, the panel of seven women and five men has deliberated for about 15 hours over three days,” by Tribune’s Jason Meisner, Ray Long and Megan Crepeau.

CHICAGO

— City Council committee to discuss migrant influx today: The virtual committee meeting will discuss the issue of “hundreds of migrants” living in public spaces in the city, including police stations, by ABC 7’s Diane Pathieu.

— Search for Chicago’s top cop complicated by lobbying campaigns for candidates. ‘It’s not a popularity contest,’ by Sun-Times’ Tom Schuba and Fran Spielman

— HISTORY: Frank Annunzio, who represented Chicago in Congress, was linked to the mob, his FBI file shows, by Sun-Times’ Robert Herguth

— Conversation, connection may be antidotes for incivility in law, writes the Law Bulletin’s Grace Barbic.

COOK COUNTY AND COLLARS

— Outgoing Naperville Mayor Steve Chirico reflects on his two terms, by Daily Herald’s Kevin Schmit

— Elgin’s first Pride Parade and Festival hopes to make everyone feel ‘safe and welcome in our space,’ by Daily Herald’s Rick West

— Heifer goes on the lam in north suburbs! But don’t have a cow — the cops caught it, by Sun-Times’ Stefano Esposito

Reader Digest

We asked what you look for in a political poll before you take it seriously:

Kevin Lamm: “Who’s paying for it.”

John Lopez: “First thing I check is the calendar. Close to an election, the poll has meaning. Further out, not so much.”

Bobby Martinez Olson: “I look for independence in the poll taker.”

Patricia Ann Watson looks at “what outfit is calling and whether it’s legitimate opinion data gathering or just a mere push poll.”

Which Democratic delegations would you assign to Chicago restaurants? Email [email protected]

POT-POURRI

A cannabis banking bill has been reintroduced with bipartisan support in the House and Senate: “The legislation enjoys broad support on both sides of the aisle and is the top priority of the financially-beleaguered cannabis industry,” reports POLITICO’s Paul Demko.

THE NATIONAL TAKE

— The one big advantage Ron De$antis has: Tons and tons of cash, by POLITICO’s Sally Godenberg and Jessica Piper

— Pence appears before Jan. 6 grand jury, by POLITICO’s Kyle Cheney

— A new portrait of American teenagers in crisis, by POLITICO’s Krista Mahr

— Carolyn Bryant Donham dies at 88; her words doomed Emmett Till, via The New York Times.

IN MEMORIAM

Jerry Springer, host of a raucous talk show and former Cincinnati mayor, died at 79: “Jerry Springer, who went from a somewhat outlandish political career to an almost indescribably outlandish broadcasting career with ‘The Jerry Springer Show,’ which by the mid-1990s was setting a new standard for tawdriness on American television, turning the talk-show format into an arena for shocking confessions, adultery-fueled screaming matches and not infrequent fistfights, died on Thursday in suburban Chicago,” via The New York Times.

TRIVIA

THURSDAY’s ANSWER: Congrats to Mark Tebbe for correctly answering that there are three state Capitol buildings still standing of the six that have been in operation over the years. Still standing the current Capitol, the Old State Capitol in Springfield and another old capitol in Vandalia.

TODAY’s QUESTION: What Illinois public building (that’s still in active use) took 40 years to pay off the debt and caused many residents to lose their homes and farms because of the tax increase? Email [email protected]

HAPPY BIRTHDAY

Today: State Rep. Ann Williams, businessman and political fundraiser Les Coney, Duckworth comms director Ben Garmisa, Four Corners Global Consulting co-founder Daniel Weyl, Kasper & Nottage public affairs consultant David Dring and Jennifer Allison, district director for state Sen. Dave Koehler.

Saturday: Illinois Democratic State Central Committeeman Patrick Watson, radio talk show host and former political candidate Dan Proft, Graham Media Group adviser Emily Barr and Isabelli Media Relations President Janet Isabelli.

Sunday: Congresswoman Robin Kelly, attorney and former state Sen. Chris Nybo, MediaPros 24/7 President Anne Kavanagh, journalist Sue Ontiveros, Edelman Managing Director Lindsay Walters and DICE venue and partnership promoter Alex White.

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