Hey there! It’s Wednesday, and you’re running out of time to buy one of my bootleg “Take it WB-Easy” shirts from WBEZ’s pop-up store. Here’s what you need to know today.

1. What did $50 million buy Ken Griffin in Illinois’ primary? Not much.

One of the biggest losers in yesterday’s primary election was billionaire Ken Griffin, who threw down $50 million on Aurora Mayor Richard Irvin in the GOP race for governor only to see far-right Darren Bailey cross the finish line.

“It’s unclear if Griffin will continue his heavy spending in Illinois politics after he and his Citadel hedge fund have packed up and left for Miami. But what was obvious was that his latest big bet on elections in this state was a big failure, up and down the ballot,” reports my colleague Dan Mihalopoulos.

Bailey now faces Gov. JB Pritzker in the November election.

And that’s a match-up Democrats are happy to see. Pritzker and the Democratic Governors Association spent tens of millions of dollars in the GOP primary to ensure Pritzker would face Bailey instead of the more moderate Irvin, according to Republican and Democratic sources. [WBEZ]

But Sun-Times columnist Mark Brown warns that “Illinois Democrats better not take anything for granted against Bailey.”

“Working in Bailey’s favor is the expectation this will be a big Republican year nationally with the usual midterm presidential backlash compounded by high inflation and gas prices and a worrisome war in Ukraine.” [Chicago Sun-Times]

2. It was a good night for Chicago-area progressives

One of the biggest progressive wins was in Illinois’ 1st Congressional District, where Jonathan Jackson beat 16 other candidates in the Democratic primary for the seat held by former Black Panther Bobby Rush for 30 years.

Jackson, the son of civil rights leader Rev. Jesse Jackson, was endorsed by Sen. Bernie Sanders and U.S. Rep. Jesus “Chuy” Garcia. [Sun-Times]

Meanwhile, progressive state Rep. Delia Ramirez sailed to victory in the newly drawn 3rd Congressional District. She was also endorsed by Sanders and Garcia, as well as Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Sen. Elizabeth Warren. [Sun-Times]

In the Democratic primary race for Cook County assessor, incumbent Fritz Kaegi declared victory after a tough primary challenge from Metropolitan Water Reclamation District Commissioner Kari Steele. [Sun-Times]

3. The challenges now facing Illinois abortion providers

There are just 29 abortion providers in Illinois, which has emerged as one of the few places where people from the Midwest and the South can gain access to the procedure, reports The New York Times.

“People are calling who have appointments with us and want to know if abortion is still legal, people are calling from surrounding Midwest states to see if they can come to us because their appointments have been canceled and people are calling from states further away that we usually don’t hear from,” Dr. Allison Cowett, the medical director of the Chicago-based Family Planning Associates, told the Times.

Many out-of-state patients come from Missouri, with 6,578 patients being treated in Illinois in 2020, the Times reports. That’s followed by 1,878 patients from Indiana and 531 from Wisconsin. [NYT]

4. Trump’s legal exposure may have grown after this week’s Jan. 6 hearing

Former White House aide Cassidy Hutchinson’s testimony this week provided enough anecdotes about former President Donald Trump’s actions surrounding the insurrection that it may have nudged him closer to criminal charges, legal experts tell The New York Times.

“This really moved the ball significantly, even though there is still a long way to go,” Renato Mariotti, a legal analyst and former federal prosecutor in Illinois, told the newspaper. [NYT]

Hutchinson’s testimony came as federal agents in recent days have “served search warrants and subpoenas, and conducted interviews around the country that show the investigation is moving closer to Trump’s inner circle,” reports The Washington Post. [WaPo]

5. R. Kelly is sentenced to 30 years in prison in sex trafficking case

The disgraced R&B superstar was sentenced today in a New York courtroom after being convicted of racketeering and sex trafficking last year.

The sentence was delivered after U.S. District Judge Ann Donnelly heard from several survivors of Kelly’s abuse.

“You made me do things that broke my spirit. I literally wished I would die because of how low you made me feel,” said one unnamed survivor, directly addressing Kelly. “Do you remember that?”

Kelly still faces pornography and obstruction of justice charges in Chicago. That trial is scheduled to begin Aug. 15. [AP]

Here’s what else is happening

• Americans are deeply divided on transgender rights, according to a new NPR/Ipsos poll. [NPR]
• Wisconsin’s Democratic attorney general is suing to block the state’s 173-year-old abortion ban. [AP]
• The Supreme Court still has two major cases left on the docket. [NPR]
• The next James Bond movie won’t film until 2024, and “nobody’s in the running” to replace Daniel Craig, said a franchise producer. [Variety]

Oh, and one more thing …

I’ve known many people who decided to quit drinking during the pandemic, and one of them is my colleague Courtney Kueppers.

“The realization that I wanted to quit drinking felt like a lightning bolt in my mind: sudden and unmistakable. But I didn’t immediately have the words, or energy, to explain how it felt both thrilling and nerve wracking to imagine a life beyond booze,” she writes.

When COVID-19 vaccines became available and the summer of 2021 looked like an endless party, Courtney writes that she was heading to a party and doing calculations for what to begin drinking with and when to switch from beer to something stronger.

“While doing this mental math, it occurred to me that I didn’t want to spend my summer — nay, my life — doing these calculations before every social gathering. I didn’t want to get it “right” one Saturday just to mess it up the next. I didn’t want to continue to try to master alcohol — only to fail again and again. I wanted to free myself from drinking completely.” [WBEZ]

Tell me something good …

What are your plans for the Fourth of July weekend?

Amy writes:

“The best way to spend the Fourth of July holiday in Chicago THIS year is to make a pilgrimage to Graceland Cemetery and mourn the death of all American women’s equal rights and bodily autonomy — and with it, a severe blow to the American democracy that this holiday is supposed to celebrate and honor.

“When you consider that a significant majority of Americans support a woman’s right to choose, and that this 6-3 decision was issued by a court with three of the six justices in the majority nominated by a president who LOST the popular vote, a cemetery seems an apt place to reflect and recall what WAS once a democratic republic that shined as what Lincoln once called ‘the last best hope’ of mankind. We will all have to fight to get it back, just as they did in 1776 — or gay marriage, contraception and many other rights will be up next on the chopping block.”

Feel free to email me, and your response might be shared in the newsletter this week.