In the Chicago Reader's profile of Joe Laiacona, running for the State House in the 40th District against Blago's sister-in-law Deb Mell, Hunter Clauss mentioned Laiacona's petition challenge to Mell's candidacy, centered on a conflict of Mell's address. But thanks to a ruling earlier this week, the Reader follows-up, it looks like Mell is in the clear. more ›

A few weeks back, Joe mentioned the race in the state's 40th District, pairing incumbent State Rep. Deb Mell (a.k.a. Blago's sister-in-law) against Joe Laiacona, an openly gay candidate who, among other things, writes a leather fetish column. In this week's Chicago Reader - out today - our pal and former Chicagoist political writer Hunter Clauss writes an excellent in-depth profile of Laiacona, including his side-projects, the campaign, and the petition challenge against Mell. Check it out here. more ›

On the surface, Columbia College instructor and journalist Joe Laiacona's challenge of incumbent State Rep. Deb Mell in the 40th District's Democratic primary in Feb. doesn't seem so unusual beyond the fact that it will be the most high-profile battle between two openly gay contenders in Illinois political history. But Laiacona's decade-plus stint writing a leather/BDSM column certainly ups that ante. more ›