Lake County (Illinois) Pundit

Filing Day

2005-12-12T08:20:00.000-06:00

It will be lots of fun to see the filings that come in both at Waukegan and Springfield.

Local seats up in Lake County include: county clerk, regional superintendent of schools, sheriff, treasurer, 16 (of 23) Lake County Board seats, precinct committeemen and North Shore Sanitary Districts 1 and 4.

Nearly live posting from Springfield can be viewed here. Waukegan filings now included too. Incumbents in Bold.

So far:
- 8th Congressional - Bob Churchill (R), David McSweeney (R), Teresa Bartels (R), Ken Arnold (R) , Aaron Lincoln (R), Kathy Salvi (R) , Melissa Bean (D)
- 10th Congressional - Mark Kirk (R), Daniel Seals (D), Zane Smith (D)

- 19th Circuit - A - John Phillips (R)
- 19th Circuit - B - Valerie Ceckowski (R), Wallace Dunn (R)
- 19th Circuit - C - George Bridges (R), Theodore Potkonjak (R)

- 30th State Senate - Terry Link (D)
- 31st State Senate - Adeline Geo-Karis (R), Suzanne Simpson (R)

- 51st State Representative - Ed Sullivan, Jr. (R), Amanda Howland (D)
- 52nd State Representative - Mark Beaubian, Jr. (R), Denny Driscoll (R)
- 53rd State Representative - Sidney Mathias (R), Michael McDonald (D), Scott Bludorn (R)
- 58th State Representative - Karen May (D)
- 59th State Representative - Kathy Ryg (D)
- 60th State Representative - Eddie Washington (D)
- 61st State Representative - JoAnn Osmond (R), David Dziki (R)
- 62nd State Representative - Barbara Oilschlager (R), Sharyn Elman (D), Sandy Cole (R)

- County Clerk - Willard Helander (R)
- Treasurer - Bob Skidmore (R)
- Sheriff - Gary Del Re (R)
- Supt. of Schools - Roycealee Wood (R)

Lake County Board
- District 2 - Diane Hewitt (D), Brandon Rohrdanz (D), Randall Whitmore (R)
- District 3 - Suzi Schmidt (R)
- District 4 - Jack Senter, Jr. (R), Brent Paxton (R)
- District 7 - Kurt Anderson (D) , Steve Carlson (R)
- District 8 - Bill Durkin (D)
- District 9 - Mary Ross Cunningham (D)
- District 12 - Angelo Kyle (D)
- District 13 - Susan Loving Gravenhorst (R), Scott Helton (R), Carrie Travers (D)
- District 15 - Carol Calabresa (R) , Delfino Parra (D)
- District 17 - Stevenson Mountsier (R)
- District 18 - John Sonnenberg (D), Pam Newton (R)
- District 19 - Michael Talbett (R)
- District 20 - Marc Tepper (D), David Stolman (R)
- District 21 - Ann Maine (R)
- District 22 - Carol Spieman (D), Arnie Silberman (D)
- District 23 - Anne Bassi (D)

Kathy Salvi as Lt. Governor?

2005-12-12T08:18:00.000-06:00

Here's an interesting story from the Tribune today. Oberweis has asked Salvi to run as his LG candidate. She apparently is seriously considering it...I tend to think that she must think that there is a lack of momentum in her Congressional candidacy.

Update: Salvi has decided not to run with Oberweis as LG.

8th Congressional Race

2005-12-01T03:33:00.000-06:00

Lots has happened since summer in the 8th Congressional Race. Which Republican now has the upper hand in the primary? Who is the best to go head to head with Rep. Melissa Bean?

List of Candidates:
David McSweeney
Teresa Bartels
Bob Churchill
Kathy Salvi
Ken Arnold
Aaron Lincoln

Locations of Political Bloggers

2005-12-01T03:24:00.000-06:00

I put together this map to help us search for Illinois political bloggers based on geographic location and to help us put their opinions in context to their neighborhoods or regions. Many more blogs to be added soon.

http://communitywalk.com/map/1147

Hiatus is Over - Tis the Season for Campaigning

2005-12-01T01:58:00.000-06:00

After a long break, I am back to engage in some intelligent debate about Lake County Politics.

Local Political Site of the Week

2005-06-29T08:15:00.000-05:00

The Tenth Congressional District Democrats offer an impressive website at http://www.tenthdems.org/

The site has a lot of information, links, and is updated frequently. I have added to the link list.

Local Government Official of the Week

2005-06-23T12:31:00.000-05:00

Starting next week, I plan to run a weekly profile on a local governemnt official. Since his name is being mentioned as a potential candidate for the 10th Congressional District, it seems appropriate to start next week with Lake County Board Member Angelo Kyle of Waukegan.

Susan Garrett takes a pass on the 10th CD

2005-06-23T12:09:00.000-05:00

In what I think was the right move, State Senator Susan Garrett has decided not to challenge Congressman Mark Kirk in the 10th CD. Garrett was the Democrat's best shot at winning the moderate district. I believe Kirk will now have a fairly easy re-election victory as Democrats scramble to come up with a new candidate.

The Daily Herald mentions other prospective candidates such as Lake County Board Member Angelo Kyle, "Mississippi Burning" investigator and Stevenson teacher Barry Bradford, and former Clinton adviser Jay Footlik.

Garrett is a great candidate and campaigner, but Mark Kirk is too strong. His positions are almost always in sync with his district and he receives impressive media coverage in the area. Garrett should run when the seat opens or in 2012 after the lines are re-drawn.

Grayslake Eyes Major Development

2005-06-17T16:04:00.000-05:00

The Daily Herald reports today about a significant development project for Grayslake. The land involved is a portion of the Lake County Fairgrounds at Routes 120 and 45 along with the Titus Farm near Peterson Road and Rt. 45 of which portions would be sold to a national developer who plans to build a high end shopping area. The shopping will be of a quality and size similar to Westfield Mall in Vernon Hills. The County Fair Association will also build new facilities on another portion of the land involved.

This is a potential windfall for Grayslake which has struggled with high property taxes. This will also help boost property values in Grayslake, Libertyville, Gurnee, and Mundelein. They will obviously have to address the already significant traffic issues in the area. The Village of Grayslake and the County still have to sign off on some things, but it seems like a done deal.

Gurnee Toll Plaza Proposal Shelved

2005-06-16T18:04:00.000-05:00

Lawmakers and residents of all political persuasions quickly rallied to defeat a proposal by the Illinois State Toll Highway Authority to build a toll plaza just south of Grand Avenue in Gurnee. The Toll Authority abandoned their plans after the stiff resistance to the plan. They had promised improvements to Grand Avenue if the plaza was built.

Part of the improvements would have fixed the dangerous intersection of Dilleys Road and Grand Avenue. Anyone who has tried to exit at Grand going east and then attempted to make a left turn at Dilleys actually knows that it is more impossible than dangerous. The Toll Authority is indicating that these improvements are off the table without the new plaza.

There are 26 million visitors annually to Great America and Gurnee Mills. The last thing Gurnee needed was a toll plaza to create more traffic problems and backups. Frankly, I think most people would rather pay a little extra for their vehicle registration than deal with the tolls. I'd also like to see what the safety records are for the toll plazas and exactly what the costs are to administer and staff the tolls.

Cook County Hawaii Trip

2005-06-14T20:58:00.000-05:00

Cook County Board President John Stroger, seven Cook County Commissioners, and a dozen or more staffers are headed to Hawaii for an annual National Association of Counties (NACO) conference in July. It will cost about $2,000 per person to attend. There have been several recent media stories about the trip. Lake County Board Member and current NACO President Angelo Kyle defended Stroger and the Cook County attendees by saying that the trip is justified.

The NACO conference is a worthwhile investment of County time and money. The problem with this issue is the destination. There is no educational enhancement in holding the conference in Honolulu. Chicago, Dallas, Orlando or another affordable, somewhat centrally located convention city would cost taxpayers a lot less money. More importantly, it would be much more affordable and easier for smaller counties to attend. How many of the 3,066 counties will be able to send someone to Hawaii?

I would estimate that a county with a population of less than 100,000 would have an extremely difficult time financially and/or politically in attending a conference in Hawaii. Only 495 counties out of 3,066 (or 16%) have populations greater than 100,000.

Well, perhaps the small counties' assessors will make the trip to Alaska this September for the Annual Conference of the International Association of Assessing Officers.

Next year's NACO conference will be held in Chicago. Hopefully NACO and other organizations will better accomadate their members and taxpayers in the future.

8th Congressional Race

2005-06-14T01:05:00.000-05:00

Over the weekend, David McSweeney and Teresa Bartels formally announced their plans for the Republican nomination for the 8th Congressional seat. They will ultimately face Democrat first term Congresswoman Melissa Bean.

McSweeney is an investment banker from Barrington Township. He has the backing of Speaker Hastert and is prepared to spend up to seven figures in the race. McSweeney considers himself very conservative.

Bartels is a businesswoman from Mundelein. She has the apparent quiet support of Congressman Mark Kirk from the neighboring 10th Congressional District. Bartels considers herself fiscally conservative and socially moderate.

McSweeney seems to have a slight edge at this point given that he has run before (against Phil Crane in 1998), is willing to spend a significant amount of money, and now has the support of Gary Skoien, Cook County GOP Chairman. Political Analyst Russ Stewart believes that a key to the primary is the Palatine Township portion of Cook County - Skoien's Township. McSweeney also has the McHenry County GOP Chairman endorsement as well as several Lake County Township Chairmen's endorsements.

Look for others to join the race including former U.S. Senate and Secretary of State candidate Al Salvi - also of Mundelein. I would assume Salvi's entry would chip away at McSweeney's conservative base and help Bartels.

Is it fair to call McSweeney the front runner at this early point?

Welcome

2005-06-14T00:01:00.000-05:00

Welcome to the new Lake County Pundit blog. I hope to follow in the footsteps of other high quality Illinois political blogs like Capitol Fax, Peoria Pundit, and Illini Pundit. I hope you enjoy the site and help contribute - whether you agree or disagree with me.