Dillard Blames Schillerstrom and Ryan for Loss

Kirk Dillard told  Pioneer Local reporter Amy Deis that he lost because Bob Schillerstrom dropped out too late and Ryan came in too late, both, he said, took thousands of votes from him leading to a bare primary edge-out by Bill Brady.

He especially pinpoints Schillerstrom for the loss.

“His 7,000 votes would have made the race; I was very much hindered by them,” Dillard said.

It may sound like sour grapes on Dillard’s part, but I cannot dispute that the thought rests on solid ground.

After all, Bill Brady hardly showed up at all in Cook County, DuPage County and the immediate collar counties. On the other hand, Schillerstrom didn’t show up at all south of Interstate 80! And north of that east/west tollway was Dillard country, as well as Schillerstrom’s.

It is very likely that most of Schillerstrom and Ryan’s votes would have gone Dillard’s way since both candidates had their base in the same area from which Dillard hails. The same areas that Brady was very, very weak.

But, that’s the way the primary crumbles, if you will.

Cronin Wins Republican Primary for DuPage County Chairman

In a decisive electoral victory Illinois Senator Dan Cronin won the Republican nomination for DuPage County Chairman in Tuesday’s election.

Cronin took almost 50 percent of Republican votes cast for that office. With all 749 precincts reporting, Cronin took 42,786 votes. His nearest opponent, current Board member Debra Olson, garnered 24,692 votes. The last two weeks of Olson’s campaign were hindered after a web-site, republicansforfamilyvalues.com, released a report alleging a series of affairs by Olson, a married woman and mother of four.

While Cronin, who also serves as Chairman of the DuPage County Republican Party easily, sailed to victory on Tuesday, he campaigned hard across the county spending more than $300,000 in the primary.

Since Cronin entered the race he became the principle target for his opponents, particularly Burr Ridge Mayor Gary Grasso and Olson. Both candidates criticized some of Cronin’s votes in the legislature, particularly his support of consumption taxes. Cronin’s support of the bill that raised those taxes, as well as the rate on the RTA, was at the bequest of DuPage County leaders. DuPage leaders faced a shortage of funding which would lead to gutting services, including law enforcement. Cronin responded to the requests and helped pass the bills which brought a new revenue stream into the county. If the bills had not been passed property taxes likely would have been raised even higher to provide the funding.

Cronin celebrated his victory on Tuesday night with hundreds of supporters. Following his victory Cronin said he’ll focus on work at his Senate office. He also plans to spend time at the county offices in Wheaton to monitor the budgeting process.

Winfield Voters Deny Library’s Request

For the second time in less than a year, Winfield voters rejected the 29 year old library’s request to borrow $1.8 million to renovate the existing building to make it handicapped accessible. The plans also included a small addition to the north end of building of approximately 1,300 square feet to help alleviate the overcrowded condition of the current building.

The unofficial vote totals with all 12 precincts reporting, showed more than 54 percent of voters [1254] denied the request Tuesday while roughly 45 percent [1039] supported the library’s appeal.

This was the same $1.8 million dollars library officials were seeking last April. Currently the Winfield Library does not meet the requirements set by the Americans with Disability Act.

Library board President Carol O’Connor said she doesn’t know why the proposal lost at the polls.

Some Last Minute Truths About The Candidates

It’s time to put out the proverbial dish of milk.

With bitter primary campaigns just hours from ending, here are a few truths and questions about the candidates that voters might want to consider.

Start with the contest of political midgets, otherwise known as the race for the Democratic nomination for governor.

If either Gov. Pat Quinn or challenger Dan Hynes had a workable plan to cure the state’s financial woes, voters might be able to overlook Mr. Hynes’ crude playing of the Harold Washington card, or Mr. Quinn’s exaggerated attack on Mr. Hynes’ role in the Burr Oak Cemetery fiasco. But neither does.

Mr. Quinn’s tax-hike plan is tremendously unfair to low-income families that don’t happen to have a lot of deductible kids. Mr. Hynes’ proposal won’t raise enough to fill the hole, outside analysts say, and its reliance on just 3% of taxpayers to pay more is questionable public policy.

Beyond that, will either make the kind of spending cuts needed to get any tax hike out of the General Assembly? I doubt it.

The Republicans, for a change, could offer a pretty good alternative in November. But that depends on who they nominate.

The leading conservative in the race, Andy McKenna Jr., had the gall to label himself an “outsider” when he chaired the state Republican Party — and misuse his chairmanship to secretly put his name on a party-funded poll. What has he really achieved on his own, without his rich father’s money and contacts?

Former Attorney General Jim Ryan is the kind of moderate conservative who can win in this state. But after a decade of staggering personal trials, does he have the stamina and energy to carry not only himself but the bungled Nicarico case and corrupt fundraiser Stuart Levine across the finish line?

Then there’s another moderate: Kirk Dillard. He has assembled one of the oddest political coalitions that Illinois ever has seen, including social conservative Jack Roeser, the left-leaning Illinois Education Assn., the National Rifle Assn., the very establishment Sangamon County GOP organization and the operating engineers union.

All that marks Mr. Dillard as a politician — someone who perhaps can get things done, but also someone infected with all the flip-flopping, deal-making tendencies of the breed.

For Barack Obama’s old Senate seat, Mark Kirk, a Republican congressman who represents the North Shore, will make the November finals. Then, he’ll finally have to declare himself as a fiscal and social conservative, or define himself as something else.

The leading Democratic challenger, Illinois Treasurer Alexi Giannoulias, is caught in a trap of his own making.

When he ran for treasurer, the only real credential he had was his experience as a big shot at the family-owned Broadway Bank. The truth is, his role probably was fairly minor. He was only there three years.

But having said it, Mr. Giannoulias is stuck with it, and now that Broadway is imploding and in danger of having to be bailed out by the feds, he’s created an issue that maybe even ham-handed Republicans can’t fumble.

But of his Democratic challengers, Cheryle Jackson seems like she’s running for small-business czar, not senator, and David Hoffman started very late and has at least a mild case of publicity hound-itis. Does Mr. Hoffman have the time to catch Mr. Giannoulias?

Last but not least is the contest for president of the Cook County Board.

Incumbent Todd Stroger took himself out of contention long ago with his ill-considered sales tax hike. Challenger Dorothy Brown did the same thing through stunts including accepting gifts from her own employees as clerk of the circuit court.

Challenger Terry O’Brien says the right stuff but is kind of what you might call “Machine lite”: a reformer when political expedience so demands.

That leaves Toni Preckwinkle. But will her political base — not only those in need of health care services and public jobs, but the Service Employees International Union — allow her to undertake the wholesale rebuilding of county government that’s needed?

Them’s tomorrow’s choices, folks. Good luck figuring it out.

County Board Chairman Hopefuls Spend Over $500,000

The four Republican candidates running in Tuesday’s primary for DuPage County Board Chairman have collectively raised nearly $500,000 for their campaigns.

Senator Dan Cronin’s finance reports indicate he has collected $262,625 in cash contributions and in-kind donations to go along with the nearly $80,000 he began his campaign with.

The remaining three candidates have raised a combined $177,177 in addition to the money they started with, according to financial reports now available on the state election board’s web-site.

According to the same report all four candidates have collectively spent $507,331.

Senator Cronin entered the campaign with nearly $80,000 in his political war chest as of last week. He has spent more than $300,000 in an attempt to secure the Republican party’s nomination in Tuesday’s primary. Records indicate Cronin has also made a personal loan to his campaign in the amount of $30,000.

Mr. Cronin’s campaign war chest was filled by a number of Illinois businesses and political action committees. The Chicago-based engineering firm Knight Partners and the Inland Real Estate Group out of Oak Brook each donated $10,000 to Cronin’s campaign.

Senator Carole Pankau and current County Board Member Debra Olson each spent more than $80,000 on the race, according to their financial filings. Olson slightly out spent Pankau, but raised just $42,432.67 during the campaign compared to Pankau’s $80,138.90.

The report indicates Ms. Olson started her run for County Board Chairman with $130,000 in her campaign fund, of which $60,000 was a personal loan she had made to herself.

Olson’s husband, Don recently donated an additional $10,000 to his wife’s campaign. Also listed in the filing was fellow county board member JR McBride who made a $2,150 donation to Olson’s campaign.

Pankau loaned her campaign $8,000, the bulk of her funds came through corporate, political and union committees as well. Her son and daughter each donated $4,000, and Bloomingdale Republican State Rep. Franco Coladipietro’s campaign donated $5,000 to Pankau’s efforts.

Burr Ridge Mayor Gary Grasso has seen his contributions almost double in the past two weeks. Grasso has raised $54,606 so far, according to his state finance reports. He loaned his campaign $15,000 last week and received his largest single contribution in the amount of $5,000 from Oak Brook-based development firm Inter Continental Real Estate.

The winner of Tuesday’s primary will face Democrat Carole Cheney in November. Cheney’s campaign has yet to file a report with the state election board.

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Last day for early voting TODAY

Reminder that TODAY is the last day for early voting for the February 2nd elections. Winfield residents, may vote early today from 8:00am until 4:30pm at DuPage County Elections, 421 N. County Farm Road, Wheaton, IL.

To view your sample ballot prior to getting to your polling location, check out http://www.evoter.com and enter your address.  Once you’ve entered that information, your polling location comes up along with a sample ballot.