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NewsGovernor’s races down to the wire, others clear victors Tobolski to face off with Peraica in November By James Pluta Primary election candidates and their ardent supporters burned the midnight oil Tuesday night in hopes of celebrating the victors over a governor’s race that at presstime was still too close to call, but it was clear early on that voters handed a resounding victory to an independent reform candidate for Cook County Board President. Yet while politicians in many other races clearly won their primary contests — namely Democrat Alexi Giannoulias over newcomer David Hoffman and Republican Mark Kirk for President Obama’s former U.S. Senate seat — calls for recounts in both gubernatorial campaigns and countless other races set the stage for a wild general election fight over the next nine months. While Gov. Pat Quinn believes he eeked out a victory over Democratic primary challenger Comptroller Dan Hynes (given his late Election Night acceptance speech), Hynes told his supporters he was not giving up the fight. “Tonight we learned one thing and that’s that we are going to continue fighting ... this is a close race; a very, very close race,” he said to cheers at his campaign party. “Democracy is alive and well ... and if democracy means anything it means we have to count all the votes.” Both he and Quinn captured 50 percent of the vote, separated by fractional percentages, with the margin just a few thousand votes and less than 100 of the state’s 12,000 precincts in. The vote tally was so close in the Republican gubernatorial primary, however, that it is still unclear whether State Sen. Kirk Dillard, Bill Brady or Andy McKenna won the nod. Both Dillard, of nearby Hinsdale, and McKenna have been state party chairmen. On the local front, vocal 16th District Republican County Commissioner Tony Peraica of Riverside handily picked up the GOP nod for re-election to his seat as his November opponent, Democratic County Board nominee McCook Mayor Jeffrey Tobolski defeated former Brookfield Village President Bill Russ and Eddy Garcia. With nearly 100 staunch supporters and campaign workers at his side Election Night inside JC’s Pub in his hometown McCook, Tobolski’s 52 percent lead never seemed to diminish as the vote tallies came in. Prompted by County Cmsr. Joseph Mario Moreno to enter the primary, Tobolski said he “felt pretty good” about the outcome and quickly reminded supporters their objective is now to beat Peraica in November. Moreno won his primary bid and will continue to back Tobolski. “We’re gonna run a clean campaign,” he promised, adding, “We all know Tony’s reputation and we plan to improve on that with ethical leadership. I get along with people legislatively and I still enjoy the endorsement of most mayors in the district.” He reiterated his mantra obviously aimed at his GOP foe that “no is not a platform” and vowed to cross party lines both to get elected and govern the people when elected. “You can’t be ineffective and blame it on being a reformer,” he said, suggesting Peraica is not in synch with many municipalities where he should be focusing more of his efforts. “I intend to cross the line. I think there is a strong anti-Peraica sentiment out there,” he said. “It’s going to be a campaign a lot about the testament of what he’s done these past four years ... he’s run for higher offices, (suggested) these crazy conspiracies.” Russ, also a former three-term trustee, lost an election for village clerk just 10 months earlier along with mayoral running mate Wil Brennan — who was beaten in his own race this week for Democratic Proviso Township Committeeman versus John Allegretti. Despite 6th District Democrat John Fairman’s anti-sales tax stance and his railing against the incumbent’s effectiveness and alleged lack of accountability, the Justice Village Board trustee was trounced by two-term Cmsr. Joan Patricia Murphy of Crestwood, as was a third foe, attorney Nick Valadez of Oak Forest. Meanwhile, both incumbent State Rep. Michael Zalewski, D-21st District of Chicago and U.S. Rep. Daniel Lipinski, D-3rd District of Western Springs cruised to victory in their respective party primaries. Township of Lyons Supervisor Russell Hartigan, also of Western Springs, will remain in his governmental office, now that he has lost his primary battle for a county judicial post — winning big in the suburbs but losing big in Chicago — despite earning the highest bar association ratings among any of his detractors. Although Wilmette tax adviser and former state lawmaker Roger Keats is the Republican nominee for the bid to replace Todd Stroger as County Board President, the Democratic nominee — and likely successor given the county’s demographic — is former history teacher-turned-alderman Toni Preckwinkle. Much like the current governor, the independent Preckwinkle fought the Chicago political machine for years before becoming alderman of the city’s Hyde Park neighborhood (where Obama also hails), a seat she has held for the past 19 years. In her acceptance address, she thanked her parents for encouraging her to dedicate her life to public service and did not mention the fourth-place Stroger and the “people of Cook County ... who demanded reform and accountability (from) the government” and “all the hope for change often tempered by cynicism, resignation and apathy ... but not this time.” Stroger, flanked by just a few dozen supporters, called his loss “a bump in the road” and lauded the accomplishments in his three-year embattled tenure during which he continued to defend imposition of a 1 percent sales tax hike, half of which is still in place. Preckwinkle, who is also African-American, beat her closest competitor, fellow Democratic Metropolitan Water Reclamation District President Terry O’Brien by a 2-to-1 margin, leaving both Stroger and Circuit Court Clerk Dorothy Brown in the dust. She called her victory “a call to action” to change the direction of county government. “Now is the time to repeal the Stroger sales tax, now is the time to end patronage, now is the time to cut waste while protecting healthcare, human services, public services and the forest preserves (which others called on privatizing) .. and to bring economic development and jobs to Cook County.” As vote counters across Illinois worked through Wednesday, no races seemed tighter than those for governor, with Quinn holding a steady 50.3 percent lead over Hynes’ 49.7 percent and on the GOP side, with the three top vote-getters within 1.5 percent of each other and Brady in the lead over Dillard by 2/10ths of a percent. Candidates seeking recounts can request them by March 1, but County Clerk David Orr cautioned that may take several months. |
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