McHenry County Blog

In each of six McHenry County board districts, there are two people to be elected.

Democrats in McHenry County have decided to take on two districts,

· District 5, the one that runs from Woodstock south into Huntley, Lake in the Hills and Crystal Lake and

· District 4, the one that runs north from McHenry to Richmond and Spring Grove, including eastern Wonder Lake.

Each district has an incumbent female Republican and an incumbent male Republican.

In both districts, the female has been given a “pass.” Tina Hill of Woodstock and Sandra Salgado of McHenry can breathe a sigh of relief.

The intended Democratic Party victims are the male.

Perhaps it is because the Dems consider the male the most politically vulnerable in each area.

But part of the reason is that they are not women.

Taking out the female Republican incumbent would be more difficult.

You see, since at least 1966, women in this area have had about a 5 percentage point advantage over a man in an election. Doesn’t matter if it Republican versus Republican or Republican versus Democrat. The woman has the consistent advantage, other things being equal.

So, smart decision on the part of the Dems to go after the guys.

But, the Dems could only find one female Democrat to make the challenge. That’s Mary Margaret Maule. A former employee of State Rep. Jack Franks, she’s challenging McHenry’s county board member Pete Merkel.

In the Grafton and Dorr Township contest, it’s man against man, thus, harder to win.

That probably explains the truly hateful mailings that have been sent.

It’s the Rod Blagojevich “pile on the negatives” approach. There was no positive piece and you have to hunt to find the name of the challenger. The Dems web site says he’s a LITH village trustee and policeman named Jim Kennedy.

Vicious Chicago politics have invaded McHenry County. And Jim Kennedy gets the noriety for introducting it. (His photo is from the Dems' web site.)

My guess is that the Dems strategy is hope that voters, having concluded that incumbent Perry Moy is a complete “rotter” will be ready to vote for “anybody else.” (Their chances would have been better with a female “anybody else.”) Maybe a positive piece will arrive before Tuesday.

In the McHenry north district, the Dems’ candidate is Mary Margaret Maule.

She is much more energetic than Moy’s opponent. When I talked to her at a McHenry County Conservation District board meeting, almost 1 1/2 months ago, she estimated that she had knocked on about 5,000 doors.

But the one candidate for two-seat strategy is more obvious in McHenry than in Huntley. You can see that in this piece of literature.


And here are what seems to me very few public officials brave enough to endorse her candidacy.

There are only six.


State Rep. Jack Franks is one of them. Since his campaign fund helped jump-start Maule's campaign and she is a former employee, that's appropriate.

He also doesn't think the county board pays him enough respect.

The oh-so-ever pro-rampant growth village president of Wonder Lake Tony Topf is also on the endorsement list. As is the growth proponent Dave Dominguez, Johnsbury Village President.

Doesn't that fight with the Democrats' claim that the Republican county board is the cause of the growth that local residents are so heavily against?

Or maybe the picture of sprawl is what the Democrats who control the Village of Wonder Lake want the county to look like after they take control of the McHenry County Board.

Rounding out the group are Johnsburg Village Trustee Bruce Bennet, Richmond Village Trustee Cindy Walleck and McHenry Alderman Andy Glab.

Tomorrow, the negative aspect of Maule’s campaign.