McHenry County Blog

Last week I suggested that newspaper endorsements were losing their influence.

There was an exception to my conclusion.

That exception was in cases when the candidate had enough money to merchandise them.

26th District state senate candidate Dan Duffy obviously has enough money to do wo.

Below is his large postcard endorsement mailing. The address side is on top.


Bill Gentes is Duffy's Democratic opponent for the seat left open by State Senator Bill Peterson.

Labels: 26th District, Bill Gentes, Bill Peterson, Dan Duffy, Editorial Endorsement, Endorsement

I was reflecting upon the declining importance of newspaper endorsements recently.

It not just that fewer people are reading newspapers.

And, for those who read the Chicago Tribune, the editorial page is, perhaps significantly, located after the obituary page.

Those reading newspaper content on the internet may be like me.

They may rarely look at the editorials that are posted.

And, if they don't look, there's no chance that they can even find out who is endorsed...

Unless the candidate endorsed lets them know.

Maybe I'm wrong. Maybe lots of people read the editorial when they go to read the letters to the editor.

Labels: Editorial Endorsement, Editorial Page, Endorsement

Endorsements by newspapers don't mean a whole lot.

They never did by themselves.

They were obtained value when reprinted and redistributed.

But now with fewer and fewer people reading a paper version and the Tribune's editorial page being hidden not at the back of the first section, but Thursday at the back of the second section, even those who subscribe have a hard time finding the editorial page.

And, for those reading newspapers on the internet, the editorial page probably is not a primary goal for readers.

But, when I found the Tribune's editorial page yesterday, there were Chicago-area state senate endorsements.

The only one of interest locally was in the hotly-contested 26th state senate district. The 26th has 18% of McHenry County voters. They are located north of Crystal Lake running into part of McHenry and points east into Lake and Cook Counties.

The Chicago Tribune endorse Republican Dan Duffy over Democrat Bill Gentes.

Here's the editorial board's reasoning:

“...Duffy is a smart, solid guy who has excellent real-world experience. He is troubled by the state's anti-business climate and wants to hold the line on taxes. Gentes has been a successful mayor, but he's given voters a reason not to trust him. He said he was on a leave of absence from his job—but later admitted he had been fired. Duffy is endorsed.”

This endorsement means something because Duffy has the money to spread it around to prospective constituents.

And money he got aplenty from the Republican State Senate Campaign Committee:

• $49,268 as an out and out contribution


• $23,515 for Targeted Creative Communications, Inc.


• $11,022 for media production


• $4,500 for a poll


• $3,366 for phone calling

$5,000 also came from Health Care Council of Illinois Political(Action Committee, I guess), $3,000 from the Manufacturers Political Action Committee, $1,000 from Libertyville's Aldridge Electric Inc., the Underground Contractors Association and utility Ameren with a Springfield address.

Meanwhile, Bill Gentes reported $1,541.31 being received for salary of staffer Bryan Johnson, out of Springfield, $5,000 from Illinois PAC for Education (PACE) and $500 from the Northeastern Illinois Federation of Labor AFL-CIO Political Action Fund.

Labels: 16th Congressional District, Bill Gentes, Chicago Tribune, Dan Duffy, Endorsement

The Algonquin and Cary-Grove Countrysides, both Pioneer Press weekly papers, have endorsed McHenry County State’s Attorney Lou Bianchi for re-election.

“Because he has served well in his current position, we endorse Bianchi.”

Bianchi is running against Dan Regna, who served under former State’s Attorney Gary Pack.

Reasons for the endorsement given by the paper include the bringing of more civil cases in-house, saving “money previously spent on outside counsel”

There were two interesting slaps at challenger Dan Regna. In one, there is this comment under Regna’s promise to be tougher on crime:

”Regna was an assistant state's attorney in McHenry County during an administration that convicted an innocent man who was then slated for execution before he was later exonerated.

"A getting-tough-on-crime message is a crowd-pleaser, but the intricacies of many criminal cases require more complex thinking."

I don’t know whether Regna had anything to do with that horrific miscarriage of justice in Richmond.

The second refers to Regna’s criticism of Bianchi’s having hired outside counsel to fight pipeline company Enbridge’s attempt to expand capacity in McHenry County.

“What Regna neglects to point out is that Bianchi's office advised against challenging Enbridge's expansion efforts; however, the County Board ignored his advice. Bianchi subsequently hired a high-powered outside firm to deal with Enbridge's lawsuit.“

Hmmm.

In a questionnaire answer, Regna points out,

“The Country Board subsequently settled the lawsuit for a protective containment area half that in the original proposal. “

That settlement seems to verify Bianchi’s advice.

The paper also publishes answers to its questionnaire on its web site.

The questions are:

• Please provide a brief summary of why you are running for this position.


• Is crime a growing problem in McHenry County? Are there any specific areas in which the State's Attorney's Office should be targeting its prosecution efforts?


• Is staffing in the State's Attorney's Office adequate?


• What measures can the state's attorney take to better represent the people of McHenry County?


• Are there any issues not raised in this questionnaire that you think are important.

That’s a great last question.

And, allowing us to read the answers is gratifying.

That’s assuming anyone is interested in issues in Regna’s challenge, which the editorial writer summarizes like this:

“Regna's candidacy appears to have blossomed through Republican Party political infighting for reasons that no one seems to understand. He comes off as a disgruntled ex-employee with an ax to grind and not a candidate with better ideas.”

That may be part of the reason for the well-financed coalition behind Regna, but I think it just scratches the surface.

You don't have to read very far between the lines in this answer from Regna to finD another element of his coalition:

"Upon taking office, I will develop and dedicate necessary resources to obtain justice in our most serious criminal cases."

One might wonder what about the lesser crimes.

Will there be deal cutting, as there was under Gary Pack's regime?

If so, I'll bet a lot of defense attorneys will be happy. Less work for them to clear a case.

Labels: Algonquin Countryside, Cary-Grove Countryside, Dan Regna, Endorsement, Lou Bianchi, McHenry County State's Attorney, Pioneer Press

In the 8th congressional district, the Chicago Tribune has endorsed incumbent Democratic Party U.S. Representative Melissa Bean and the best financed Republican—Steve Greenberg.

Here’s the text:

Melissa Bean has been a smart, centrist Blue Dog Democrat, willing to work across the aisle. She and 10th District GOP Rep. Mark Kirk teamed up recently to warn of the loss of federal transportation funds if Springfield doesn’t get its act together soon. Bean is endorsed over Randi Scheurer of Lindenhurst, whose husband ran against Bean as an independent in the 2006 general election.

In the Republican primary, Steve Greenberg, a businessman from Long Grove whose family supplies merchandise to small variety stores, is moderate on social issues, fiscally conservative and surrounding himself with good people. He is endorsed over businessmen Ken Arnold and Kirk Morris, both of Gurnee.

Expect to see the second paragraph on a Greenberg mailing soon.

Undoubtedly, Scheurer is disappointed that she was not identified as opposing Bean’s Iraq War stance.

Labels: 8th Congressional District, Chicago Tribune, Endorsement, Ken Arnold, Kirk Morris, Melissa Bean, Randi Scheurer, Steve Greenberg

The ruling “Vote Yes! Vote Yes!” faction of the District 300 received a vote of “No Confidence” from the Daily Herald’s editorial board.

Challengers John Ryan from Algonquin, plus Monica Clark and Chris Stanton from Hampshire were endorsed. In addition, appointed board member Joe Stevens of the Kane County part of Algonquin was endorsed.

The Daily Herald wrote,

That quartet offers the best opportunity to change the board to one less inclined to lead cheers and more inclined to lead on issues of financial accountability and transparency.

We also believe they’ll be less likely to do business behind closed doors, and more likely to restore lost trust by answering questions as a matter of course rather than banning persistent residents from district property.

The Daily Herald headline calls the four

"Fresh Thinkers"

Left out in the cold was District 300 Board President Mary Fioretti.

She was criticized for having as her highest priority “changing state educational funding.“ She was also criticized for cozying up too close to the administration.

Also not endorsed was appointed member David Alessio and ex-teacher union president Dennis Cleveland, plus Alfred Douglas.

= = = = =
Top left is a picture of John Ryan. Bottom right is a picture of Mary Fioretti.

Labels: Daily Herald, District 300, Endorsement, Joe Stevens, John Ryan, Mary Fioretti, Monica Clark