Ah, primary season, that wondrous time, is upon us again; that joyous time of vicious intra-party conflict and distribution of (what a good friend of mine calls) the most "distasteful and backhanded political materials" money can buy. Tomorrow, it all finally comes to an end, and we'll have our candidates set for another crack at the difficult task of ousting the entrenched Illinois Democrat establishment of Madigan-Cullerton-Quinn, and all the rest. But before we get that far ahead of ourselves we must, of course, first vote to nominate our various candidates. Here are my endorsements, from the county level on up.
Kendall County Board, District One:
Tomorrow, the residents of District One are being asked to nominate three Republicans out of a field of five for the general election. Here, I shall endeavor to highlight two names in particular: Matt Prochaska and Chris Funkhouser, both of whom I have known and been involved with through the Kendall County Young Republicans. Prochaska has already proven himself as a capable member of the county board; Funkhouser has done so similarly in his position as Alderman in Yorkville. Both have proven themselves actively dedicated to Republican causes within Kendall, and are deserving in your support.
Endorsement(s): Matt Prochaska, Chris Funkhouser.
Kendall County Board, District Two:
The voters of District Two are being faced with a similar task tomorrow: to choose two Republicans from a field of three. As a resident of District One, I'm speaking on this from the outside, but I would like to make use of this space to endorse for reelection Scott Gryder, who also serves as Chairman of the Kendall County Republican Central Committee. Under his excellent leadership, the GOP has continued its dominance over Kendall County; continuation of this same sort of leadership on the county board can only come with the highest recommendation.
Endorsement: Scott Gryder.
Kendall County Clerk & Recorder:
A successful businessman and longstanding involved member of the community, Dan Koukol has displayed in his history of civic involvement the sort of character that Kendall needs in the Clerk & Recorder's office.
Endorsement: Dan Koukol.
Kendall County Sheriff:
A lifelong Kendall resident and family friend, I can personally attest that the sort of character and integrity that brought Dwight Baird up through to the top of the Oswego police department is that which marks the sort of leader that Kendall county needs as its Sheriff. His tenure at the head of an accredited department has led to his being named 2014 Police Chief of the Year by the Illinois State Crime Commission, and I am beyond honored to lend him my support.
Endorsement: Dwight Baird.
State Representative, 50th District:
Here I've found a field of four candidates who I've unfortunately not had the time to familiarize myself with as much as I have others, but one holds his head above the rest: Keith Wheeler. Wheeler has found success both in business and in political activism. Wheeler has at times also served at the head of both the county Republican Candidate Support Committee and the Central Committee; he currently serves on the Board of Directors of the Aurora Regional Chamber of Commerce, and is both a local and state leader in the National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB). His experience and leadership is sorely needed in the broken body that is the State House of Representatives.
Endorsement: Keith Wheeler.
State Representative, 75th District:
Over the past year or so, it has been my distinct pleasure to get to know State Representative John Anthony, who is finally beginning to receive well deserved recognition for his longstanding service to our community. Prior to his appointment to the legislature, Anthony had served in law enforcement since 2005, and served as a Kendall County Deputy Sheriff; in his spare time, he formed the non-for-profit YARN Foundation to assist with strengthening local families and to aid at-risk youth. In his brief tenure as a State Representative, Anthony has already been named an "Emerging Leader" by GOPAC, a national Republican activist organization. Similar to Mr. Wheeler, Anthony's extraordinary character and integrity, and exceptional history of community service, are the exact sort of example that the State House desperately needs.
Over the past year or so, it has been my distinct pleasure to get to know State Representative John Anthony, who is finally beginning to receive well deserved recognition for his longstanding service to our community. Prior to his appointment to the legislature, Anthony had served in law enforcement since 2005, and served as a Kendall County Deputy Sheriff; in his spare time, he formed the non-for-profit YARN Foundation to assist with strengthening local families and to aid at-risk youth. In his brief tenure as a State Representative, Anthony has already been named an "Emerging Leader" by GOPAC, a national Republican activist organization. Similar to Mr. Wheeler, Anthony's extraordinary character and integrity, and exceptional history of community service, are the exact sort of example that the State House desperately needs.
Endorsement: John D. Anthony.
US House, 11th District:
I've gone back and forth with this one; I've personally head remarks from both Bert Miller and Chris Balkema (the latter I've heard twice), and been impressed with both; I am surely glad that I won't be the one having the make the choice between the two in the voting booth tomorrow. However, Mr. Miller's delivery at a candidates forum put on by the Kendall GOP may have been enough to sway me to his side; his comparison of President Obama and the incumbent administration to a jar of marshmallow fluff he held up at the lectern was a moment I won't soon forget. An outspoken leader, Miller has spent the past four decades building the plastic bottle-cap manufacturing company Phoenix Closures into the success that it is today earned him honors as the 2007 Illinois Institute of Technology Entrepreneur of the Year; his is a voice that the people of the 11th deserve to represent them in the House.
I've gone back and forth with this one; I've personally head remarks from both Bert Miller and Chris Balkema (the latter I've heard twice), and been impressed with both; I am surely glad that I won't be the one having the make the choice between the two in the voting booth tomorrow. However, Mr. Miller's delivery at a candidates forum put on by the Kendall GOP may have been enough to sway me to his side; his comparison of President Obama and the incumbent administration to a jar of marshmallow fluff he held up at the lectern was a moment I won't soon forget. An outspoken leader, Miller has spent the past four decades building the plastic bottle-cap manufacturing company Phoenix Closures into the success that it is today earned him honors as the 2007 Illinois Institute of Technology Entrepreneur of the Year; his is a voice that the people of the 11th deserve to represent them in the House.
Endorsement: Bert Miller.
United States Senate:
The Republican primary race for Senate that was very recently thought to be entirely locked up by State Senator Oberweis has since become quite the storied saga, and I won't bother to rehash the details all here. What I will say is this: while I have tremendous respect for Jim Oberweis, and I know good people who work under him, it has occurred to me that a better option exists for all of us. Doug Truax, who lays claim to such as prestigious honor as being as West Point grad, and can boast of being a successful business person himself, despite recent economic troubles, is a fresh and promising face on the Illinois political scene. Where I see Oberweis as angling for the nomination almost as if simply because it's "his turn," despite only being able to claim one electoral victory in over a decade of repeated attempts; Truax, meanwhile, seems to me not only dedicated to the difficult task of taking on entrenched Senator Dick Durbin, he displays all the signs of being fully prepared to bring the fight directly to him. Regardless of the the result of the general election, a come from behind victory by Doug Truax in tomorrow's primary is precisely what the state GOP needs at this moment in time, and I do believe his presence this fall may be enough to put Illinois in-play on a Senate map that is already overwhelmingly favorable to the Republicans.
The Republican primary race for Senate that was very recently thought to be entirely locked up by State Senator Oberweis has since become quite the storied saga, and I won't bother to rehash the details all here. What I will say is this: while I have tremendous respect for Jim Oberweis, and I know good people who work under him, it has occurred to me that a better option exists for all of us. Doug Truax, who lays claim to such as prestigious honor as being as West Point grad, and can boast of being a successful business person himself, despite recent economic troubles, is a fresh and promising face on the Illinois political scene. Where I see Oberweis as angling for the nomination almost as if simply because it's "his turn," despite only being able to claim one electoral victory in over a decade of repeated attempts; Truax, meanwhile, seems to me not only dedicated to the difficult task of taking on entrenched Senator Dick Durbin, he displays all the signs of being fully prepared to bring the fight directly to him. Regardless of the the result of the general election, a come from behind victory by Doug Truax in tomorrow's primary is precisely what the state GOP needs at this moment in time, and I do believe his presence this fall may be enough to put Illinois in-play on a Senate map that is already overwhelmingly favorable to the Republicans.
Endorsement: Doug Truax.
Governor of Illinois:
The toughest choice on the entire ballot will, somewhat poetically, also be the biggest. Over the past few months, I've found that reaching a decision on who to support for Governor may best be done process-of-elimination style. First off the list is State Treasurer Dan Rutherford; regardless of their validity, personal charges against him have very plainly shown to be more than he can get past. Though we've had at least one friendly chat on Twitter, I can't call myself much of a fan of State Senator Kirk Dillard, who famously cut an ad in support of Barack Obama against Hillary Clinton during the 2008 primary cycle (on a semi-unrelated note, he used to be Jim Edgar's Chief of Staff).
That leaves State Senator Bill Brady, our 2010 nominee, and a newcomer, venture capitalist Bruce Rauner. In a optimal world (feel free to laugh at the idea of Illinois being an "optimal world"), Bill Brady would clearly be my first choice from governor; given the legislative body he has spent the past decade serving in, his is an exceptional record. But he had his turn to take on Pat Quinn, and he very sadly fell just short of what was needed to oust our loathsome Governor; in a climate that I can't say with any certainty whether it is likely to be as favorable to the Republicans as it was in 2010, I'm not sure that a second shot at Quinn by Brady will yield any different result (we can't all be Dick Nixon).
So, that leaves Rauner. Ever since learning of him and his new-found political aspirations through the Tribune's excellent commentary legend John Kass (whose political instincts I darn near trust with my life), I have been quite interested in Mr. Rauner. Revelations of prior involvement with Rahm Emanuel and others have left me somewhat shaken, but I've somehow found myself repeatedly dissuaded from leaving his side.
I do take his devotion to fiscal conservatism as genuine, and I'm incredibly cheered by his devotion to education reform and to term limits (which Illinois is in such desperate need of). Above all else, my number one mission in 2014 (aside from seeing Mitch McConnell replace Harry Reid as Senate Majority Leader) is to see Pat Quinn finally ousted from power, and when I look out at the Republican field, I see one man with the capability to do it best of all: Bruce Rauner.
The toughest choice on the entire ballot will, somewhat poetically, also be the biggest. Over the past few months, I've found that reaching a decision on who to support for Governor may best be done process-of-elimination style. First off the list is State Treasurer Dan Rutherford; regardless of their validity, personal charges against him have very plainly shown to be more than he can get past. Though we've had at least one friendly chat on Twitter, I can't call myself much of a fan of State Senator Kirk Dillard, who famously cut an ad in support of Barack Obama against Hillary Clinton during the 2008 primary cycle (on a semi-unrelated note, he used to be Jim Edgar's Chief of Staff).
That leaves State Senator Bill Brady, our 2010 nominee, and a newcomer, venture capitalist Bruce Rauner. In a optimal world (feel free to laugh at the idea of Illinois being an "optimal world"), Bill Brady would clearly be my first choice from governor; given the legislative body he has spent the past decade serving in, his is an exceptional record. But he had his turn to take on Pat Quinn, and he very sadly fell just short of what was needed to oust our loathsome Governor; in a climate that I can't say with any certainty whether it is likely to be as favorable to the Republicans as it was in 2010, I'm not sure that a second shot at Quinn by Brady will yield any different result (we can't all be Dick Nixon).
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| Tribune editorial cartoonist Scott Stantis' excellent cartoon in support of Bruce Rauner for Governor of Illinois. (Courtesy: Chicago Tribune). |
So, that leaves Rauner. Ever since learning of him and his new-found political aspirations through the Tribune's excellent commentary legend John Kass (whose political instincts I darn near trust with my life), I have been quite interested in Mr. Rauner. Revelations of prior involvement with Rahm Emanuel and others have left me somewhat shaken, but I've somehow found myself repeatedly dissuaded from leaving his side.
I do take his devotion to fiscal conservatism as genuine, and I'm incredibly cheered by his devotion to education reform and to term limits (which Illinois is in such desperate need of). Above all else, my number one mission in 2014 (aside from seeing Mitch McConnell replace Harry Reid as Senate Majority Leader) is to see Pat Quinn finally ousted from power, and when I look out at the Republican field, I see one man with the capability to do it best of all: Bruce Rauner.
Endorsement: Bruce Rauner.
-Mitch Carter is an Illinois State Scholar and an Associate Member of the Kendall County Young Republicans.
carterscornerpr@gmail.com
Twitter @CartersCornerPR
-Mitch Carter is an Illinois State Scholar and an Associate Member of the Kendall County Young Republicans.
carterscornerpr@gmail.com
Twitter @CartersCornerPR
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