Cook+County

Chicago - Congress - Cook County - Democrats/Leftists - Elections - GOP - Illinois - Republicans - State Government - Warner Todd Huston

Biggert, Shimkus Endorse State Legislator in Race to Succeed Kirk

September 15, 2009 by

-By Warner Todd Huston

RollCall is reporting that there has been some endorsements in the race to replace Mark Kirk in the House…

Illinois GOP Reps. Judy Biggert and John Shimkus announced this week that they are supporting state Rep. Beth Coulson in the competitive GOP primary and race to succeed Rep. Mark Kirk (R-Ill.). Kirk is vacating his Democratic-leaning suburban Chicago seat to run for Senate in 2010.

Here is the list of those running for Kirk’s Seat:

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Biggert, Shimkus Endorse State Legislator in Race to Succeed Kirk”

Children - Congress - Conservatives - Democrats/Leftists - Education - Elections - Gays - GOP - Liberals - Republicans - Society/Culture - Warner Todd Huston

Mark Kirk Aiding Pro-Homosexual Lobby?

September 14, 2009 by

-By Warner Todd Huston

Laurie Higgins recently found another disturbing vote cast by Representative and Senate Candidate Mark Kirk (R, IL) revealing again his penchant of voting left of center all too often. This time he’s co-sponsoring a bill that will aid the homosexual lobby gain more influence in our schools.

Higgins reveals that Kirk is looking to vote “yes” on H.R. 2262, The Safe Schools Improvement Act — a so-called anti-bullying act. What could be wrong with being anti-bullying?
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Mark Kirk Aiding Pro-Homosexual Lobby?”

Chicago - Congress - Cook County - Democrats/Leftists - Elections - Illinois - Liberals - State Government - Warner Todd Huston

Cook County Democrats Choose 2010 Slate

September 12, 2009 by

-By Warner Todd Huston

What’s the enemy up to? Glad you asked…

The Cook County Democratic Party machine met on Friday and chose its slate of candidates for the 2010 elections.

Federal and State Offices

U.S. Senate (seat held by Roland Burris currently): Alexi Giannoulious
Governor: Pat Quin (incumbent)
Attny General: Lisa Madigan (incumbent)
Sec. of State: Jesse White (incumbent)
Comptroller: State Rep. David Miller
State Treasurer: Robin Kelly

County Offices

Assessor: Joseph Berrios
County Clerk: David Orr
Sheriff: Tom Dart
Treasurer: Maria Pappas
Met. Water Reclamation District: Michael Alvarez, Barbara McGowan and Mariyana Spyroplous

The party also endorsed a series of judges but did not endorse any candidate for Lt. Governor or president of the Cook County Board because party rules for candidate presentation and percentage of vote were not satisfied.
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Cook County Democrats Choose 2010 Slate”

Chicago - Congress - Cook County - Elections - GOP - Illinois - Republicans - State Government - Warner Todd Huston

Maria Rodriguez Announces for 8th District

September 11, 2009 by

-By Warner Todd Huston

Second term Long Grove Mayor Maria Rodriguez, 50, has announced her bid for the GOP nomination for the 10th District Congressional seat.

Rodriguez told reporters that Congress was “out of touch” as she launched her bid for Congress at an appearance in front of Abernathy’s Department Store in downtown Mundelein.

Rodriguez’ theme was economic recovery as she attempts to unseat Melissa Bean (D). Rodriguez also plans to participate in an upcoming healthcare townhall meeting in cooperation with Rep. Ed Sullivan Jr. and State Sen. Dan Duffy of Lake Barrington at an as yet undetermined location.

“I want to start listening right now,” Rodriguez said.

It isn’t complete yet but here is Maria Rodriguez’ Website.

For a .pdf download of Rodriguez’ palm card flyer Click Here.

The Long Grove Mayor joins two other GOP applicants for the office.

School Board member John Dawson’s campaign website

Greg Jacobs’ FaceBook Page
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Maria Rodriguez Announces for 8th District”

Chicago - Cook County - Elections - Illinois - State Government - Taxes - Warner Todd Huston

Another One For 14th District? Come on, guys, This is Getting Ridiculous

September 10, 2009 by

-By Warner Todd Huston

The GenevaSun is reporting that longtime state pol Randy Hultgren is going to run for Denny Hastert’s old 14th District Congressional seat.

Hultgren is currently the State Rep for the 48th District and also served as the state rep for the 95th District.

If Hultgren makes it official he will join four other Republican candidates for the office. I sure hope that the party can get this field winnowed down because we risk spreading ourselves too thin leaving the Democrats able to overpower the GOP if we have more than one candidate all the way to the election.

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Another One For 14th District? Come on, guys, This is Getting Ridiculous”

Congress - Conservatives - Cook County - Democrats/Leftists - Elections - GOP - Illinois - State Government - Warner Todd Huston

Illinois 5th District Candidate David Ratowitz Announces

September 10, 2009 by

-By Warner Todd Huston

A first time Republican candidate has announced for the Illinois 5th District seat. David Ratowitz is a lawyer and businessman originally from Hazel Crest. Ratowitz was a ROTC member and was honorably discharged from the U.S. Army as a Captain of Field Artillery in 1997.

Ratowitz was a resident of New Orleans during the trials of Hurricane Katrina and after his business and home were wiped out by that event built a successful construction company.

In 2007 he relocated back to the Chicago land area and started a law firm in Chicago.

David’s Campaign Website
David’s FaceBook page

David has been politically active in the Chicago area for a number of years, advancing the principles of limited government and individual liberty at every opportunity. He is a member and serves on committees of the Chicago GOP, Chicago Young Republicans and the Republican Jewish Coalition. David is also a leader in the Campaign for Liberty, formerly serving as the organization’s Region 5 Coordinator.

It looks like the FaceBook and Twitter buttons on the website are not yet set up, so check back if you’d like to follow this candidate on those social media services.

Currently the recently elected Mike Quigley (D- Chicago) is the incumbent in this seat. This was Rahm Emanuel’s old seat covering parts of the North Side and west into Schiller Park, Franklin Park, Melrose Park and Northlake.
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Illinois 5th District Candidate David Ratowitz Announces”

Congress - Conservatives - Cook County - Elections - GOP - House of Representatives - Illinois - Republicans - State Government - Taxes - Tea Party - Warner Todd Huston

Responsible Taxation: Jeff Danklefsen Seeks Haster’s Old 14th Dist. Seat

September 8, 2009 by

-By Warner Todd Huston

Political newcomer Jeff Danklefsen has announced his intention to seek the GOP nomination for the 14th District Congressional seat, the one once held by Speaker of the House Denny Hastert.

Mr. Danklefsen is a twelve-year resident of Geneva and seems to have been driven to run for Congress by his involvement in the Kane County Tea Party movement. He has no “political resume,” but says he’s ready to lead.

I do not have a political resume, but I understand the challenges families face with increasing tax burdens and the uncertainty of the job market. I am asking for the opportunity to represent the 14th District taxpayers in Washington D.C. I will stand up for responsible taxation, a balanced budget, and job growth.

The central message on Danklefsen’s website is that of the fiscal irresponsibility of Speaker Pelosi and her Democrat comrades including current 14th District Congressman Bill Foster.

Danklefsen joins several other GOP hopefuls seeking the nomination.

  • Ethan Hastert, son of former Speaker Dennis Hastert (FaceBook page)
  • Iraq Reconstruction Worker Mark Vargas of Elgin (FaceBook page)
  • Former Aurora councilman and businessman Bill Cross — not yet announced

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Responsible Taxation: Jeff Danklefsen Seeks Haster’s Old 14th Dist. Seat”

Chicago - Congress - Elections - GOP - Illinois - Republicans - State Government - Warner Todd Huston

One More For Kirk’s House Seat

September 6, 2009 by

-By Warner Todd Huston

Robert Dold (Dold’s campaign website) has announced his entrant into the race for the 10th District House seat that Mark Kirk is abandoning for his run for the U.S. Senate.

Dold told CQPolicts.com that he’s running for Congress because…

“we’re seeing a tremendous amount of spending that I believe is going in the wrong direction. I think that the government is kind of overreaching at this stage of the game.”

“Unless we make some changes in Washington very quickly, we are going to bankrupt future generations,” Dold said. Dold said that Congress should be run more like small businesses, which he said are the nation’s “economic backbone” and create two-thirds of all jobs. He supports a “moratorium or cutting back on the payroll tax” as the “quickest way to infuse dollars into the system.”

Dold calls himself a fiscal conservative but says he’s a social moderate. Looking over his website and other information, it seems that fiscal issues are to be the focal point of his campaign.

Dold joins three others seeking the GOP nomination for Kirk’s old House seat:

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One More For Kirk’s House Seat”

Congress - Elections - Free Trade - Illinois - Senate - State Government - Taxes - Warner Todd Huston

Anti-Mark Kirk Efforts Begin

September 5, 2009 by

-By Warner Todd Huston

Republicans United Against Mark Kirk for US Senate, a blog to chronicle Representative Mark Kirk’s record by folks not very happy with his record has been set up to argue against his candidacy.

According to the opening main statement, the blog is set up to reveal Kirk’s “departure from the GOP’s state and national platforms.”

This blog is a response to US Rep. Mark Kirk’s bid for the US Senate seat from Illinois. It will reveal Mark Kirk’s voting record as a member of the US House of Reps. and address Kirk’s departure from the GOP’s state and national platforms. This site will provide a venue for Illinois voters to express their opinions on not only Kirk, but others who will be on the GOP’s primary ballot in 2010. Read letters to the editor, articles and commentaries regarding Kirk’s position on the issues.

Kirk’s Cap and Trade vote really set off a firestorm of anti-Kirk sentiment out there, it seems.
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Anti-Mark Kirk Efforts Begin”

Congress - Conservatives - Elections - Illinois - State Government - Taxes - Warner Todd Huston

Illinois Conservative Summit, Full Report

September 4, 2009 by

-By Warner Todd Huston

As mentioned in the earlier post, I was invited to cover the Illinois Conservative Summit sponsored by the United Republican Fund of Illinois.

The URF is celebrating its 75th anniversary this year and is Illinois’ oldest, independent, conservative GOP organization. The URF’s charge is to advance conservative policies and principles by supporting candidates that will advance limited government, individual rights, free enterprise, and traditional values.

Today’s forum is a Q and A session with six Republican candidates for governor where a set of four fixed questions and one candidate specific question was asked each candidate. Each candidate got 20 minutes for the whole session and were warned that they’d be cut off if they tried to filibuster. At the end a 9-question “lightening round” where the candidates were to offer short answers was given each candidate. I have to say that only one candidate came close to going over and even he had basically answered all the questions etc. so all the candidates were kind enough to stay within the 20 minutes time span (Only Kirk Dillard went on long enough during his opening statements that he wasn’t able to answer all the “lightening round” questions). The candidates were presented in alphabetical order.

**Straw Poll Results at the end of this report**

Among those in the Audience were several GOP notables some of whom were:
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Illinois Conservative Summit, Full Report”

Anti-Americanism - Chicago - Congress - Democrats/Leftists - Elections - Freedom - Health - House of Representatives - Liberals - Socialism - State Government - Warner Todd Huston

Protest Representative Melissa Bean

September 1, 2009 by

-By Warner Todd Huston

(Illinois Representative Melissa Bean scheduled an appearance at the Lake Zurich Chamber of Commerce breakfast on Sept. 2. Unfortunately for her constituents this townhall meeting is not open to the public unless a $25 fee is paid for a ticket. The Tea Party Patriots in her district have scheduled a protest to impress upon this elected official that she should meet with her constituents without charging admission!)

Come out and join the protest of Melissa Bean this Wednesday. Rep. Bean is again selectively ducking her constituents. This healthcare event is by paid fee only in front of the Lake Zurich Area Chamber of Commerce.

She did finally schedule a tele-townhall but that also was a failure. It appeared she again selectively chose who she called and who got to ask a question. Why is Melissa Bean continuing to not talk to all the citizens of the 8th district.

Wednesday, September 2nd  
Lake Zurich Chamber of Commerce Breakfast  
Outside Concorde Banquets  
20922 Rand Road  
Kildeer, IL  
7:00 AM – 9:30 AM
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Protest Representative Melissa Bean”

Campaign Finance - Chicago - Congress - Elections - GOP - Republicans - Society/Culture - State Government - Taxes - Warner Todd Huston

John McCain in Town to Stump for Kirk — Are We Grateful?

August 31, 2009 by 1 Comment

-By Warner Todd Huston

Former GOP candidate for president and highest profile Republican Senator, John McCain (R, AZ), appeared in town this weekend to stump for Mark Kirk’s Senatorial campaign.

McCain appeared side-by-side with Representative Kirk in Glenview on Sunday.

Now, I suppose that if you want to make a wild guess, you can feel sanguine that the national party has decided who it is going to endorse in this upcoming GOP primary here in the Land of Lincoln. This, of course, is a boon for Mark Kirk, but not very good for the Illinois GOP that should have been given more space to feel out its own candidates for its own representation in the fight to fill Senator Roland Burris’ ill-gotten seat.

There is a plethora of candidates coming forward to face the Democrats in 2010. Kirk is not the only one. But, if the bigwigs in Washington have their way, it seems that the others aren’t even going to be given a chance to make a dent before the national folks stampede for Kirk.
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John McCain in Town to Stump for Kirk — Are We Grateful?”

Anti-Americanism - Budget - Business - Capitalism - Chicago - Democrats/Leftists - Economy/Finances - Freedom - Illinois - Journalism - Liberals - Media Bias - Socialism - Society/Culture - State Government - Taxes - Warner Todd Huston

King Daley Apologizes for his Meter Mess

August 28, 2009 by

-By Warner Todd Huston

Tuesday, Mayor “King” Daley apologized for the mess he and his buddies made of the sale of Chicago’s parking meters to a private company.

As the Chicago Sun-Times reports:

“I’ll be the first to admit that we totally screwed up the way it was implemented. I want us to do better — and we will,” Daley plans to tell the crowd at the South Shore Cultural Center, 7059 S. Shore Dr., according to a copy of his speech obtained by the Sun-Times.

No issue in recent memory — not even the Hired Truck scandal or Daley’s notorious midnight destruction of Meigs Field — has resonated more with voters than the 75-year, $1.15 billion parking meter lease tied to a steep schedule of rate hikes.

An apology is pretty meaningless when Daley is already walking around with the cash merrily jingling in his pocket and no real changes are being offered. After all, even as he was to “apologize” Daley planned to go on to say that the whole episode was still the best of ideas.

So, it’s really just more empty words from Mayor Daley.
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King Daley Apologizes for his Meter Mess”

Conservatives - Democrats/Leftists - Illinois - Journalism - Liberals - Media Bias - Society/Culture - State Government - Taxes - Warner Todd Huston

Warner Todd Huston Named Editor of Red County’s Cook County, Illinois News Blog

August 19, 2009 by

-By Warner Todd Huston

After attending the first Cook County meeting of the American Liberty Alliance a nice bit of kismet occurred that offered me an opportunity to do just what we all discussed at the meeting, namely get the word out.

I have been contacted by Red County, a website that has recently gone national, to become the editor of its Cook County, Illinois pages. With this opportunity, I will be able to get the word out about all of our efforts on a nation wide basis.

So, if any of you have a press release you want spread far and wide, be sure and get it to me right away and I will post it on the Cook County pages of RedCounty.com.

Further, if you want to register and have the ability to post your own notices, please feel free to do so. But, I will be happy to post anything you send along.

Yours,

Warner Todd Huston
PubliusForum.com
Editor, Cook County Pages of Red County.com
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Warner Todd Huston Named Editor of Red County’s Cook County, Illinois News Blog”