Heretic, Rebel, a Thing to Flout Illinois Primary Endorsements—6th and 14h District Congressional Races

We are forgoing our traditional St. Patrick’s Day post and rant—you’ve heard all of that blarney before anyway—to resume Heretic, Rebel, a Thing to Flout’s endorsements in the Illinois Democratic primary this Tuesday, March 20.  This time we will take on two crowded Congressional District fields in which citizen candidates came out of the woodwork motivated by their experience in the 2016 Presidential election and Trump Trauma.

Almost all of McHenry County is divided between two oddly crescent shaped Congressional Districts, the 6th and the 14th, that coil from north to south through the Chicago suburbs and exurbs, one nestled comfortably inside the other.  They are masterpieces of the gerrymander’s art each carefully designed by  Republicans after the 2010 census to create safe GOP seats virtually immune from any conceivable Democratic challenges.  Each is represented by supposedly secure incumbents, Tea Party reactionaries both—Peter Roskam in the 6th and Randy Hultgren in the 14th.

This map of Illinois Congressional District in the greater Chicago metropolitan are shows those masterpieces of the gerrymanders art the 6th District in gray and the sprawling 14th District in baby blue.

But since the Districts were drawn Democrats have made modest inroads in both Districts.  Barack Obama did well in both districts, especially in 2004 as did Tammy Duckworth in her run for Senate after a setback in the Republican tsunami of 2010 Dems posted good numbers in the hotly contested 2016 Presidential primary and did respectably in the general election.  Now Trump’s victory, total mismanagement of the country, and a criminally reactionary Republican Congress have motivated Democrats and independents, who often sat out elections in discouragement a registering and mobilizing in record numbers. 

Many disillusioned and discouraged Republicans, especially women and moderates are abandoning old loyalties.  Similar districts around the country have been flipped in a wave of recent special elections.  While it is harder to flip seats with entrenched incumbents, if this fall truly represents, as some experts predict, a Blue Wave election, even Roskam and Hultgren could be vulnerable.

6th Congressional District

There were originally ten candidates in the 6th, but three have dropped out.  They are:

·       Sean Casten is a scientist, clean energy entrepreneur, and first time candidate from Downers Grove.  He has run a well-funded and sophisticated campaign with a significant social media presence.  Vigorously outspoken against Trump and Roskam he has made respect for scientific integrity, the environment, clean energy, and a detailed healthcare for all plan the centerpieces of his campaign.  He has received glowing endorsements from leading environmentalists and organizations as well as many progressives and even conservative Democrat McHenry County Board President Jack Franks.  That broad appeal has made him the solid leader in the race.

·       Carole Cheney is one of five women in the race, a result in no small part due to the energy released by the Women’s March.  She is a former reporter, attorney, and political staffer in the office of Congressman Bill Foster. Cheney ran for Illinois House of Representatives in 2012, but was defeated in the Democratic primary.  With solid political experience and endorsements by Foster and Congressman Robin Kelly she could be a contender.

    Amanda Howland has paid her political dues and established name recognition in a 2016 run for the same office and a 2012 race for the state Senate.  A former teacher. Administrator and elected Community College Board member, she is now an attorney with her own firm.  She has a loyal following in the district but as in her previous campaigns has struggled to raise enough money to be more visible and competitive.

·       Ryan Huffman at 31 years of age is the most youthful candidate in the race and emblematic of Millennials mobilized and radicalized by economic displacement and the Trump Era dystopia.  A former journalist including a stint at McHenry County’s Northwest Herald, he worked on Barack Obamas’s presidential campaign and did a turn on the White House staff.  But like others of his generation despite credentials out the wazoo has struggled to find and keep regular employment while carrying a crushing six figure student loan debt.  He lives in Palatine and now works in Chicago for a healthcare communications startup.  He has a solid across the board progressive platform and has impressed attendees at candidate forums but is still considered a long-shot. 

·       Kelly Mazeski is former chemist and financial advisor, who ran for the State Senate in 2012.  She is also breast cancer survivor who has made healthcare her signature issue along with women’s rights.  She has received solid support from feminists, is the beneficiary of valuable Emily’s list backing, and has been endorsed by U.S. Representatives Cheri Bustos, Jan Schakowsky, Debbie Dingell , and Lois Frankel.  Sisterhood is powerful for her.  In January Crain’s Chicago Business reported that she had raised a war chest of more than $650,000, almost $100,000 more than Republican incumbent Roskam.  If she wins she will still have a chunk of that change for the General Election and be in a position to attract donations nationwide.

·       Becky Anderson Wilkins, co-owner of Anderson’s Bookshops, a member of the Naperville City Council, and another breast cancer survivor has made health care availability and small business top issues.  She has run a barebones campaign and has missed several candidate forums.  Has to be put in the column of well-intentioned but not serious candidates.

·       Jennifer Zordani is a lawyer in private practice focusing on financial matters, a trader on the Board of Trade, and was active in the small business operated by her parents.  She is an active community volunteer.  Now a divorced single mother she lives with her sister in Clarendon Hills.  She boasts of running a grass roots campaign but is another dark horse in the campaign.

Casten and Mazeski are both strong, attractive candidates.  I have a soft spot for Amanda Howland who I have supported in both of her previous races.  And I find Ryan Huffman inspiring and a shining hope for the future.  It was a tough choice, but I have become convinced that Kelly Mazeski will be the most competitive challenger for Roskam in what is shaping up to be a landmark Year of Women in politics.

14th Congressional District

More than one person who has attended the many candidate forums held across the 14th district has commented on what a wealth of inspiring citizen candidates have put themselves forward in this race to deep six repugnant Randy Hultgren.

    Matt Brolley, an engineer and the youthful Mayor of Montgomery, a fast growing farm community transitioning to suburb straddling Kane and Kendal Counties, has emerged as a favorite in the race with many heavy hitters.  Healthcare, jobs, and taxes are his key issues.  Brolley has garnered endorsements from Representatives Bill Foster and Jan Schakowsky, who has reserved many of her endorsements for women, as well as the AFL-CIO and the Illinois Democratic County Chairs' Association.  That kind of backing brings adequate campaign funding and has already attracted attack ads by Hultgren surrogates.

·       John Hosta, an account executive at Merrill Lynch, is making his third run for the Democratic nomination in the 14th District.  He was bested by Dennis Anderson in 2014 and Jim Walz two years later.

·       Daniel Roldán-Johnson, a teacher and former Florida law enforcement intelligence analyst, emphasizes his working class roots as the son of a struggling carpenter who had to work his way through school.  He emphasizes education, infrastructure improvement, jobs, and economic development.

·       Victor Swanson is another teacher up from a hard scrabble background as the son of single mother.  He is also a Navy veteran.  His key issues are education, health care, and the economy.

     Lauren Underwood is a first time candidate whose biography stands out as unique.  She is a Registered Nurse with advanced training in public health who served as a senior policy advisor in the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services during the Obama administration.  Oh, and did I mention that she is a Black woman running with aplomb in an overwhelmingly white district.  That’s hutzpah and then some.  Underwood has proven deft on the campaign trail and picked up important support from Emily’s list and Off the Sidelines PAC.  She is also popular with many progressives and has made herself a top tier candidate.

  Jim Walz, a sales rep for a wholesale distributor from Gurney is making his second run in the district. In 2016 he came out on top of what was then a very rare Democratic contested primary and fought had to get a very respectable 40.7% against Randy Hultgren in a year where Trump and the Republicans were rolling up big margins in the White suburbs. He also established good name recognition in the district and has worked hard to put together an effective campaign for a rematch.  He has been continually active  and regularly has attended events across the sprawling district. Walz has laid out a strong, progressive program and is a strong advocate for Medicare for All.  He was recently named a Moms Demand Justice for Gun Sense in America Gun Sense Candidate.  He has an extensive grassroots campaign with many volunteer who carried over from his first run and from the Sanders campaign.  He enjoys substantial progressive support.

·       George Webber of Lakewood is a recently retired chemical engineer who is running as the Middle Class Candidate a la Daniel Biss.  He is attempting to “reach across party lines” with moderate and practical proposals on political and campaign reform, job training, health care reform, and reduction in the national debt.  He eschews appeals to ideology.  This approach has one him the support of the Independent Voters of Illinois—Independent Precinct Organization (IVI-IPO) the state’s oldest “good government”—go-go—organization that has its roots in anti-Daily Independent Democratic movement of the 1960s.  The IVI-IPO has not been notable active in the Collar Counties and exurbs so the value of the endorsement is limited.  Webber, however does appeal to moderate and centrist Democrats.

I consider Brolley, Underwood, and Walz to be the top trier Democrats in the race and Underwood and Walz are my personal favorites.  Ordinarily I am no fan of it’s-his-turn-politics but Walz has really profited from his experience and become an effective candidate who can pose a serious challenge to Randy Hultgren.  And I greatly admire his dedication to single payer health care.  I wish both he and Underwood could run, but I have to choose and I endorse Jim Walz.  Here is hoping that Lauren Underwood follows his example and uses this experience to build bigger things in the future.

Next—McHenry County local races.

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                               

The Murfin List—2016 Endorsements—For Congress Howland, Walz

Take Back the House is a great slogan and a noble goal, but unfortunately not likely in 2016.

Note—I apparently have more to say about the races this year than I thought, so this series is going to run longer than the projected three days.  Today is already the third installment, and we have only gotten to the Congressional races.  I am only covering contests in the two Congressional Districts that include portions of McHenry County, Illinois—suburban/exurban districts normally considered solidly Republican.

Nothing in recent politics—until Donald Trump crawled out from under his rock—has been as discouraging as the iron grip Republicans have on the House of Representatives and the sharp right turn that party took with the rise of the Tea Party.  Thanks largely to gerrymandering reapportionment after a Republican wave took many state legislatures and governorships in 2010—at the bottom of the economic collapse—the Republicans now hold scores more safe seats—nearly unassailable seats—than they did before.  Enclaves of White Suburban voters in the suburbs of major metropolitan areas were preserved intact while Democratic areas and especially minority communities were sliced and diced every which what with small pieces thrown into hostile new Districts. 

As a result Republicans now hold 247 seats to 188 for the Democrats despite actually getting fewer votes for their candidates nationwide in the last two elections.  That’s because the majority of Democratic votes come from urban districts with huge majorities while the Republicans control the geography of the House, if not the total population.

The increasingly shrill and militant Tea Party dominated House has been lashed to a frenzy of opposition to everything Barack Obama stands for or opposes.  They literally foam at the mouth at the mere thought of a Black President.  They have not only killed his budgets and agendas they have worked with single-minded obsession and scores of useless, symbolic votes to kill the legislative triumph before Democrats lost the House—the Affordable Care Act or, as they call it, Obama care.  They destroyed previously bi-partisan immigration reform.  And they passed, over and over, legislation to restrict abortion, de-fund Planned Parenthood, and attack Gay rights and Marriage Equality.  Almost all of their most draconian legislation, died in the Senate either to the narrow Majority or tie Democrats held until 2014 or to the threat of filibuster the last two years.  If all else failed there was the sure knowledge that Obama’s veto could almost always be upheld.

The Democratic minority in the House was systematically stripped of many traditional courtesies and procedural input, their staffs slashed, and minority members literally locked out of being able to call witnesses in many committees.  Traditional negotiation and compromise between parties completely broke down with Republican legislation rammed through without even allowing consideration of Democratic amendments.  It was the back of the hand and my way or the highway.

The result has been confrontation, government shutdowns or threat of shutdowns, and absolute legislative gridlock.  The American people have noticed and approval ratings for Congress have fallen off the charts to the low single digits.  Despite this, thanks to the gerrymandered districts, the majority of voters say they like their Congressman.  The system favors incumbents of either party.  Districts now usually only come into play when a seat opens up due to a retirement, death, or indictment and the population is relatively closely divided between parties.

To regain the House this year, Democrats need to win 30 seats—not unprecedented.  They picked up 31 seats in 2006 at the nadir of George W. Bush’s popularity.  But that was before reapportionment.  It was also a so called wave election, phenomena that generally occurs in midterm elections when the party of an unpopular President loses seats.  It is what happened to Obama and the Democrats in 2010 and to a lesser degree in 2012.  In Presidential years, even a landslide White House win only results in modest Congressional gains. 

So most experts see retaking the House this year as a virtually impossible mountain to climb.  At best, Democrats hope to hold on to the seats they have, and pick-up a dozen or so seats in potential swing districts.  The hope is that they can retake the Senate and with a big win by Clinton somewhat chastise and tame a narrower Republican majority in the House.

In Illinois, the reapportionment was still in the hands of Democrats who controlled the state House and Senate and thus the majority on the reapportionment commission.  But their main interest was preserving most of their seats while the Illinois delegation was set to lose two seats due to population stagnation downstate and explosive growth in Texas, Florida, and other Sunbelt states.  They did an act of magic gerrymandering themselves to do that, dramatically revamping Congressional District boundaries to intentionally throw two Republican incumbents into the same district, for instance.  As note yesterday, they also reshaped the 8th District to accommodate the expected candidacy of Tammy Duckworth.

In the process McHenry County, which had previously been almost entirely within the 8th District was carved up between the radically alerted 6th and 14th Districts, both considered Republican bastions.

One of the things that happens when Congressional Districts are declared a lock for the GOP is that money dries up for potential Democratic challenger.  The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC), and the Democratic National Committee (DNC) don’t want to waste money on a losing cause, but concentrate their resources on competitive contests.  They even discourage major Political Action Committees (PACs) from doing the same.  Even progressives PACs like Emily’s List, the Brady Campaign often follow along, although they will sometimes pick a few longshot races key to their interests.

Money is the lifeblood of politics and despite extolling the virtues of volunteer driven, shoe leather, door to door campaigns, it is almost impossible to be competitive without heavy spending on things like literature, direct mail, polling, phone campaigns, and, of course, TV, radio, and social media advertising.  There are staff salaries to pay, office rent, travel, and event expenses.  It mounts up fast.  And in the bastion of another party, no matter how much money is raised, it will usually be matched and topped.

Without outside support only wealthy candidates who can self finance campaigns stand much of a chance.  The Republicans have lots of those.  In Illinois, at least, they have been scarce on the Democratic side.  Only Congressman Bill Foster comes to mind recently.

Despite these odds and obstacles ordinary Americans, citizen activists, bravely step up to the plate to run long shot campaigns.  Most have little political experience beyond the most local level or none at all.  They are people of modest means who can only afford limited funds from their own pockets, often tapping life savings or even mortgaging their homes.  They don’t have wide circles of wealthy family and acquaintances to tap.  If they are not retired, they can expect that their occupational income will be disrupted for a year or more.

Yet these citizen candidates feel that their most deeply held beliefs and convictions must be upheld in the public forum and that voters must be given a choice—especially where the status quo represents oligarchy, belligerence, and bigotry.

In the 6th and 14th Congressional Districts which each include portions of McHenry County, two such citizen candidates have stepped up.  Each is earnest, thoughtful, and ready to both put forth fresh ideas and support the progressive programs of the next President.  They deserve your attention and votes.  A few bucks thrown into the hats they tossed into the ring would not be unwelcome either.

The Illinois 6th Congressional District.

Amanda Howland for the 6th Congressional District

Peter Roskam, the man who beat Tammy Duckworth in her first run for Congress, could be the poster boy for entrenched incumbents.  Since that he has trounced four Democratic challengers by wide margins despite having his district dramatically redrawn.  In 2014 he won by the widest margin yet—67% to 33%—against the largely symbolic candidacy of retired postal worker Michael Mason. 

Despite the national attention he received for his contest with Duckworth—probably the most watched race of 2006, Roskam quickly became a classic back bencher.  Very conservative, he was never quite a Tea Partier.  He was elected Chief Deputy Majority Whip, the fourth ranked GOP leadership post, in the 112th Congress, but was ousted in the Tea party putsch in the next Congress.  Since then he has survived by keeping his head down and loyally following leadership.  He currently serves on the Ways and Means Committee and as Chair of its Subcommittee on Oversight where he occasionally draws attention for hectoring Obama administration officials.  He was also on the Benghazi witch hunt special committee.

Roskam is known as a reliable water carrier for the National Rifle Association (NRA) and gun lobby, opposition to Obama Care, calling climate change “junk science”, and as a neo-con hawk on Iraq and against the Iranian nuclear deal.

Amanda Howland represents a break from all of that obstructionism Republican dogma.

Howland, of Lake Zurich in neighboring Lake County is a former teacher and education administrator who is now an attorney specializing in protecting the rights of people in both civil rights cases and employment law.  She has long been active in her community in numerous capacities, including being a high level gymnastics judge.  Howland serves on the Board of Trustees of The College of Lake County and was formerly Chair of the Board.  In 2012 she ran for the 24th District Illinois Senate seat.

Howland’s varied life experience has made her especially interested in education.  Still paying off student loans from her return to law school in mid-career she is especially concerned about the burden of loans and a whole generation.  As a civil rights advocate she is a strong defender of a woman’s right to choose and an opponent of all attempts to restrict or make difficult to access abortion services and contraception.  She supports the Equality Act aimed at strengthening civil rights across the board.

Howland stands for a tax system that protects the middle class, and raises enough money for vital infrastructure improvements and educational opportunities like Pell Grants by making sure subsidies to billion dollar corporations are slashed and the wealthy pay their fair share.  She will protect Social Security from Republican schemes slash benefits, dismantle it, or shovel money to Wall Street in risky privatization.

He opponent is a well known climate change denier but Howland pledges to support ending oil and gas subsidies and implementing the Paris climate change agreement.

Polls show that item by item the American people—even Republicans—support this agenda.  Howland has to get the word out.

Although her race is difficult, Howland good get a major boost if women turn out in big numbers to vote against Donald Trump.

Jim Walz for the 14th Congressional District

You wouldn’t think that folks would line up for what pundits said was a suicide mission.  But three citizen activists ran in the Democratic primary for the 14th Congressional District for a crack at Republican incumbent Randy Hultgren.  Jim Walz of Gurnee was the walk-away winner of the primary based on a solid progressive platform.

Walz is an outside sales representative to a major wholesale company with deep ties to his community and a call to service.  He was elected to the Warren Township High School District #121 School Board.  Both of his children attended and graduated from the high school. Among his accomplishments on the board was advocating the addition of solar arrays at both campuses of the school, convincing the Board to sign a letter of intent to install them.

Walz dipped into activism in 2012 when he worked to the Move to Amend advisory referendum on the Warren Township ballot.  The referendum supported an Amendment to the U.S. Constitution to overturn the disastrous Citizens United decision of the Supreme Court.  The question passed by a 2 to 1 margin, a testimony to his tireless work.

That experience sparked a deeper interest in tackling progressive reform blocked by the Republican House.  He became a Democratic precinct committeeman in Lake County and after consultation with his family decided to enter the 2016 Congressional Race.

Walz’s solidly progressive platform resonated with many Bernie Sanders supporters.  His program includes limiting the influence of dark money in politics by standing on the principles that corporations are not people and money is not speech.  He pledges to protect Social Security from right wing attack and insure its continued solvency by removing the payroll cap for incomes over $500,000 per year, to broaden the base of this tax and make it fairer and more evenly distributed.  He proposes expansion of programs to assist and protect veterans and advocates tax credits to encourage the employment of veterans.

Despite taking zero dollars from big PACs and struggling with small donor fundraising, Walz has conducted a vigorous campaign relying on door to door contact with voters and public appearances in parades, forums, and community events across the district.  But he could use your help.

Illinois 14th Congressional District.

Walz face Randy Hultgren who came to the House in the 2010 election by defeating Democratic incumbent Bill Foster—who later returned to Congress from another District.  Redistricting put Tea Party ranter Joe Walsh into the 14th District.  Walsh considered challenging Hultgren, but was muscled aside by state GOP heavyweights and deep pocket donors.  Walsh was forced to run in the drastically redrawn 8th District where he was a sacrificial lamb to Tammy Duckworth.

Hultgren fared better.  He beat retired health care administers Dennis Anderson, who ran credible but cash strapped campaigns in 2012 and ’14.

In Congress Hultgren introduced legislation to gut the Dodd–Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act by allowing banks to use risky financial derivatives known as Swaps as a Hedge tool.  He further evidenced his fealty to corporate greed by signing the Americans for Prosperity pledge to oppose Global warming legislation that would raise any taxes.  He attacked the Americans for Disabilities Act with the benign sounding Hire More Heroes Act that would have allowed employers to exclude veterans receiving health insurance from the Department of Defense or the Department of Veterans' Affairs from their list of employees which would allow many smaller companies to dodge the 50 full-time employees line that would require them to provide their employees with healthcare.  Needless to say Hultgren also voted for all of the scores of attempts to repeal Obama care.

Hultgren is intensely hostile to public education and leads the Congressional drum beat for special privileges for home school families.

Hultgren is as nasty as any House Republican and sorely needs to be retired from Congress.  Help Jim Walz do it.