At the Sankey Hi-Rise polling station early
Tuesday morning, plows delegated to clear the snow that blanketed
central Illinois seemed to be working against each other: Just as
one plow managed to clear a patch of asphalt, the other one pushed
the snow right back where it had been. In many ways the plow trucks were the perfect
metaphor for one of the most interesting primary-election seasons
the Springfield area has seen in a long time. The Republican gubernatorial primary culminated
early yesterday morning — with about 95 percent of the votes
tallied when Illinois Times went to press Wednesday afternoon — with
state Treasurer Judy Baar Topinka’s winning the nomination,
but it may have caused irreparable damage to an already fractured
state party. On the Democratic side, Ed Eisendrath received
about 30 percent of the vote, a measure more of disenchantment with
Gov. Rod Blagojevich than an endorsement of the poorly financed and
little-known former Chicago alderman. In the fall, voters will have a choice of two
candidates who a big chunk of their respective parties didn’t
want to have the job. Frightening as that might sound, Christopher Z.
Mooney — a professor of political studies at the Institute of
Government and Public Affairs at the University of Illinois at
Springfield — cautions against reading too much into it. After all, that’s what primaries are for. First things first: The GOP must begin mending
fences, a process that began at a “unity breakfast” in
Chicago on Wednesday morning. With rancor so deep, there wasn’t a
minute to spare, Sangamon County Republican Party chairman Tony Libri says that a breakfast meeting,
rather than dinner, was scheduled so that the state party could start
regrouping as soon as possible. “We are one team, [and] we have one goal:
to make our town and community a better place,” Libri said on
Election Day. Libri says that he expects “the White
House” (Topinka has said that she’s spoken to
presidential advisor Karl Rove about her candidacy) to make at
least four appearances before fall to help Republicans raise money
for Topinka and other candidates — something Topinka will
desperately need in a race against Blagojevich, whose well-financed
campaign unleashed a set of ads attacking Topinka as
anti-middle-class just one day after the primary. The candidate who
first defines the opponent has a big advantage, Mooney says. Gene Callahan, former chief of staff to U.S.
Sen. Alan Dixon and a loyal Democrat, says that, in the end,
Topinka was the strongest of the Republican field to challenge
Blagojevich. Nevertheless, the strong performance by the
GOP’s right wing surprised Mooney. Dairy owner Jim Oberweis
and state Sen. Bill Brady got about half of the Republican vote. The Democratic primary for state treasurer was
perhaps the most exciting race on the Democratic ticket, Callahan says,
considering that Cook County’s African-American leadership was
split between Obama-backed banker Alexi Giannoulias and the
party-endorsed candidate, Knox County State’s Attorney Paul
Mangieri, who had hoped to overcome the newcomer’s Chicagoland
support with a big downstate showing. In the race for the 99th House District,
in which Sangamon County Board member Sam Cahnman took out
Springfield Ald. Chuck Redpath, the difference was likely
Cahnman’s advisory referendum to move Illinois to an
open-primary system, in which voters would not have to declare
party affiliation. Cahnman also blitzed the television airwaves, unusual in a
state House primary. Redpath, who had the party’s machine behind
him, ended up looking flat-footed. By far the biggest winner Tuesday
was Cahnman’s open-primary proposal, which was approved by more
than 75 percent of Springfield voters. Callahan says that Cahnman may
be on to something. “As an old-timer, I like our system, but
change is a-coming,” he says.
This article appears in Mar 23-29, 2006.
