Froehlich Switches Parties

Rep. Paul Froehlich switching political parties

By Eric Krol
Daily Herald Political Writer

Republican state Rep. Paul Froehlich is switching political parties, becoming a Democrat and leaving behind the Schaumburg Township GOP organization he controlled for nearly a decade. “I plan to do a press event on it where I can answer whatever questions people might have and make my announcement and address it thoroughly then," Froehlich told the Daily Herald Monday afternoon.

The rare party switch apparently is designed to try to save Froehlich’s political skin in territory that’s been trending more Democratic in recent years, a phenomenon true of northwest Cook County as a whole.

Froehlich, who represents the 56th House District, watched last fall as longtime Republican Rep. Terry Parke of Hoffman Estates lost his seat to Democrat Fred Crespo, who himself had defected from Froehlich’s GOP group.

Froehlich also had told allies he feared House GOP leader Tom Cross would back a primary challenge against him next February.

Froehlich had been mulling the move for months. He was unopposed last year in the General Election and won by about a 2-to-1 margin in the primary. But Froehlich watched Schaumburg Township vote for Democrat Melissa Bean over Republican David McSweeney last fall. (Bean scored 58.4 percent and McSweeney 37.6 percent.) President Bush also lost Schaumburg Township to Democrat John Kerry in 2004 by about four percentage points.

Froehlich was a conservative Republican who swept longtime township committeeman Don Totten out of power in March 1998. Froehlich was known for trying to exert tight control in his organization.

Since last November, however, Froehlich softened his views, voting with Democrats to grant illegal immigrants driving privileges and elect U.S. presidents by popular vote.

He’d also been cutting deals with Democrats locally.

Last Monday, Froehlich attended an Illinois Republican Party forum in Lisle where the goal was to start rebuilding the GOP.

Froehlich had scheduled a Tuesday night meeting of the Schaumburg GOP and then a Wednesday morning news conference to discuss his decision.

Here's a copy of Froehlich's e-mail to his organization:

I’m calling an emergency STAR meeting Tuesday night.

There will be a major announcement that will shake the township’s political foundation so you’ll want to be there. I want everyone to have a chance to hear about it from me before you read about it.

The time is 7 p,m. on Tuesday, June 26.

The place is the Comfort Suites Hotel, which is directly east of Lifetime Fitness on Higgins Road.

If you can’t make it, you’ll want to stop by HQ at a later date. I’m currently scheduled to be in session on Saturday, June 30, but if it is cancelled, then I’ll be at HQ. I’ll also be talking about the major changes at my brunch at Chandlers on Sunday, July 1, 11 a.m.-1 p.m.

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