Congressional Races
The last two months I reviewed the Democratic Congressional Races in District 6 (Tammy Duckworth, Christine Cegelis and Lindy Scott) and in District 14 (John Laesch and Ruben Zamora). Today I will cover the candidates in District 13, Bill Reedy and Joseph Shannon. Part of southern Warrenville is in District 13.
Bill Reedy
Bill graduated from the University of Tulsa (B.S. Ed, 1970), and taught English, speech and vocal music in the Tulsa Public Schools. In 1975 Bill moved his family to Kansas City, Missouri where he attended Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary (M.Div., 1978). He served as Associate Pastor in youth, family, senior adult and music ministries in Southern Baptist churches from 1975 to 1991. Since 1991, Bill has been in business selling church furniture and choir robes. In his own words: “As a real Democrat, I will stand up for our Democratic values and ideals: Upholding and defending the Constitution and providing meaningful Congressional oversight to an out-of-control Administration, Access to quality, affordable healthcare for every American, Full support of our veterans and service members, Preserving retirement security and strengthening social security, Strong public schools, Innovation in new technologies that will help us to reduce our dependence on fossil fuels while creating new, well-paid jobs within our District, Defending womens rights to make their reproductive health decisions free from government intrusion”
Joseph Shannon
Joe and his wife Michelle live in Woodridge with their 5 children. They are members of St. Joan of Arc Roman Catholic Parish. Joe is a founding partner of Dolan & Shannon, P.C., a law firm focused on helping people in courtrooms throughout this country. Joe has authored numerous articles and has lectured extensively on consumer protection, insurance and safety issues. His bachelor’s degree is from the University of Portland, and his law degree is from Notre Dame. In his own words: “It seems that from the time I was in grade school and first learned about government, our elected officials have talked of the need for health care reform and a national energy policy. More than three decades have passed since the gas lines of the seventies and yet our energy policy remains unchanged. Our national health care program has changed very little since the enactment of Medicare. It is time for this generation to end three decades of rhetoric and live up to the responsibilities of a great nation.”
Contested Races
Here is just a list of contested races and web sites for the Democratic March 21 primary
Governor Rod Blagojevich http://www.rodforillinois.com/
Edwin Eisendrath http://www.eisendrath2006.com/
Treasurer Paul Mangieri http://www.mangieri.com/
Alexi Giannoulias http://www.alexiforillinois.com/
Congress 6 Tammy Duckworth http://www.duckworthforcongress.com/
Lindy Scott http://scottforcongress.net/
Christine Cegelis http://www.cegelisforcongress.org/
Congress 13 Bill Reedy http://www.reedyforcongress.com/
Joseph Shannon http://josephshannonforcongress.com/
Congress 14 Ruben Zamora http://www.zamoraforcongress.org/
John Laesch http://www.john06.com/
Elections to the Democratic State Central Committee
Another position that you will see on the ballot is State Central Committeeman and State
Central Committeewoman. These are the officers of the Democratic Party of Illinois. They are elected from each congressional district, and meet occasionally to help steer the state party. Candidates in District 14 are Elizabeth Penesis and Mark Guethle. Candidates in District 6 are Joan Brennan and Robert Wagner. In District 13 there are races for both positions. Candidates for Committeewoman are Beth Ann May and Julia Beckman. I was a delegate with Julia Beckman and would highly recommend a vote for her. Candidate for Committeeman in 13 are Kyle R. Hastings, Nick Palmer and Guy F. “Red” Brownson. Anyone who attends Democratic Meetings in DuPage County knows Red, and that he will represent us well.
It Isn’t True!
Often misleading untrue statements are made in political campaigns, or just as part of political rhetoric. It is often necessary to set the record straight. As an occasional feature of Donkey Tails, I will find untrue statements and point them out. I will start with an easy one. In light of Vice-President Cheney’s hunting accident, there has been a great deal of attention to the Aaron Burr – Alexander Hamilton duel. It isn’t true that they were dueling over whose face would be on the $10 bill.
Committeeman elections
I am not aware of any contested races for Democratic precinct committeeman. Elected Committeemen will get to vote for officers of the County Democratic Party on April 19th, and for officers of the Township Democratic Party on April 26th.
County Convention April 19th
The DuPage County Democratic Convention, which is held every two years, will be Wednesday April 19th (I’m not sure if it will start at 7:00 or 7:30, but there will be a notice sent to all elected committeemen.) It will be held at the IIT Rice Campus, 201 East Loop Road in Wheaton. Officers of the Democratic Party of DuPage County will be elected by a weighted vote. That means that each committeeman gets to cast the number of votes that were cast in his/her precinct in the Democratic primary. I am assuming that
Gayl Ferraro will again run for chairman, but I’ve not heard that it is definite.
Doug May stepping down as Chairman of the Winfield Township Democratic Party
After serving the township party well this year,
he has
announced that he wants to spend more time with his family. After
the primary,
newly elected committeemen will vote for officers of the Democratic
Party of
Winfield Township at the next meeting. Winfield Township meetings
are usually
the third Wednesday of every month. However, the County
Convention will be
April 19th by state law, so the election meeting will be
April 26th
at 7:00 pm. Bowling Green Center, 30W150 Roosevelt Rd, West Chicago, Il 60185
(about
1 block
west of Joliet). Officers to be elected are Chair, 1st vice
Chair,
Secretary, and Treasurer.
Wasting Money on the Winfield Township Road Referendum?
When towns were small, Township government made sense. Everybody could chip in and help build roads between towns. Now, township government serves the 15% of Winfield Township that isn’t incorporated, and it is mostly people with bigger houses and larger lots. Ironically, they pay lower taxes, because we all pay Township taxes, yet they don’t pay municipal taxes. Their roads get paved more often than city roads, but Township Trustees (none of which are Democrats) would like to get them paved even more often than that, so there is a referendum on the ballot to raise the Township road taxes. I am voting no.
Feedback
It is welcomed and appreciated maurygoodman@dupagedemocrats.org