Chicago Republicans

ANALYSIS & OPINION BY RUSS STEWART

            Not unexpectedly, a few credible Republican politicians in Cook County are fervently and ferociously committed to the extermination of their enemies.

            However, those “enemies” aren’t Democrats; they’re fellow Republicans.

            The emergence of the so-called “Tea Party” has reinvigorated Republicans elsewhere, but the Feb. 2 primary proves that some Republican politicians are indisputably members of the “Arsenic Party” -- short-sighted, insecure, venomous and dysfunctional.

            The “Tea Party’s” premise is fiscal opposition to government bailouts, government takeovers of private corporations like General Motors, socialization of the healthcare system, and an unsustainable federal budget and deficit. That resonates with rank-and-file conservative Republicans.

            This November, the “fervor factor” is determinative. Those who are angry with whom they detest are more inclined to vote. Those who are disillusioned or disgusted with whom they have supported are disinclined to vote. 2010 should be a huge Republican year.

            But that’s problematical, as local Republicans may endeavor to defeat Republicans. Here’s why:

            Board of Review (1^st District): This obscure entity has enormous power, as do the three commissioners. It can lower the assessed valuation of residential or commercial property. And the incumbents can generate a massive stream of campaign donations, particularly from lawyers of commercial property owners who win a hefty tax cut.

            Three districts were created, effective in 1998. The 1^st District was supposed to elect a Republican, and included all or part of 27 suburban townships (out of a total of 30), plus parts of the 41^st and 45^th wards on the Northwest Side, and half of the Southwest Side 19^th Ward. Excluded were suburban minority and liberal areas: Evanston, Niles, Lincolnwood, Oak Park, Cicero, Berwyn, and the near South suburbs.

            Maureen Murphy, an Oak Lawn state representative defeated in 1996, and Worth Township Republican committeeman, won a 6-candidate 1998 primary with 32 percent; she beat a Democrat in 1998 (by 199,647-173,940), and was unopposed in 2002 (getting 363,630 votes). During that period, Murphy was the only semi-countywide elected Republican. On the Board, she allied herself with Democrat Joe Berrios, who was the BOR’s chairman.

But, in the 2006 Democratic tsunami, she lost to obscure Democrat Brendan Houlihan by 242,227-231,851, a margin of 10,376 votes (51 percent). Houlihan was recruited, supported and funded by County Assessor Jim Houlihan (no relation), a rival of Berrios. After his election, Brendan Houlihan allied himself with fellow Commissioner Larry Rogers Jr., and Berrios was ousted as chairman.

As of Jan. 1, 2010, Berrios had $613,978 in his campaign account, Rogers $20,750, and Houlihan $228,001. The job is a cash cow.

Having narrowly won in 2006, Brendan Houlihan is eminently vulnerable. But, according to Dan Patlak, the Wheeling Township assessor, former Board of Review analyst, and the slated Republican for the 1^st District spot, a “shill” backed by southwest suburban “Vrdolyak Republicans” was put on the ballot to ensure Brendan Houlihan’s re-election.

Patlak’s foe was Sean Morrison, a suburban security company owner with roots in the 19^th Ward who, according to Patlak, never voted in a Republican primary. “I will beat Houlihan. He (Morrison) would have made sure he lost,” said Patlak.

According to final results, Patlak topped Morrison by 48,218-43,600 (52.5 percent), a margin of 4,618 votes. Of the 27 townships, Patlak won 15. Patlak’s margins in his northwest suburban base – Wheeling (69.5 percent), Maine (57.2 percent), Elk Grove (55.9 percent) and Schaumburg (56 percent) -- were barely enough. Morrison won Worth, Bloom, Rich, River Forest, Palos, Orland, Lyons and Proviso townships, getting the bulk of the south suburban vote.

The outlook:  Patlak can win. But not if half the Republican committeemen in the district do their utmost to do nothing, or surreptitiously assist Houlihan. Berrios is running for assessor, to replace the retiring Jim Houlihan, so Brendan Houlihan is on his own. The emerging “reform” candidacy of County Commissioner Forrest Claypool for assessor as an Independent is a win-win situation for Patlak, who is emphasizing the same issues. Houlihan will have to stick with Berrios.

My early prediction: Patlak wins narrowly.

Maine Township (Park Ridge, Des Plaines, part of Mount Prospect): Once mighty, Republicans have collapsed from dominant to decimated in the past 12 years, since State Senator (and Republican Committeeman) Marty Butler’s death in 1998.

The outcome of the 2010 committeeman’s race, won by State Representative Rosemary Mulligan (R-65), may be the deathknell – or resurrection.

“It was absolute treachery,” said Mark Thompson, whom Mulligan beat by 3,964-3,360 (54.1 percent), a margin of 604 votes. “She (Mulligan) sold her soul. I helped keep her in office for the past eight years, and she was part of my organization.. She intends to resign in 2011 (as state representative), and wanted my job so she could appoint her successor.”

And, adds Thompson, Mulligan was an integral part of the 2009 “peace treaty” between the township’s conservative faction, led by supervisor Carol Teschky, former supervisor Bob Dudycz, and road commissioner Bob Provenzano, and Thompson’s more moderate group, which included Mulligan and her pro-choice supporters. Thompson planned in 2009 his own slate of Republicans for township office; the incumbents planned to run as the “Township Incumbents’ Party.” Such a scenario would have insured the election of Trustee Peter Ryan, who headed the Democatic ticket for supervisor.

The “deal”: Thompson backed the incumbents and let them run as Republicans, and they promised to support him for re-election as committeeman in 2010. Since Teschky beat Ryan by just 1,734 votes (54.4 percent), no “deal” would have meant no Teschky-Provenzano win.

But then Mulligan, age 68, who was first elected in 1992, approached the “township” clique and enlisted their backing for her candidacy against Thompson. The “deal” was undone. But the stubborn Thompson, who lost a bid for Des Plaines mayor in 2009, refused to fold, and ran for both re-election and for the Republican nomination for Cook County commissioner in the 17th District, a seat occupied by Liz Gorman, the Orland Township Republican committeeman, who was part of the south suburban anti-Patlak cabal.

Gorman and her allies are engaged in an ongoing blood feud with Cook County Commissioner Tony Peraica, the Lyons Township committeeman, who lost recent bids for county board president (2006) and state’s attorney (2008). Peraica rushed to embrace Thompson, and the Mulligan/township bunch backed Gorman. Wheeling Township’s Republicans, where Patlak is a major player, endorsed Thompson over Gorman, enraging the South Siders.

Let’s take a breather here. Can you follow this idiocy? Democrats are king of the mountain, and Republicans squabble over a molehill.

The 17^th District is a geographic monstrosity, extending from Orland Park to Mount Prospect, encompassing all or part of 7 south suburban townships (Bremen, Lemont, Lyons, Orland, Palos, Proviso and Worth), all or part of 5 northwest suburban townships (Maine, Wheeling, Northfield, Leyden and Elk Grove), and connected by a thin strip of territory running from 87^th Street to Devon Avenue.

Thompson beat Gorman in the north by 3,422-2605 (56.7 percent), a margin of 817 votes; Gorman beat Thompson in the south by 9,353-5,901 (61.2 percent), a margin of 3,452 votes. Gorman won overall by 2,635 votes. The outlook: Gorman should defeat Democrat Pat Maher, but only if the Mulligan/township group produces votes in the north.

16^th District (west suburbs): What is a “Vrdolyak Republican”? Gorman’s husband is a former business partner of Ed Vrdolyak, the former Democratic alderman and party chairman. Vrdolyak, as village attorney for Cicero, was a subject of Peraica’s constant attacks. Gorman and her allies supported 2010 opponents to Peraica, but he won for committeeman by 4,630-1,665 (73.5 percent), and for commissioner by 9,290-3,085 (75.1 percent).

In 2006, Peraica was re-elected commissioner by just 1,669 votes (51.2 percent), and his area is trending Democratic. His 2010 Democratic foe is Jeff Tobolski.  My prediction: As one of the most vituperative critics of Todd Stroger, it is ironic, if not incomprehensible, that Republicans are more eager to oust Peraica than Democrats. Peraica will win in November, despite the Vrdolyak Republicans’ best efforts.