Voters choose their candidates in variety of races; Obama wins big

By William S. Bike 

As this area goes, so goes the state.

          That is the conclusion one may draw, as in the seven wards composing this area U.S. Senator Barack Obama won five over rival U.S. Senator Hillary Clinton for the Democratic Presidential nomination. He also won statewide as well. On the Republican side, U.S. Senator John McCain won all seven wards and the State of Illinois.

          Obama won the 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, and 27th Wards by wide margins. Clinton won the 11th (Bridgeport) and the 25th (Taylor St., Tri-Taylor, and Pilsen). In the five wards Obama won, he bested Clinton 53,067 to 8,924, or 85.6% to 14.4%. In the 11th Ward, Clinton won 5,598 to 4,315, or 56.4% to 43.6%. In the 25th, Clinton won 4,084 to 3,919, or 51.0% to 49.0%.

          Obama had been endorsed by the Gazette.

          On the Republican Side, the Gazette had endorsed former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney, who finished second in all seven  wards to McCain. Also garnering votes were Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee and Texas Congressman Ron Paul.

          For the U.S. Senate Republican primary, Rush University physician Steve Sauerberg won over legal activist and Gazette endorsee Andy Martin, who finished second, and truck driver Mike Psak, who finished third.

Liberals made a strong national effort to raise money to defeat conservative Democrat Daniel Lipinski in the 3rd District Congressional race, but Lipinski tallied 56,501 to win over Assistant Cook County State's Attorney and Gazette endorsee Mark Pera, who got 27,188; attorney Jim Capparelli, who tallied 12,295; and Palos Hills Mayor Jerry Bennett, who scored 9,770.

          In the Republican race for 3rd District Congressman Gazette-endorsed real estate broker Michael Hawkins beat insurance broker Arthur J. Jones 12,363 to 6,101. Jerome Pohlen ran unopposed for the Green Party nomination.

          The 7th Congressional District Democratic race saw perennial champ and Gazette endorsee Representative Danny Davis easily beat political advisor Robert Dallas 120,275 to 11,541.

          The 5th District Democratic State Senate race saw incumbent and Gazette endorsee Rickey Hendon win with 22,630 over West Loop community activist AmySue Mertens, who tallied 9,392, and political consultant  Jonathan Bedi, who got 4,641.

          The 2nd District Democratic State House race saw Gazette-endorsed incumbent Edward Acevedo beat Triton College's Francisco Rodriguez 7,989 to 3,286.

          In the 6th State House District Democratic race, Gazette-endorsed incumbent Esther Golar won with 9,042 over construction worker Darryl Smith, who got 4,356, and former State Rep Jerry Washington, who tallied 2,341.

          The 9th State House District Democratic race saw Gazette-endorsed incumbent Arthur Turner beat State Senator Rickey Hendon staffer Dorothy L. Walton 11,485 to 7,884.

          An incumbent was defeated in the 26th Democratic State House race as Will Burns, deputy chief of staff to Illinois Senate President Emil Jones, got 8,607 votes to win. Second was gym owner and journalist Kenny Johnson, with 7,344, followed by former Chicago Public Schools official Phillip Jackson, with 4,734; incumbent and Gazette endorsee Elga Jefferies, with 3,060; and attorney Paul Chadha with 2,304.

          In the six-candidate race for Cook County State's Attorney Democratic nominee, Assistant State's Attorney Anita Alvarez, endorsed by the Gazette, eked out a narrow victory over second place finisher Alderman Tom Allen. Alvarez took the 1st, 3rd, 11th, and 25th Wards, and Cook County Commissioner Larry Suffredin took the 2nd, 4th, and 27th. Cook County Commissioner Tony Peraica won on the Republican side.

          In the race for Recorder of Deeds, incumbent Eugene Moore held off a challenge by 28th Ward Alderman Ed Smith to get the Democratic nomination. Moore had been favored by the Gazette.

          A spirited 2nd District Board of Review Democratic race saw incumbent Joseph Berrios hold off Gazette-endorsed Jay Paul Deratany 136,832 to 96,164.

          In the Cook County Circuit Court (Disko vacancy) race, Gazette endorsee Lauretta Wolfson lost to Dennis Burke 411,304 to 376,363 for Judge. In the race to fill the Glowacki vacancy for Judge, Gazette endorsee Jesse Reyes bested Terry MacCarthy 446,644 to 338,364.

          The 7th Subcircuit Judge's race had five candidates, with Anita Rivkin-Carothers emerging victorious with 27,778. Gazette endorsee Melanie Nuby was second, with 11,143, followed by T. Lee Boyd, 6,413; David Latham, 4,965; and Kevin Pechous, 3,833.

          Seven attorneys wanted the judicial post in the 8th Subcircuit. Ann Dole won with 18,690, followed by James Shapiro, 13,155; Debra Marcus, 7,771; James Byrne, 6,947; Gazette endorsee Daniel Gillespie, 5,354; Aaron Weiss, 3,440; and Gideon Baum, 2,851.

          The 1st Ward Republican Ward Committeeman's race saw Gazette-endorsed community activist Kathleen Cordes beat Robert Girolamo 401 to 189. Alderman Manuel Flores won unopposed on the Democratic side.

          In the 2nd Ward, President George W. Bush campaign aide Brian Swift beat Gazette-endorsed businessman Charles Hutchinson 429 to 336. Alderman Robert Fioretti won unopposed as a Democrat.

          A contested Democratic Ward Committeeman's race in the 3rd Ward saw Alderman Pat Dowell defeat State Representative and Gazette endorsee Ken Dunkin 6,523 to 2,788, or 70.0% to 30.0%. On the Republican side, Gazette endorsee Bobbie Johnson, a nurse and community activist, beat Doris Ricks 62 to 56.

          The 4th Ward featured two unopposed candidates, Alderman Toni Preckwinckle for the Democrats and businesswoman Babette Peyton for the GOP.

          In the 11th Ward, there was an upset on the Republican side as community activist Carl Segvich beat incumbent Committeeman and Gazette endorsee George Preski 339 to 207. Cook County Commissioner John Daley was unopposed for the Democrats, and attorney Ante Marijan was unopposed for the Green Party.

          The 25th Ward saw Alderman and Gazette endorsee Daniel Solis best community activist and high school teacher Robert Martinez by a 2-1 margin, 4273 to 2,114 on the Democratic Side. On the Republican side, Gazette endorsee and business consultant Dennis DuBois bested Chinatown activist Billy Ying Fook Moy and Hector Escarzaga. The total was DuBois 159, Escarzaga 99, and Moy 80. Educator, activist, and journalist Gerald Mead-Lucero was unopposed for the Green Party Committeeman's post.

          Investment analyst Tom Swiss beat Joe Swiatek and attorney Robert Hoban for 27th Ward Republican Committeeman. The total was Swiss 173, Swiatek 163, and Hoban 121. Jesse White ran unopposed for the Democrats.

          The ballot in Precinct 22 of the 2nd Ward included a couple of hot referenda that reflected the battle some community residents have been fighting over South Loop School. Community opinion recently split when the school and some community residents pushed for a fence enclosing Mary Richardson Jones Park next door to the school; proponents wanted the fence, in part, because they thought children would be safer while waiting for their parents to pick them up.

          Fence opponents then pushed to put a referendum on the ballot that called for converting South Loop from a magnet school to a "neighborhood small school" in hopes of reducing traffic, as students would come from walking distance rather than being driven to school. That referendum passed 270 to 214.

          Another anti-traffic referendum proposed adding tow zone and no parking signs to the area around the school; it passed 247 to 237.

          The referenda are non-binding, however, meaning they do not carry the force of law but are instead advisory to the City and the Chicago Public Schools.

          In the race for Metropolitan Water Reclamation District, all three incumbents won the Democratic Nomination. Gazette-endorsed Frank Avila was first with 365,580 votes, followed by Kathleen Therese Meany with 333,797 and Cynthia Santos with 332,354. Santos's victory was a great accomplishment for her, as she had been dumped by the Regular Democratic Organization. Among the non-qualifiers, fourth was Gazette endorsee Mariyana Spryopoulos with 305,052; fifth was Gazette endorsee Diane Jones with 283,751; sixth was high-profile candidate Dean Maragos with 211,708; seventh was Derrick David Stinson with 187,307; and eighth was Matthew Podgorski with 129,963.

          The Green Party is trying to make headway as a viable third party in the City and State but was frustrated at some points by incompetent or indifferent election workers.

          "Some of the most outrageous incidents occurred across the wards of Chicago, where Green Party ballots have been apparently tampered with so they can't be read and accepted by voting machines," said Patrick Kelly, Green Party media coordinator. "Voters were given Democratic ballots despite requesting Green ballots."

          In the 26th Precinct of the 1st Ward, a voter reported that Green Party ballots were folded, unlike Democratic and Republican ballots, which were not folded. The voter alleged that the folded ballots would not feed through the vote counting machine.

          In the 25th Ward's 8th Precinct, "pollworkers didn't have any Green ballots available and were asking voters if they wanted a Democratic or Republican ballot, but not Green ballots," Kelly noted.

          In the 24th Precinct of the 25th ward, "a voter asked for a Green Party ballot three times, and was given a Democratic paper ballot each time," Kelly noted. "Finally, on the fourth time, the voter was told only the touch-screen machine was available for Greens."

          Other unopposed candidates who won their parties' nominations were U.S. Senator Richard Durbin, Democrat; State Senator Mattie Hunter, Democrat, 3rd District; State Senator Cynthia Soto, Democrat, 4th District; State Rep Ken Dunkin, Democrat, 5th District; Sylvester "Junebug" Hendricks, Republican nomination for State Rep, 26th District; and Dorothy Brown, Cook County Circuit Court Clerk, Democrat.