House of the rising Moonglum

The joy of midterm elections. In the past, I have put up a “moonglum’s endorsements” post, partly as a reminder for myself, but also with one line reasons behind my choices for my friends who live in my voting districts but don’t follow the minor races that much. Well this time I don’t believe anyone who reads this who would take my advice lives in my district (with the exception of the judges. If you are here only for judges scroll to the bottom). Not only that, but in many of these races it’s a “Vote Cthulhu: why chose the lesser of two evils?” situation. So in an effort to make an informed decision, rather than doing my usual I am putting up the candidates for the different positions, some brief thoughts, and links where possible. I’m also saying which way I am leaning, but in many cases the choice is unclear. So, if you have opinions, speak up and give me some reasons to make my choice clear.

Please note, people who are really into local politics will probably not find anything new here, this is more me thinking out loud, and explaining to others who read this why I say we live in a monarchy *cough*stroger*cough*.

State Positions

Governor

Blagojevich ?
Topinka ?
Whitney ?

The state government is bloated and corrupt. (As is the county and city government… it is just the way we do things here.) Blagojevich is the incumbent, and while he hasn’t really raised taxes for individuals, he is working hard to make life unbearable for businesses. Of course he has been raiding other portions of the state budget to make the numbers work out, and that doesn’t seem viable in the long term. Topinka is currently the treasurer. Unfortunately her inside view doesn’t seem to have given her any brilliant ideas about how to fix the system. At least she is a little more honest about where the money is coming from. Whitney says he wants to raise taxes.

On social issues I’m much more in line with Blagojevich, but for the most part, I’m also in favor of the status quo. I think Topinka would have so much on her plate that there wouldn’t be time for implementing parental consent or restarting the death penalty. Whitney is a bit of a nut, but horrifyingly is the most fiscally responsible in terms of what he is talking about, and he would also totally overhaul campaign finance rules. He’s a nutjob, but I agree with enough of his insanity that I’m actually considering voting for him, just because the other two are so negative that they both piss me off. Plus if he gets more than 5% then the greens won’t have to fight to get on next time, and more choice is good (see possible exception below at alderman race.) Lots more info. The trib has a set of common questions and answers to each of the candidates, including Whitney, and they endorse Topinka, while the sun times endorses Blago.

The rest of the Trib’s endorsements for state come in one article. I can’t find the endorsements for the rest of the state positions from the Sun Times yet.

Attorney General

Madigan x
Umholtz
Black

This one is actually the easiest. I think that Madigan’s office has done a great job sniffing out corruption and prosecuting it. I know a lot of people disagree with that assessment, and feel that she is yet another example of the monarchy at work, but I think she has been doing an incredible job. She has overcome any negativity that I had before about her family in politics status. The trib endorses her.

Secretary Of State

White x
Rutherford
Peterson

Another easy one, though please feel free to disagree with me. White has plenty of family on the payroll, but the last two times I have gone to the DMV have been sooo much faster than before. Also I like where he is going with driver safety programs. Rutherford, I hear, voted against letting Carfax get Illinois accident reports. Having just looked at used cars, I simply can’t side with that. I don’t know anything about the green candidate. I could be convinced away on this one, let me know if you think I’m wrong.

Comptroller

Hynes x
Pankau
Snyder

Here’s another easy one, unlike Topinka (as treasurer) Hynes has been screaming about Blagojevich’s funny schemes with the sources of funds. Heck, he’s one of the main reason I know enough to be annoyed with Blago. The trib endorses Hynes.

Treasurer

Giannoulias ?
Radogno ?
Schlorff ?

This one is really tough. All I know about these guys is from the negative ads. The Trib endorsement for Radogno is pretty strong, but I remember liking what Giannoulias had to say during the primaries. Any suggestions?

US Congress

Schakowski x
Shannon

Well, duh. I suppose this is why incumbents hardly ever lose in congress. She did one MAJOR bad (IMO) thing though, which was send out a bunch of letters backing stroger. The sad thing is, that’s almost all my representation at the bottom there. There must have been some heavy duty strong arm since all the big dems are coming out in favor of him now. If you have a compelling reason to vote for Shannon, get it in now. Oh yeah, she is endorsed by the Sun Times, and the Trib hasn’t done that race yet.

State Rep

Lou Lang

*sigh* another race with only one person on the ballot. These have always confused me.

County Races

Normally county races are boring. Maybe I just haven’t been paying attention? Well this time they are fun. The Sun Times put all their county endorsements for the boring races on one page.

County Clerk

Orr x
Carlson

I really don’t know much about this office, so I am running with the Sun Times endorsement for now.

Sheriff

Dart x
Garza

The sheriff’s office needs work. We’ve had how many people escape from county jail during the current sheriff’s tenure? Well that’s what happens when you hire people with no experience. Both the Trib and the Sun Times feel that Dart is the candidate for the job, and I agree with them. The trib in particular has a good article on reasons for and against Dart.

County Treasurer

Pappas ?
Peck ?

I’m still reading up on this position. The Sun Times endorses Pappas, but I haven’t been able to find much else about her.

County Assessor

Houlihan x
Connor

If you aren’t voting for Houlihan, then you just haven’t visited his website. Not only is he trying to make the assessment process as fair and transparent as possible, he is also fighting for the tax rights of homeowners. That is someone who is doing his job with moxy.

Commissioner

Larry Suffredin x

Another race with only one candidate, but at least this is one I can vote for with confidence. He had a couple good letter during the primaries about the whole Claypool/Stroger thing. Of course he signed the letter mentioned in the US Congress section…

Metro Water

All three

Well, there are three running for three positions. Why do they even make us punch the tabs if the outcome is foregone? It just makes us look like the old elections in Iraq where they only had Saddam on the ballot. At least they had yes and no, not just yes.

Aldercreature

(Note: Election on Feb. 27th, along with Mayoral Election.)

Jim Ginderske ?
Don Gordon ?
Chris Adams ?
Joe Moore

OK, now we are getting into the exciting stuff, and this is where I need your help 49th ward readers. For those who don’t know, Joe Moore is the incumbent. He has done amazing things, from banning duck liver in the city to trying to keep big business out of the city to passing referenda on things that city government simply can not affect. Most recently he helped kill the Blue Bag program which I highly approve of, and it is even something local that he should be working on! Of course our ward isn’t one that gets the replacement pilot program. Given all that (plus other local annoyances) it seems like the time is right for a change. Unfortunately, there are three opponents on the ballot. Normally more choice would make be happy, but the fact of the matter is, that will split the opposition vote and no matter who I vote for, Joe Moore will be my alderman for another term. With that in mind, lets try to decide who I should vote for:

Right now I am leaning towards Ginderske, he seems to have the energy to follow through with his many plans for Rogers Park. All the candidates have full plans for what they will do if elected, but Ginderske’s seems the most balanced. In particular, Adams’ seem tilted towards business, whereas Gordon’s seem to give the tired old platitudes about economic development. One thing I will say, they all seem quite responsive to inquiries from the public. The problem comes back to none of them stand out head and shoulders above the rest, and thus we will end up with Moore for another term. Do you have a favorite? Let your voice be heard.

Update: I was reminded that Chicago elections are majority runoffs, not plurality elections. Thus my conclusion above about splitting the vote is erroneous.

President of the Board

The Heir Apparent ?
Tony Peraica ?

This is the race of pain. Vote for someone who doesn’t believe in the same social issues as you do, or vote for a continuation of the corrupt policies of the cook county board. The Sun Times goes for continuation although claims that Stroger Jr. won’t just be more of the same, though they try to claim that it is because a Republican couldn’t change anything in Cook County. The Trib (of course) goes for a clean slate. I will combine the two and say that I want a clean slate and won’t worry about the social issues because, on the one hand he is more likely to actually try to clean up the government, and on the other hand in terms of social issues he a) he said repeatedly that he won’t implement them president, and b) he is a republican in democrat land, they would never go through.

So how’s that for some self-justification? Mostly though, it is a vote out of anger. We had a chance to get a real reformer on the ballot. That person’s name was Claypool. I don’t know if he would have won had everything else been equal, but we never will know, because everything else wasn’t equal. If there is one thing I can’t stand it is blatant dishonesty like that. There has to be some sort of repercussions for that kind of behavior, and this is the only way I know how to let my voice be heard. And besides, Stroger just doesn’t seem up to the task he has in front of him.

I think this is the one that is going to piss the most people off, so fire away, but please note that reasoned arguments might get me to change my mind, flames won’t.

Update: Ugh, the more I read about Peraica, the less I like him. The sad truth is, you have to look a who you actually want in the office. Lets take a singe hot button example: woman’s right to choose. On the one hand you have someone beholden to existing powers who is unlikely to improve the existing atrocious medical access. He says he will work hard to fix those existing issues. On the other hand you have someone who seems more likely to fix funding issues, but is against abortion. He says he will not bering his personal opinions to bear in his office. Who to believe? I do remember that I didn’t like Madigan in the last election because of her closeness to the process, but she has proven herself repeatedly in the meantime. I’d have more faith in Stroger’s ability to do the same if he had a better showing at his debates.

Judges

OK, so here is the important section. Did you know that almost every judge ever up for retention has been retained? This is because people vote for judges regularly without knowing anything about them. So you not only need to vote for judges, but you need to know what you are doing. In the past I have gone to different bar associations and the chicago council of lawyers, but now there is a great resource that gathers all this information for you. They have a big PDF grid that assembles all the endorsements from all the bar associations, and the Chicago Council of Lawyers. I am also providing a list of judges to vote no on below with the groups that didn’t like them. I tend to listen to the CCL because they deal with all these judges on a day to day basis and know what they are talking about, and the LAGBAC, because, well, yeah. So figure out what makes you like a judge, and find some endorsements that you trust (they got a bar association for everyone!) and get those no votes going!

Appellate Court

Yes to all but:

CCL doesn’t like Patrick Quinn, though nobody else seem to mind him.

Circuit Court

Yes to all but:

Brim, Cynthia
Brooks, Rodney Hughes (CCL)
Chiola, Tom (CCL)
Donnoly, Christopher (CCL, LAGBAC)
Flanagan, Kathleen (CCL)
Hayes, Marsha (CCL)
Kowalski, Robert
Lipinski, Marcella (CCL, LAGBAC, Trib)
Lopez Cepero, Robert (CCL)
Murphy Gorman, Joyce (CCL)
Preston, Lee (CCL)
Riley, Daniel (LAGBAC)
Riley, Ronald (CCL)
Terrel, Lawrence (CCL)
Toney, Amanda

Judges without attributions from where the no vote came from were voted no by many bar associations. If you don’t feel moved to vote for any judges, please vote no for these.

This page will be updated over the course of the next several days.