from the Chicago Sun-Times:
Governor's race: Indecision 202
July 15, 2001
BY LYNN SWEET AND FRAN
SPIELMAN STAFF REPORTERS
Of the four Illinois Republicans spending this summer organizing
a campaign for governor, only one, state Sen. Patrick O'Malley,
has said he is really going to run. The others--Gov. Ryan,
Attorney General Jim Ryan and Lieutenant Gov. Corinne Wood--are
keeping on their poker faces for a while.
"The race will start to be shaped after the governor's
decision," said Richard Williamson, the Illinois Republican
chairman, who may have to preside over a messy March 2002
primary.
George Ryan has said he will decide if he wants to run for a
second term by September, though his answer could come by the
time the Illinois State Fair rolls around in mid-August.
The governor weighs his decision amid low popularity ratings. A
cloud is hanging over him from the federal investigation of the
trading of trucking licenses for bribes, when he was secretary of
state.
If the vulnerable George Ryan stays in, he is not going to get a
primary pass.
Some backers may reject George Ryan because of the ethics issues.
Old supporters may desert the governor because he has transformed
himself from a conservative to a moderate Republican.
George Ryan has new friends, but his problem is they are
Democrats. And they may not take a GOP primary ballot. A few days
ago, Mayor Daley all but endorsed his pal, the governor. Daley
said he will stay neutral in his own Democratic party primary,
where a gaggle of candidates pine for his support.
Compared with the Democratic primary, ideology will play a bigger
role than geography in the GOP primary. Wood is a moderate. Jim
Ryan is a conservative, but may not be conservative enough for
the most active right-wing faction. That faction may be the most
comfortable with O'Malley, who is little known compared with the
three other statewide office holders.
There is a less than likely scenario in which all four stay in
the race. If the three men insist on running, Wood would become
the only woman and would have an enormous advantage. Wood is the
least likely to be in a one-against-one.
And with potential competition, it now appears that Sen. Peter
Fitzgerald (R-Ill.) can retire the threat he made to run for
governor if George Ryan were unopposed.
Patrick O'Malley
The three-term state senator from south suburban Palos Park
announced on June 11, gaining little notice. To acquire name
recognition--and stake a claim on what will be his key
issues--O'Malley started running radio ads around the state on
Wednesday.
"Whatever your political party," said the O'Malley
spot, "you should know why Pat O'Malley is challenging the
insiders for governor of Illinois. . . . As governor, I am
committed to reforming politics and Illinois government."
O'Malley is developing a challenge to the Illinois GOP
establishment, which spawned George Ryan, Jim Ryan and Wood.
"I think that Illinois for too long has been controlled by
too small a group of people, and it is time to open up the
process," O'Malley said.
O'Malley is modeling himself in some ways on his friend
Fitzgerald, who has seen his popularity increase as he has
attacked the governor and his inner circle.
O'Malley has no kind words for Ryan's move toward the center.
"I don't know who he is," said O'Malley. "He is
for the death penalty but he is not. He is pro-life but he is
not."
O'Malley's political base is in the southwest suburbs and the
right wing of the GOP. "I think people today are looking for
people to stand for something," he said.
Jim Ryan
Last summer, when the Republicans were holding their presidential
nominating convention in Philadelphia, Attorney General Jim Ryan
made a promise. He said he would not run for governor as long as
George Ryan was on the ballot.
That was then.
"I said what I said," Jim Ryan said Friday.
Now the attorney general is in the final stages of making up his
mind whether to run for governor or seek re-election. He said the
decision was a "very personal one." A cancer survivor,
Jim Ryan said he is spending a "lot of time talking with my
wife and children. I am 98 percent sure what I am going to
do."
When asked about issues that may fuel a governors' run, Jim Ryan
said "It would be premature to associate issues with an
office that I may run for," but he will be looking at public
safety, education, health and the "whole issues of violence
in the state." He supports the death penalty moratorium
imposed by Gov. Ryan.
George Ryan
The governor has spent the last few weeks on a fund-raising
sprint, and people who are talking to him said he is truly not
sure whether to seek another term.
"He's still thinking about it and will announce sometime on
or before Labor Day," said his spokesman, Dennis Culloton.
His head says no, his heart says yes. Some of the heat of the
federal probe may let up if he retired, and he would have a
multimillion-dollar war chest to let him remain a player. There
was some talk in Washington about trying to get Ryan an
ambassadorship to Jamaica.
Ryan has put together a strong record, in part by forging a
bipartisan partnership with Daley, who helped him persuade Boeing
to move to Chicago. Ryan has gained recognition for his death
penalty moratorium and for calling for an end to trade sanctions
against Cuba. He has caught flak from his right wing for revenue
hikes, but the money is doled out for popular local projects.
Ryan has vetoed anti-abortion legislation; Jim Ryan and O'Malley
are anti-abortion, and Wood supports abortion rights.
Corinne Wood
Before the Y-Me breast cancer race in Grant Park last May, Wood,
in a pink running suit, was shadowed by people holding
"Teamcorinne" signs and cameras.
For Wood, a breast cancer survivor, the race was a prime place
for her to unabashedly get some publicity. Wood walked the 5K,
but when it comes to her political future, she is running. Her
political action Web site asks for money but offers no clue for
what.
Wood owes her job to George Ryan, who tapped Wood, then a barely
known state representative, to be his running mate. But it is not
out of the question that she would run against him--especially if
she were the only woman facing a three-suit field.
***
BY LYNN SWEET AND FRAN SPIELMAN STAFF REPORTERS
Eight Illinois Democrats are putting together campaigns for
governor, or thinking seriously about it, and the problem for six
of them is that they all live in Cook County.
"The game right now is who can emerge from Cook County as
the dominant Cook County candidate," said political
consultant David Axelrod.
The official field grows by one on Monday when Paul Vallas, the
former Chicago public schools CEO, announces the formation of his
advisory committee.
Stiff competition for the Cook County base only makes it more
likely that the sole candidate from southern Illinois, former
Rep. Glenn Poshard (D-Ill.), will shoot through to victory with a
small plurality.
Left-of-center candidates who support abortion rights and gun
control dominate the race so far, with Poshard the only
anti-abortion Democrat in the pack. Poshard, now vice chancellor
for administration at Southern Illinois University, was the 1998
nominee who was defeated by Gov. Ryan.
Others putting together campaigns are Rep. Rod Blagojevich
(D-Ill.); state Rep. Louis Lang (D-Skokie); former Associate
Attorney General John Schmidt; former Illinois Attorney General
Roland Burris, and former Illinois Comptroller Michael Bakalis.
Cook County States Attorney Richard Devine is weighing a bid.
Blagojevich, Lang, Schmidt, Vallas, Burris and Devine are the
Cook County candidates.
Louis Lang
Lang, an eight-term House member and assistant majority leader,
has been traveling the state for two years trying to make
connections. But if it is Poshard against a Chicago lineup,
"Poshard gets nominated," he said.
Lang is the only Democrat running from the Cook County suburbs
and he is Jewish. In a race full of liberals and progressives,
however, the Jewish vote will be far from monolithic.
John Schmidt
In 1998, Schmidt came in third in the Democratic primary. This
time around, he said, he's a better candidate. "I have a
base of support around the state," he said.
Schmidt will put up about $2.5 million of his own money. One of
his themes, he said, will be "restoring trust in state
government," an indirect reference to the truck license
bribery scandal which stems from Gov. Ryan's days as secretary of
state.
Rod Blagojevich
Blagojevich has done the most work in assembling a coalition of
supporters, using his House colleagues as a base. The son-in-law
of Ald. Richard Mell (33rd), Blagojevich has formed an alliance
with Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr. (D-Ill.) and the Rev. Jesse Jackson;
as well as with five other Democratic Illinois congressmen--Luis
Gutierrez, William Lipinski, Jan Schakowsky and Lane Evans.
Michael Bakalis
Bakalis and Vallas cut into each other's turf. Both are educators
and both would look to the Greek-American political community for
financial support.
Bakalis, who lives in DuPage County, has run statewide six times
and won five times.
Roland Burris
Burris, a veteran of more than 20 years in state government, is a
force to be reckoned with because he is the only black in the
primary field. However, if the Jacksons have an effective
operation, some of that voting power may be siphoned off to
Blagojevich.
Glenn Poshard
When Poshard ran against George Ryan in 1998, he was unable to
persuade voters that Ryan presided over a corrupt Secretary of
State operation. A federal probe showed Poshard's accusations
were on track. This primary will feature two rivals he bested in
1998--Burris and Schmidt.
For now, all Poshard has to do is sit tight and hope more
abortion rights and gun control advocates surface so that he can
lock himself in as the conservative anti-abortion alternative.
Richard Devine
Devine has made a few trips around the state to figure out what
he wants to do.
"He is thinking about it because people who he respects
believe that he has a very strong opportunity," said Mike
Howlett, his advisor.
Devine would stress his record as a prosecutor. A
"significant part" of the campaign, Howlett said, would
be the theme of "governing with openness and
integrity."
Paul Vallas
Vallas will make his run official in about two weeks. Unlike the
others who say education is a critical campaign issue, Vallas
will be able to say he ran a billion-dollar-plus school system.
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