Gov. Jim Edgar will bestow a rare GOP primary endorsement on state Rep. Thomas McCracken (R-Downers Grove) Wednesday in the lawmaker`s race for an Illinois Senate nomination against Du Page County Board member Patricia Trowbridge.
McCracken and a Edgar spokesman said Tuesday that the endorsement will be made during the governor`s appearance at a $50-per-ticket fundraiser at the Lakeside Club in Downers Grove.
It is an unusual but not unprecedented move for Edgar, and one that McCracken expects will provide a boon to his candidacy in the hard-fought campaign against Trowbridge.
”I think it`s very honoring to have the endorsement, especially when it`s such an unusual thing,” said McCracken, 39, a 10-year House veteran. ”I think the people in the (41st) District believe in what Jim Edgar stands for.”
In fact, McCracken advisers said, campaign research finds that Edgar`s approval ratings are extremely high in Du Page and that voters in the district on the county`s southeast side favor by wide margins the governor`s initiatives to cap property taxes and cut state spending.
The McCracken campaign has made an issue of Trowbridge`s efforts on behalf of County Board Chairman Aldo Botti to pass bonding authority for capital improvements before last October`s deadline for doing so under the new tax cap legislation.
But Trowbridge is a formidable opponent. The 59-year-old Downers Grove resident is the senior County Board member, having served since 1980, and has been the top vote-getter in seven of her last eight primary and general elections; her board district is nearly wholly contained in the new 41st Senate District.
The conservative Trowbridge expects to be as well-financed in this campaign as she has been in the past, and she will also be holding a fundraiser in Willowbrook Wednesday evening with Botti as the guest of honor. Indeed, the McCracken-Trowbridge race is being closely watched by Du Page Republicans as a showdown between Botti and his political foe, Senate Minority Leader and county GOP chieftain James ”Pate” Philip of Wood Dale.
Trowbridge`s candidacy is the centerpiece of a Botti-backed slate opposed to candidates backed by Philip for legislative and county offices.
But McCracken has downplayed his support from Philip and promoted his endorsements not only from Edgar but also from retiring state Sen. George Ray Hudson and Du Page State`s Atty. Jim Ryan.
”I`m not anybody`s guy, and I think I`ve got the credentials in that regard,” said McCracken, who mounted an unsuccessful leadership coup attempt last year against House Minority Leader Lee Daniels (R-Elmhurst).
”To suggest that I am ignores the skills I`ve developed and my expertise in state government; it ignores the facts of my record,” McCracken said.
Edgar is conscious of the Du Page County GOP tensions stemming from the feud between Botti and Philip, and he doesn`t intend to become a party to it, the governor`s spokesman said.
”His intent is not to dictate to voters in Du Page County whom they should vote for,” press secretary Michael Lawrence said. ”He believes that Tom McCracken has been an outstanding legislator, and he`s willing to say that.”
McCracken sponsored much of the legislation Edgar initiated in his two terms as secretary of state, including proposals to crack down on drunken driving, and has been an outspoken advocate of the governor`s budget cuts in the past year.
”He feels very strongly about supporting incumbent legislators who have supported his initiatives,” Lawrence said of Edgar.
Meanwhile, in other Du Page County campaign developments, oral arguments were scheduled for Feb. 5 on four of the 11 suits that challenge the Du Page County electoral board`s rulings on objections to candidates` nominating petitions.
The hearings are to be held before Circuit Judge John Teschner. One of the suits was filed by Robert Moscardini, a GOP precinct committeeman hopeful in Villa Park who was ruled off the ballot and wants his candidacy restored.
The other suits were filed by challengers who want the court to remove three County Board candidates-Hugh B. Murphy, Raymond Blacklidge and Edward Halley-from the ballot. The plaintiffs claim the elections board erred in finding no fault with the candidates` nominating petitions and in leaving their names on the ballot.
Lawyers involved in the other seven suits are expected to appear in court Wednesday and Thursday to schedule full arguments.
