Democratic Sen. Penny Severns launched her bid for state comptroller Monday, adding her name to a contentious March primary and adding to the belief that Treasurer Patrick Quinn will seek re-election.
Severns, in her sixth year as a member of the Senate, had originally planned to run for the Democratic nomination for treasurer, believing Quinn would join an already crowded field of gubernatorial aspirants.
Though she said she had not spoken to Quinn about his intentions, Severns said it was her “political instinct” that the incumbent Democratic treasurer would seek re-election, prompting her to shift her sights to comptroller.
Severns’ decision puts her in a primary battle against at least one Senate colleague. Chicago Democratic Sen. Earlean Collins has already announced for the party’s comptroller nomination, and another city Democrat, veteran Sen. Howard Carroll, also is considering a run for a post that is largely ministerial, though a steppingstone to higher statewide office.
“We must demand sound fiscal policies not folly fiscal policies, thrift in government and not waste in government,” said Severns, who served as the chief budget negotiator for Senate Democrats in the spring legislative session and has held administrative posts in the office of comptroller and treasurer.
Severns, a former Decatur City Council member and top administrator in the offices of comptroller and treasurer, has long been considered a candidate for statewide office, including a possible candidacy for lieutenant governor.
But her decision to take on Collins, an African-American, could cause problems within the Democratic Party. Some are looking for a black candidate for lower statewide office on the November ticket to help spur turnout in case Atty. Gen. Roland Burris loses the gubernatorial primary to either current Comptroller Dawn Clark Netsch or Cook County Board President Richard Phelan.
So far, no Republicans have announced for the office of comptroller, although Loleta Didrickson, a former state representative from Flossmoor who is Gov. Jim Edgar’s director of the Department of Employment Security, is exploring a run.
Quinn is expected to sidestep the question of whether he will run for governor until November. On Tuesday, he is set to announce a populist push for a state constitutional amendment to limit the terms of elected officials.
Quinn, always considered a maverick who is not popular among all elements of the Democratic Party, spearheaded the constitutional drive that reduced the size of the Illinois House by one-third in the 1982 election.
Democratic Rep. E.J. “Zeke” Giorgi of Rockford, the longest-serving member of the House with 29 years, said Quinn was wrong to reduce the size of the House 11 years ago and is wrong this time.
“There’s nothing the bureaucrats would like better than term limits on the elected officials who make them jump every once in a while,” Giorgi said.
Meanwhile, former Chicago Ald. Martin Oberman said he has decided to seek the Democratic nomination for attorney general against lawyer Albert Hofeld.
Oberman, 48, a lakefront independent alderman from 1975 to 1987, said a formal announcement will be made within two weeks and that his candidacy is backed by a coalition of Democratic independents and organization regulars.
“I may be the only person in recent history who sought this office because they actually wanted to be attorney general. If I spent a lot of time in the office, I would be very fulfilled,” said Oberman, who lost the 1986 Democratic primary to former Atty. Gen. Neil Hartigan.
Oberman briefly mounted a candidacy for attorney general in 1982, but folded his tent without entering the primary. Since leaving the City Council in 1987, Oberman has been a trial lawyer.
Hofeld, another trial attorney with offices in the same Loop building as Oberman, launched his candidacy for attorney general in August, looking to capitalize on his experience and name identity from last year’s $5 million, third-place finish in the U.S. Senate primary.
Democratic organization allies of former Sen. Alan Dixon, who blames his Democratic primary loss to Sen. Carol Moseley-Braun in large part on Hofeld, have been looking for an alternative candidate to support.
The anti-Hofeld forces had thrown their support to lawyer Anne M. Burke, the wife of Ald. Edward Burke (14th), but she dropped from contention just days before a formal campaign announcement was planned.
Many of those same Democrats opposed Oberman when he ran against Hartigan in 1986 but apparently will be with him against Hofeld.
Spearheading Oberman’s efforts among organization regulars has been U.S. Rep. William Lipinski, the 23rd Ward Democratic committeeman who served in the council with Oberman.
