He is either a dynamic, fresh face who can slice through the underbrush to get things done at all levels of Illinois government or a faceless bureaucrat making hay as a political insider.
She is either a political outsider whose ears are tuned directly to her constituents or a career politician who accomplished little during 12 years as a member of the Du Page County Board.
In the bitterly contested 41st Senate District Republican primary, defining appointed incumbent Kirk Dillard and challenger Patricia Trowbridge depends entirely on who’s talking.
And both camps are talking plenty.
The candidates have sparred over everything from the number and format of campaign debates to the manner of Dillard’s appointment. Between jabs, they’ve even brought up issues.
The 41st Senate District includes much of southeastern Du Page as well as small chunks of Cook and Will Counties. No Democrats have filed to run for the office in the March 15 primary.
Dillard, 38, is making his first bid for elective office. The former chief of staff to Gov. Jim Edgar was appointed to the seat by a three-member panel led by Senate President James “Pate” Philip (R-Wood Dale) in December after incumbent Thomas J. McCracken resigned to succeed Gayle Franzen as head of the Regional Transportation Authority.
Trowbridge complained the appointment smelled of an insider’s deal and unsuccessfully argued for appointment of a caretaker to the Senate seat.
Dillard has a fistful of letters featuring warm remarks from the governor. But Dillard insisted he can and will differ with both Edgar and Philip if necessary.
“I am a fresh face running for office for the first time, yet I am uniquely qualified because of exceptional state government experience,” said Dillard, a lifelong resident of Hinsdale. “I have a vested interest in making sure the 41st Senate District remains one of the greatest places in Illinois to live.”
Trowbridge, 61, of Downers Grove, lost to McCracken by about 2,000 votes in 1992. It was her only election defeat since Trowbridge joined the County Board in 1980.
Just as she did two years ago, Trowbridge has made much of her local government experience, and has contrasted that experience with that of Dillard, whom she terms a career bureaucrat wheeling and dealing in Springfield.
“I don’t see a whole lot of difference in this campaign as opposed to the last one. I’m facing a bureaucrat and a professional insider,” Trowbridge said.
Trowbridge was one of retiring Du Page County Board Chairman Aldo Botti’s closest allies after his upset of longtime Chairman Jack Knuepfer in 1990.
But Botti, who has spent most of his term battling the GOP establishment, never made serious inroads against the powers-that-be, and Trowbridge has kept some distance from Botti in this campaign.
Dillard punctuated his belief that reforming the state’s school funding formula will dominate the 1995 General Assembly session by announcing his candidacy at his old Hinsdale grade school.
He takes credit for spearheading Edgar initiatives on crime, including the death penalty for drug kingpins and increased penalties for gang crimes and drive-by shootings. Dillard also lauds his own work in getting collar-county tax caps passed in 1991 while chiding Trowbridge’s favorable vote for a county bond issue before the caps went into effect.
Trowbridge said state spending priorities need to be re-examined, and contended Du Page gets only 37 cents back from every dollar it sends to Springfield.
“We can no longer afford to subsidize state overspending,” she said.
Trowbridge favors tougher mandatory sentencing for those convicted of violent crimes and favors building additional prisons. Funds for that, she said, could come from riverboat gambling operations and trims in “wasteful” projects such as the Du Page Airport.
Both candidates favor term limits. Trowbridge said limitations would eliminate politicians’ needs to create “fiefdoms and it would produce candidates who will work towards better government rather than running for re-election every two or four years.”
