For a week, Republicans displayed a cozy picture of family unity over Comptroller Loleta Didrickson’s announcement that she would seek the GOP nomination for the U.S. Senate.
But on Wednesday, family unity took a dysfunctional turn. Senate President James “Pate” Philip of Wood Dale said he is endorsing state Sen. Peter Fitzgerald over Didrickson in the primary campaign.
“I’m for Peter for the U.S. Senate, period. He’s been a (state Senate) member. I know him. I like him. He’s got the right philosophy. I think he’s a good candidate,” Philip told the Tribune.
The endorsement shapes up as a major coup for Fitzgerald, a wealthy conservative lawyer-banker from Inverness, in his battle for the chance to face incumbent Democratic U.S. Sen. Carol Moseley-Braun next year.
Republican leaders, including state Chairman Harold Smith and presumptive gubernatorial nominee George Ryan, had courted Didrickson, a moderate on social issues, to enter the Senate race to deal with a potential gender gap and offset the otherwise strong conservatism of the GOP’s 1998 ticket.
After twice declining to make the race and indicating her intention to run for secretary of state, Didrickson, of southwest suburban Flossmoor, changed her mind last week and her candidacy was immediately embraced by Ryan, Smith and other GOP leaders.
But Philip indicated Didrickson’s indecision had cost her his endorsement. He said he had made a commitment to Fitzgerald after Didrickson had said she would not run for the Senate.
Philip’s backing has the potential to carry significant weight. In addition to serving as the Senate president, he is chairman of the DuPage County Republican Party and has the power to marshal a political army of workers from the state’s largest block of Republican voters outside of Cook County.
“Pate (Philip) is an insider, but an insider who always keeps an outsider’s perspective,” Fitzgerald said. “I think that Pate and I are kindred spirits in a lot of ways. Pate and I together have fought the establishment over the years.”
Fitzgerald said Philip offered to put together his campaign team in DuPage County, including a countywide chairman and a chairman in each of the county’s townships.
“Pate is incredibly organized and incredibly effective and that’s why I have a great deal of respect for him. He’s a great Senate president and his reputation as a county chairman is that he’s tremendously effective,” Fitzgerald said.
While Philip attempted to downplay his ability to motivate turnout, saying such talents among politicians are “vastly overrated,” he said Fitzgerald should to do well in DuPage County against Didrickson’s moderate views.
“We elect our precinct committeemen, so they are much more independent. But they are very hard-core conservative, so I would think there would be a lot of support for him,” Philip said.
But Philip’s support for Fitzgerald also includes a pragmatic element.
With the GOP holding only a two-seat majority over Democrats in the Illinois Senate, Philip wants to avoid the potential for a strained relationship with Fitzgerald should he lose his bid for higher office and remain a member of that legislative body.
Philip’s decision is the latest in a series of twists for Republicans as they try to put together a competitive ticket for 1998 that could capture a U.S. Senate seat for the first time in a dozen years and extend their grip on all six major statewide offices.
After balking twice at a Senate bid, Didrickson finally became the first prominent Republican to decide to take on Fitzgerald, who announced his candidacy early. Ryan and others turned to her after Gov. Jim Edgar opted to retire from public office at the end of his term and Illinois Atty. Gen. Jim Ryan decided to seek re-election instead of running in the U.S. Senate primary.
Aides to Didrickson, who also has served as a lawmaker and state Cabinet member, sought to downplay Philip’s move Wednesday and predicted she would pick up a sizable vote in his back yard.
“Loleta does expect very strong support in DuPage County and is encouraged by the outpouring of support by county leaders and by some groups in certain townships. She expects that support to grow,” said Didrickson spokesman Ed Marshall.
Marshall said her campaign has had a “good reception” among various township women’s Republican organizations in the county.
Philip’s protege, House GOP leader Lee Daniels of Elmhurst, is among those who have endorsed Didrickson’s Senate run, although he previously refused to back her for secretary of state.
Some Republicans privately questioned the depth of Philip’s support for Fitzgerald in DuPage County.
And others say Philip’s personal conservatism could motivate moderate GOP suburban women to turn out for Didrickson in what is expected to be a heavily contested and expensive party primary.
But George Ryan, who avidly sought Didrickson’s Senate candidacy as a way to soften the otherwise male, anti-abortion conservative outlook of the ticket, said he believes Philip’s support for Fitzgerald is genuine.
“You know Pate. Pate’s not the kind of guy who operates that way,” Ryan said. “I’m sure she would have much rather had the endorsement, but with all the confusion (on the GOP ticket) it didn’t work out that way.”
Fitzgerald also picked up another endorsement Wednesday, from Jerry Weller, a conservative south suburban Republican congressman.
