Al Salvi, who established his credentials as an against-the-establishment conservative in Illinois’ 1996 U.S. Senate race, jumped into the battle over Donald Totten’s Republican committeeman’s seat in Schaumburg Township.
Salvi, now a candidate for the GOP nomination for Illinois secretary of state, on Wednesday endorsed Totten’s opponent in Tuesday’s primary election, Paul Froehlich. Meanwhile, Totten is slamming Froehlich for soliciting relatively large campaign contributions from outside the township. The two $5,000 contributions cited came from a Buffalo Grove couple and Pam Rion, a candidate for the DuPage County Board.
“Either Paul should tell why outsiders want to take over Schaumburg’s Republican Party, or he should return the funds,” said Totten’s campaign coordinator, Bob Lyons. Lyons said Totten is raising most of his campaign money from inside the township. The outside money Totten has received has been from state GOP leaders, including Secretary of State George Ryan and Senate President James “Pate” Philip, Lyons said.
Salvi’s endorsement of Froehlich is a payback of sorts to Totten, who joined other Illinois GOP leaders in opposing Salvi in the Senate race and his bid for secretary of state.
“Mr. Totten has been anti-Salvi for some time,” said Salvi’s campaign manager, Rod McCulloch.
Salvi called Froehlich “the man we need to expand the party and boost sagging Republican turnout” in Schaumburg Township.
In an unusually heated race for a local political post, Froehlich charges that Totten built a vindictive political machine bent on punishing dissenters.
Totten said Froehlich is seeking retribution after losing fights with the local GOP organization over township board appointments and referendum proposals.
