Primary elections have increasingly become rough-and-tumble affairs in the south and southwest suburbs, and next month’s balloting in several of the region’s 13 remapped Illinois House districts promises more of the same.
In fact, some of the March 19 races are shaping up as downright donnybrooks.
Most of the attention is on the Republican primary in the 81st House District, where state Rep. Renee Kosel (R-New Lenox) is facing Jill Stanek, a nurse from Mokena who made national headlines when she spoke out against abortion practices at Christ Hospital and Medical Center in Oak Lawn.
There are primary battles in other districts that, while not as high profile, involve plenty of intrigue, party infighting and old-fashioned mudslinging.
No fewer than six candidates are vying for the Democratic nomination in the 30th House District, which has no incumbent as a result of redistricting.
They are William Davis of Hazel Crest, a deputy district administrator for U.S. Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr. (D-Ill.); Brenda Thompson, Harvey’s planning and development director; Posen Mayor Kevin Whitney; former state Rep. Willis Harris of Calumet City; former state Sen. Richard Kelly of Oak Forest; and Ronald Cummings of Harvey. The winner will face Willie Jordan Jr. of Markham in the general election this fall.
Jordan is running unopposed in the district’s Republican primary.
In the 28th House District, which also has no incumbent, the Democratic contest is a three-way racewith Calumet Township Trustee Robert Rita of Blue Island and two candidates from the Chicago portion of the district–Arvin Boddie and Derrick Davis. Linda Rockett of Chicago is unopposed in the district’s Republican primary.
Kosel isn’t the only incumbent facing a challenge in the south and southwest suburban area. And because the boundaries of the state’s House districts were changed as a result of the 2000 census and remapping, virtually all of the incumbents find themselves having to campaign in unfamiliar territory.
In the 29th House District, state Reps. Robert L. Ryan Jr. (D-Lansing) and David E. Miller (D-Calumet City) are running against each other as a result of redistricting.
2 legislators face off
Further complicating Ryan and Miller’s plight is a challenge by a third candidate in the Democratic primary–Sheryl E. Tillman, a Calumet City school board member who has the backing of state Sen. William Shaw (D-Dolton), a south suburban political powerbroker.
Elsewhere in the region, five-term state Rep. Jim Meyer of Bolingbrook faces challenges from two Naperville City Council members–Douglas Krause and Kevin Gallaher–in the Republican primary in the 48th House District, which includes parts of Will and DuPage Counties.
In the 38th House District, state Rep. Harold Murphy of Markham, a legislator since 1993, is being challenged in the Democratic primary by Robin Kelly, Matteson’s community relations director.
Other incumbents facing challenges include state Rep. Brent Hassert (R-Romeoville) and state Rep. Eileen Lyons (R-Western Springs). Hassert is up against Bolingbrook engineering consultant Christian A. Smith in the Republican primary in the 85th House District. Lyons is facing Lemont resident Duane Bradley in the Republican primary in the 82nd District.
But it is the Kosel-Stanek race in the 81st District that is generating the most interest.
Stanek, who says she was fired from her job as a labor and delivery nurse at Christ Hospital because of her vocal anti-abortion stance, has thrust the race into the national spotlight, making guest appearances on national talk radio and television shows to discuss her anti-abortion views.
As a result, she has become a saint of sorts among ultraconservative, anti-abortion groups and has won the backing of such organizations as the Illinois Citizens for Life and the archconservative National Eagle Forum in her efforts to unseat Kosel.
Abortion issue
Stanek accuses Kosel of being pro-abortion because she testified last spring against a bill in the state legislature that would have forced doctors to try to save infants who survive late-term abortions performed when the fetuses are determined to suffer fatal abnormalities.
“I fully intend to champion the right to life if voters in the district elect me to represent their conservative, pro-life/pro-family views in Springfield,” Stanek said.
Although her anti-abortion stance is at the center of her campaign, Stanek insists she is more than a one-issue candidate. She criticizes Kosel’s voting record on taxes and accuses her of failing to bring enough state money into the southwest suburbs to improve roads. She advocates holding off on construction of a third Chicago-area airport near Peotone until the airline industry recovers from its financial slump.
“I don’t want a white elephant airport,” she said.
Meanwhile, Kosel, a former teacher who has served in the legislature since 1996, said she’s proud of having secured millions of dollars in state funds for new schools and highways to accommodate the southwest suburbs’ explosive growth.
Kosel also has taken positions against abortion but is more flexible on the issue than Stanek. Kosel said abortions should be permissible in cases of rape, incest or when a mother’s life is in danger.
