For the first time in a generation, Illinoisans will vote in a gubernatorial primary with a real chance to make a choice. Not since Michael J. Howlett defeated Gov. Dan Walker in 1976 have primary voters had the opportunity to pick from a field of formidable candidates: Atty. Gen. Roland W. Burris, state Comptroller Dawn dark Netsch and Cook County Board President Richard Phelan. Each has the potential to win the Democratic nomination, and each has a fighting chance to unseat Republican incumbent Gov. Jim Edgar in November.

Two other candidates — James E. Gierach, a suburban attorney running an unorthodox antidrug campaign, and Sheila A. Jones, a follower of extremist Lyndon H. LaRouche Jr. — are on the March 15 primary ballot, but it is pretty much a sure thing that the Democratic nominee will be named Burris, Netsch or Phelan.

It is also clear that as politicians and as public servants, Burris, Netsch and Phelan share a party label — and little else. In style, experience and vision the three offer large and substantive contrasts for voters who may wish to take advantage of a choice that comes along only once a generation.

You can say this about Roland Burris: He's consistent. At a ceremony to announce his candidacy for U.S. Senate in 1984, the then-comptroller of Illinois flatly refused to answer questions about his ideas because he wanted the "latitude" to espouse his agenda after the election. At the launching of his 1990 bid for attorney general, Burris pronounced virtually the same thing. At a Springfield press conference to announce his candidacy for governor in 1994, Burris once again dodged questions and vowed to be more specific on the issues — after the election. Burris, a statewide officeholder for 16 years, has a long track record as one of the more cautious candidates in Illinois politics. Burris' handlers deny they're engaging in a deliberate tactic to avoid taking controversial stands, but it's hard to escape the conclusion that he's been coasting during the current campaign to protect his lead in early polls. At almost every turn, Burris has been the model of restraint. He has called for a task force to "reinvent" state government, an idea obviously swiped from Vice President Al Gore's recent "Reinventing Government" report and an endeavor already undertaken by a task force Edgar established. Burris has advocated increased spending on education but is vague about where he'd get the money. He's criticized Edgar's handling of fiscal affairs, but he won't specify where he'd cut

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the budget to balance the books. He's attacked an Edgar proposal to cut Medicaid rates, but he hasn't said how he'd plug a huge deficit in the Medicaid program. So what does Roland Burris stand for? To listen to Burris, the answer is: Burris himself. "I'm a known quantity," Burris said during a recent interview. "My strength is statewide. I have a record as an effective leader who gets things done." And he'll quickly rattle off his accomplishments: the first African American to hold a top-ranking executive position at Continental-Illinois National Bank; upgrading the comptroller's computer and accounting system; creating new divisions within the attorney general's office for civil rights and women's and children's problems; establishing the first statewide grand jury system to handle drug crimes. And Burris, who more than once has said he'd like Illinois to be known as the Land of Burris, isn't shy about touting his leads in recent polls. "I'm the front runner," he says. "I'm the one to beat." But his opponents, who have seen his poll numbers slipping in recent weeks, think Burris is vulnerable because of his equivocating on issues. To Phelan and Netsch, Burris' singular strength is the name recognition he has accumulated after 16 years in statewide office. They believe it's only a matter of time before Burris' leadership qualities are questioned by voters who want clear stands on tough issues. In January, Netsch was already on the television attack by questioning Burris' insistence that he'll address the issues once he's settled inside the Executive Mansion. Issues aside, Burris has other worries if he's to cling to his early lead: money, race and organization.

Burris, who admits he's never been good at fundraising, estimates he'll raise and spend $2 million to $2.5 million during the primary. However, Phelan, the millionaire trial lawyer from Winnetka, is expected to spend about twice that amount, and Netsch will raise about the same as Burris. Burris' camp fears his opponents will launch a combined television attack on him in the final weeks of the campaign.

Another potential problem for Burris is race. No one knows deep-down exactly how the racial issue will play out for Burris, the first black elected to a statewide office in Illinois. An obvious plus for Burris, who's striving to be Illinois' first black governor, is that African Americans account for about 25 percent of the vote in Democratic primaries. It's a terrific base to build upon if blacks rally around him on March 15. However, it's not a foregone conclusion that blacks will mobilize in mass for Burris on election day, based on what appears to be lackluster voter registration drives in Chicago and East St. Louis, according to local lawmakers and state party leaders.

An obvious minus for Burris is that racism still exists. Democratic operatives privately warn that many people who voted for Burris in the past won't necessarily do the same now that he's running for governor. A Centralia native and graduate of Southern Illinois University, Burris counters that he's traditionally done well downstate in past elections, largely due to his image as a moderate politician who doesn't play racial politics.

On paper, Burris' organization looks formidable and experienced: Fred LeBed is campaign manager; Fenn, King and Murphy, a Washington-based media consulting firm, handles broadcast advertising; Lester and Associates, another D.C. firm, in charge of polling; and Ridder Braden, political consultants from Denver. Burris and his staff like to brag they've been through five statewide campaigns, or four more than his two main opponents combined. However, three of those contests were for comptroller, a bottom-of-the-ballot post. Burris came in a distant second to Paul Simon in a five-way race in the 1984 U.S. Senate Democratic primary. He barely won the 1990 attorney general contest against the relatively unknown DuPage County State's Atty. Jim Ryan, who was running his first statewide campaign. Those aren't exactly juggernaut performances by a politician who boasts of his campaign prowess.

The Edgar campaign, which views Burris as a hollow candidate who can easily be flustered, is almost itching to take him on in the November election.

Eric Adelstein, Phelan's campaign manager, says there's a "clear contrast" in the primary because Phelan has an "outsider gloss" and has "pretty much positioned himself as not being a full-time politician." Baloney. The list of Phelan's supporters and staff members is a veritable Who's Who of the regular Democratic apparatus in Illinois.

House Speaker Michael J. Madigan (D-22, Chicago) and other

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prominent Democrats have lined up solidly behind Phelan. Meanwhile, Phelan, who has never run a statewide campaign, has campaign and county payrolls that include most of the same people who worked for Democratic gubernatorial nominee Neil F. Hartigan in 1990: Bill Filan (Hartigan's campaign manager); Jenny Vidis (Hartigan's campaign scheduler); Sean McDermott (Hartigan's advance man); Woods Bowman (Hartigan's finance director); and Marlene Koski (Hartigan's operations manager), among others. And most of them have been working on the 1994 gubernatorial race since the moment Phelan was elected Cook County board president in 1990. After Hartigan narrowly lost four years ago, Filan, a former top-ranking staffer for Madigan, was scooped up by Phelan and appointed his county government chief of staff.

Phelan, who gained national attention for investigating former U.S. House Speaker Jim Wright in the late 1980s, acknowledges

that he's become close allies with many of the people he ran against in 1990. "I suppose people can call you a member of the 'machine' and say 'he's caved in,'" Phelan said in a recent interview. However, he contends his staff members from the Democratic establishment are an advantage because of their experience and knowledge of Illinois politics. "I ran against the machine when I ran for Cook County board president, but you can't run government as an outsider." But critics say Phelan's switch from outsider to insider status points to an overall credibility problem that even the Phelan campaign acknowledges exists. A Chicago Tribune poll in January showed that only 44 percent of likely primary voters outside the Chicago area recognized Phelan's name. An even more disturbing finding: Where Phelan is known, he's not particularly well liked. He's viewed by some as ambitious and aristocratic, though others find him intellectually engaging one-on-one. Many speculate that Phelan, who ran for Cook County board president on a no-new-taxes pledge, permanently hurt himself when he substantially raised taxes in Cook County after the election, particularly a new countywide sales tax. Meanwhile, his critics have accused Phelan of belatedly proposing and passing ordinances out of a sheer desire to nab attention. Phelan's strategy has worked, garnering him publicity for enacting county campaign finance reform; signing an antipatronage Shakman decree; allowing abortions at Cook County Hospital and calling for a ban on assault weapons.

Phelan has repeatedly shown a knack for turning his negatives into positives. Adelstein, who managed Phelan's 1990 board president campaign, openly acknowledges that the tax issue is a problem. But Phelan's media strategists are promoting the idea that he made a "tough choice" by breaking his no-new-taxes vow to pay for incarcerating county prisoners and for implementing major improvements at Cook County Hospital. Phelan's early television commercials confront the tax issue and promote his list of accomplishments.

Even opponents respect certain Phelan traits. "He has a very quick and clever mind," says state Sen. Aldo DeAngelis (R-40, Olympia Fields), who lost to Phelan in the 1990 Cook County board president race. "He has all the visceral instincts of a trial lawyer. No. 1 is to win. No. 2 is you trash the opponent. No. 3, put yourself in the most favorable light. I've told the Edgar people they're going to be in for a surprise if this guy wins [the nomination] because he has ways of finding little things that can be really blown up."

Phelan, who has been emphasizing anticrime issues in his campaign, has another key weapon at his disposal: money. Using much of his own cash, Phelan is expected to spend an estimated $4 million to $4.5 million during the primary, most of it for last-minute television commercials.

Phelan, who has crisscrossed downstate over the years ostensibly to protest state mandates on local governments, has picked up some pretty impressive downstate endorsements, such as Democratic organizations in Madison, St. Clair and Sangamon counties. Political observers also praised his selection of state Sen. Penny Sevems(D-51, Decatur) as his running mate. Burris reacted by naming his own preferred running mate, businesswoman Sheila Smith, but it's doubtful Sevems or Smith will affect final voting much.

If Phelan wins the nomination, Edgar will have his hands full. But the Edgar campaign believes the tax issue makes Phelan an easy target.

Netsch is relying on two things to win: a huge gamble that voters will appreciate her openness for advocating an income tax increase and that women voters will rally around her candidacy, similar to what happened to Carol Moseley-Braun during the 1992 U.S. Senate Democratic primary.

There's little question that Netsch, a former state senator and the most liberal of the three main Democratic candidates, is sincere in her call for a $2.5 billion income tax increase to fund education, to cut local

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Though she may be bold in what she proposes, there are questions about whether Netsch can deliver on her tax plan and other ideas she's long promoted, such as campaign finance reform and banning the possession of assault weapons. As a state senator, Netsch found that many of her legislative proposals often ended up in the legislative junkyard.

Partly to offset an image of Netsch as an old-fashioned liberal itching to raise taxes, the campaign has been harping on her consistent (and accurate) warnings about the state's dire financial condition. Some of her early television commercials harshly attacked Edgar's fiscal record and noted that Netsch, as the state's chief financial officer, has been the penny-pinching watchdog of state government.

As Netsch tries to promote her "candidness" on issues, her campaign is also hoping for a repeat of what might now be called the Carol Moseley-Braun Syndrome: a three-way race in which two male candidates spend millions of dollars to bash each other over the head, while the lone female candidate benefits with the help of cross-over votes from liberal Republican women. It happened to Moseley-Braun in 1992 — and theoretically it could happen again in 1994 for Netsch. Netsch's strategy on attracting female voters, however, hasn't reflected some of the uncomfortable electoral realities to date. Some early polls have indicated Netsch running last among female voters, though it should be noted that early polls also showed Moseley-Braun dead last in most categories before the primary. Kim Villanueva, chairwoman of the Illinois National Organization for Women's political action committee, says there's still a strong perception that women politicians are more trustworthy and that Netsch will benefit from that perception. Meanwhile, the Washington-based, female political action committee called EMILY'S List — the acronym stands for "Early Money Is Like Yeast" — has made Netsch's election a top national priority, and it's expected to sink hundreds of thousands of dollars into her campaign. Netsch's first television ads have touted her pro-choice stand on abortion and her accomplishments as a woman in a male-dominated world. Does Netsch believe there's a groundswell of support from women? "Yeah, I really do," says Netsch, who would become Illinois' first female governor if elected. "I wasn't sure at first, but I can feel it. I don't know how big a factor it's going to be. It's very hard to measure, but it's there." However, even Netsch's campaign manager, Kappy Laing, whose political experience is limited mostly to Cook County, warns that there's a big difference between 1994 and 1992, when the Anita Hill-Clarence Thomas hearing was so fresh in women's minds. Indeed, Netsch has already abandoned her initial tactic of nobly staying above the male fray; she was the first to openly attack Burris in television commercials. Netsch, a champion

Roland W. Burris Burns lives in Chicago with his wife, Berlean Burris, a vice provost at National Louis University. The Burrises have two children, Rolanda Sue, 29, and Roland II, 26. Burris, 56, grew up in Centralia and in 1959 received his bachelor's degree from Southern Illinois University at Carbondale. After completing one year as an exchange student studying international law at the University of Hamburg in Germany, Burris earned his law degree from Howard University Law School in Washington, D.C., in 1963. Beginning work as a lawyer in 1964 for Continental Illinois National Bank in Chicago, Burris became a vice president within five years. In 1973, he joined Gov. Dan Walker's cabinet as director of the purchasing department, the predecessor to the Department of Central Management Services. Serving one year as national executive director of Operation PUSH, Burris went on to win election in 1978 to the first of three consecutive terms as state comptroller, where he served until elected to his current position of attorney general in 1990. He lost a bid to be the Democratic nominee for U.S. senator in 1984. Burris for Governor headquarters are located at 201 North Wells, 9th Floor, Chicago, and Burris' campaign manager is Fred Lebed, 312/630-0950. Richard Phelan Phelan lives in Winnetka with his second wife, Barbara, a real estate sales manager. He has three children by his late wife, Carol, who was an architect. They are Jane, 31; Anne, 28; and Mark, 25. He has one granddaughter, Caroline. Phelan, 56, grew up in Chicago's north side neighborhood of Ravenswood. He received his bachelor's degree from Notre Dame University, South Bend, Ind., in 1958 and earned his law degree from Georgetown University in Washington, D.C., in 1961. Continued on next page

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of campaign ethics reform, has long promoted voluntary restraint in criticizing other candidates. So her calculated criticism of the front-runner Burris smacks of a frustrated person eager to jump start her campaign, at the expense of violating her own long-espoused view on how campaigns should be conducted.

Netsch's campaign has also been hobbled by two other problems: communications and money. A Northwestern University Law School professor, Netsch tends to lecture to audiences and takes five minutes to explain things other candidates can summarize in seconds. Her campaign staff is now promoting that apparent weakness as a strength: She's an unpolished, fuddy-duddy politician unconcerned about simplistic media sound bites.

Money poses a different problem. Though her husband Walter is wealthy and has donated hundreds of thousands of dollars to her campaign, Netsch admits she's been scraping for every penny she can get. She expects to raise roughly the same amount of money as Burris, but it's difficult to come from behind when there's a simultaneous need to boost one's name recognition and at the same time nick away at the credibility of a perceived front-runner.

If Netsch wins the nomination, she'll annoy the heck out of Edgar with her scholarly put-downs. However, a $2.5 billion income tax increase is still a $2.5 billion tax increase, and Edgar won't let her forget it.

Jay Fitzgerald is a Statehouse reporter for the State Journal-Register in Springfield.

Phelan's first elected office is the one he currently holds. He was elected Cook County Board president in 1990. For more than 28 years he has been an active trial lawyer, handling cases in both state and federal courts across the country. Beginning "with only a secretary and a telephone," Phelan founded his law practice Phelan, Pope & John Ltd. in 1975, building it to a major Chicago law firm with over 100 attorneys. He was president of the Chicago Bar Association from 1985-86. Phelan left his law firm, now called Pope & John Ltd., when he became Cook County Board president. His political ambitions were sparked in 1988 when he was chosen as the special outside counsel for the U.S. House Ethics Committee in the high-profile case involving ethics charges filed against Speaker Jim Wright (D-Texas). Phelan's work led to Wright's resignation after a nine-month investigation. Main campaign headquarters (Phelan also has regional offices located around the state) are at 180 N. LaSalle, Suite 810, Chicago 60601. His campaign manager is Eric Adelstein, 312/759-1994. Dawn Clark Netsch Netsch lives in Chicago with husband Walter A. Netsch, an architect who designed their Old Town home. They have no children. Netsch, 67, grew up in Cincinnati, Ohio, and came to Illinois to Northwestern University, Evanston, where she received her bachelor's degree (Phi Beta Kappa) in 1948 and her law degree (first in the class) in 1952. She served 18 years on the faculty of Northwestern's School of Law. After graduating and spending two years with a Washington, D.C., law firm, Netsch became law clerk to U.S. District Court Judge Julius Hoffman (in Chicago). She enlisted in the campaigns of Adlai E. Stevenson II and became a key aide to Gov. Otto Kerner in 1961. As a delegateto the 1970 Illinois Constitutional Convention, Netsch wrote the provision that says "the State has the primary responsibility for financing the system of public education." In 1972, she won election to the state Senate and was reelected five times, serving her northside Chicago district until taking office as state comptroller, the position she now holds. Her campaign headquarters are located at 57 West Grand, Suite 200, Chicago 60664. Netsch's campaign manager is Kappy Laing, 312/755-1994. James E. Gierach Gierach lives in Palos Park with his wife Melissa. He has two daughters, Julie, 23, and Laura, 22. Gierach, 49, was born in Madison, Wis., and grew up in Oak Lawn, graduating in 1962 from Oak Lawn Community High School. He received his bachelor's degree from Michigan State University, East Lansing, in 1966 and earned his law degree from DePaul College of Law in Chicago in 1969. He was an assistant state's attorney for Cook County for four years following law school and in 1970 was the youngest delegate elected to the 1970 Constitutional Convention. He joined his father's law firm in 1974 and now is a partner in Gierach, Schussler & Walsh Ltd. in Oak Lawn. Gierach ran unsuccessfully in the 1992 Democratic primary for Cook County state's attorney. His headquarters are located at 6201 W. 95th Street, Oak Lawn, 60453. Gierach's campaign comanagers are Mickie Spangler and Ziff Sistrunk, 708/424-2611. Sheila A. Jones Jones lives in Chicago with her husband Terry, who works as a political activist with the LaRouche movement. They have no children. Jones, 43, was born in Chicago and raised in Milwaukee, Wis. She graduated from Mount Mary Catholic Girl's College in Milwaukee in 1972 with a bachelor's degree in music education. She taught in the Milwaukee public school system for six years. A classical opera singer and concert pianist, she has performed and taught across the country and in other countries. She is currently directing and producing a three-act musical drama that tells the story of the Negro spiritual. Daughter of a civil rights activist, Jones has been part of the Civil Rights movement from the time she was a child. As a teenager she was a leader in the NAACP Youth Council working with Dr. Martin Luther King. She ran three times unsuccessfully in the Chicago mayoral race, in 1983, 1989 and 1991. She came in second to Carol Moseley-Braun in the race for Cook County recorder of deeds in 1988. Headquarters are located at 1229 N. North Branch Street, Suite 307, Chicago 60622. Her campaign manager is Gerald Pechenuk, 312/335-6100. Beverley Scobell

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