Legislative targets
Partisan control of the next General Assembly rests on the outcome in a handful of key races
by Dave McKinney

Rep. Jack R. Franks got less than a week to savor his stunning arrival in the Illinois House last year before learning what it's like to wear a permanent Republican bulls-eye.

Four days after being sworn in to a post neither party thought he could win, the first McHenry County Democratic state representative in 15 years heard his name mentioned by Republicans not once but three times from the floor as the chamber went about the mundane chore of adopting its rules. First came House Minority Leader Lee Daniels of Elmhurst, then Rep. Tom Cross of Oswego and, finally, Rep. David Winters of Shirland. It was a pile-on scripted to send a welcoming shot to the political gut. Would Franks turn out to be the independent he had promised voters back home, his Republican colleagues challenged, or would he be a pawn of House Speaker Michael Madigan in bedrock Republican territory?

"These guys thought then they'd rattle my cage, but it's never going to happen. I love it. I just love being on the floor. I love the give and take. I don't care if they come after me. I think it's funny,'' the youthful freshman says with a swagger that might seem more fitting if he weren't in the race of his short political life.

The question posed early last year by Republican lawmakers has set the theme for that race in Chicago's far northwest suburbs. But the campaign in Franks' district isn't so much about him or his opponent Tom Salvi as about Daniels and Madigan. And on that score, it's the marquee matchup among more than half a dozen key House battles that will decide whether Madigan can maintain his 62-56 majority or whether Daniels will be speaker when the 92nd General Assembly opens for business next January.

Over in the Senate, where only a third of the chamber faces re-election this fall, at least five districts are in play as Democrats hope to overtake the GOP's 32-27 majority and return to power for the first time in eight years.

As always, most legislative seats up for election on November 7 are virtual locks for one party or the other. Less than 30 percent of the races are competitive, and an even lower percentage will figure in when legislative leaders and special interests decide where to invest millions of campaign dollars. Typically, those so-called "target" districts have open seats, meaning there is no returning incumbent with a proven vote-getting record, or they are in areas that can swing toward either party.

While the races in this handful of districts will draw only a fraction of the attention given to the presidential campaign, the stakes are enormous. Voters may not realize the implications, but, rest assured, politicians do.

The prize will be a say in redrawing legislative districts after the decennial census. Ultimately, the outcome of that

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With so much on the line, the four legislative leaders will do battle with war chests holding a combined $10 million at midyear, with much more expected as Election Day draws near.

In fact, these figures reflect the relative importance of this year's races. The leaders have more money than at this point two years ago, when their collective campaign funds held $1.5 million less. That raises the likelihood of a more expensive campaign season this time out, particularly in tight House races. The price for the most expensive seat in 1998 reached a record $850,000.

The potential for that kind of spending exists in targeted House races sprinkled throughout Chicago's northern and northwestern suburbs and in central and far-southern Illinois. The highest-profile House races are those of Franks and his first-term Democratic colleague, Rep. Susan Garrett of Lake Forest. They occupy seats that two years ago belonged to Republicans and they've been subjected to a nearly constant GOP barrage since arriving in Springfield on the wave of surprise victories.

In recent election cycles, the southern and southwest suburbs were ground zero for political gamesmanship. But the GOP's strength in the region has declined, and that party has all but ceded most areas now represented by Democratic incumbents. Increasingly, African-American voters hold more clout there, and the locale remains a strong enclave for labor. Both factors favor Democrats. But Franks, whose district covers the northern half of McHenry County along the Wisconsin border, doesn't have those demographic advantages in his 63rd District race against a Republican with a well-known last name. Tom Salvi, a 36-year-old physician and president of the McHenry County Medical Society, is the brother of Al Salvi, a former candidate for U.S. Senate and secretary of state who once represented the Lake County House district due east. Franks, also 36, is an attorney at his father's law firm. He had volunteered in a congressional race in Wisconsin where a college buddy ran successfully as a Democrat, but that represented the extent of his political experience before his 1998 upset of appointed Rep. Michael Brown, a Crystal Lake Republican.

So far, Franks' campaign against Salvi has been financed partly through labor unions and trial lawyers, while Salvi has gotten much of his money from the Illinois State Medical Society and pro-business groups. With nearly $86,000 in his campaign fund, Franks holds a fundraising advantage over Salvi, who reported having roughly $53,000 in his fund at midyear.

Assuming later polls show a close race between Franks and Salvi, those figures are expected to skyrocket this fall, as the leadership-controlled campaign funds begin rolling in. Beyond money, each candidate is getting a full coterie of campaign staff assigned by Madigan and Daniels. Franks has three full-time staffers at his beck and call -- triple what he got two years ago.

On the North Shore near Fort Sheridan and rows of lakefront mansions, the dynamics are virtually identical in the 59th District contest between Garrett and GOP challenger Cesilie Price of Lake Forest. Price is a breast cancer survivor with no prior political experience. Garrett, a marketing consultant, won the post two years ago when Republican Corinne Wood left the House to become Gov. George Ryan's running mate. The seat, which also represents Lake Bluff, had been in Republican hands since 1979. At midyear, Garrett held a decided fundraising advantage over Price. Like Franks, she has been relying on union donations. But that financial advantage could change as the leaders' campaign funds come into play this fall.

Beyond those two races, seats in the suburbs and downstate are in play because incumbents are leaving. In the 60th District, due south of Garrett's, Republicans are greedily eyeing the seat being vacated by Rep. Lauren Beth Gash, a Highland Park Democrat running for Congress. Democrat Karen May of Highland Park and Republican Nancy Flouret of Deerfield are vying for that post. In east central Illinois, Republicans are losing incumbent Rep. Tim Johnson of Sidney, who is running for Congress. The race to succeed him in the GOP-leaning 104th District is between former Douglas County Sheriff Charles "Chub" Connor, a Tuscola Democrat, and engineering consultant Tom Berns, an Urbana Republican. And at the state's far southern tip, in the 117th District, Republican Jack Woolard and Democrat Gary F. Forby are squaring off to succeed Rep. Larry Woolard, a Carterville Democrat who is running for the state Senate. Jack Woolard, no relation to the departing incumbent, is the West Frankfort mayor, while Forby hails from Benton.

Downstate districts also have been targeted where incumbents have been judged vulnerable because their races were tight in the past. Rep. James D. "Jim" Fowler, a Harrisburg Democrat who pushed legislation that could have allowed the posting of the Ten Commandments in classrooms, is running in the 118th District against Republican Eric E. Gregg, also of Harrisburg. Gregg is the president of a local AFSCME chapter representing prison employees. Two years ago, Fowler beat Republican Jack Hill by a narrow 51-49 percent margin in a year that gubernatorial candidate Glenn Poshard brought southern Illinois Democrats out en masse.

Facing a similar challenge is three-term 103rd District Rep. Richard J. (Rick) Winkel Jr., a Champaign Republican. Two years ago, he breezed past Democrat Kathleen Ennen. But in 1996, he was involved in a hard-fought race with Democrat Naomi Jakobsson that swung his way by a 52-48 percent margin. Winkel's challenger this time is Urbana Mayor Tod F. Satterthwaite, a Democrat with a well-known last name. His mother is former state

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For Daniels, the math is simple. He must retake the Franks and Garrett seats, which had been Republican until two years ago, and wrest two others from Madigan to regain the speakership, which some longtime observers say is a tall order. "Madigan has an advantage. You've got incumbents who are defending seats. There certainly are a lot of opportunities out there. But if you were betting today on the House, you'd bet status quo,'' says Kent Redfield, a political science professor and associate director of the Illinois Legislative Studies Center at the University of Illinois at Springfield.

Democrats hope their party's presidential candidate Al Gore, through appearances and coordinated advertising efforts, will help lift legislative candidates in some of the suburban swing districts. For their part, Republicans are hoping for a bounce from GOP presidential nominee George W. Bush, whose conservatism will likely make him popular in the state's southern third. His presence on the ballot, GOP strategists hope, could benefit Republican candidates who were all but shut down two years ago by the Democratic gubernatorial candidacy of Poshard.

But one potential advantage for the GOP -- the presence of a sitting Republican governor on the campaign trail -- has been neutralized because Gov. George Ryan is facing an ongoing federal corruption probe of campaign fundraising activities during his tenure as secretary of state. Few legislative incumbents or challengers welcome being seen on the stump with a governor whose approval ratings are below 30 percent, which is a record low standing for a sitting statewide officer.

"It's a resource you should have: an incumbent Republican governor who can raise money for you, campaign on your behalf, cut commercials, all of those things,'' Redfield says. "But it's a resource the Republicans are not going to have."

GOP strategists in both legislative chambers are jittery over the prospect of more indictments from federal prosecutors around election time. After all, U.S. Attorney Scott Lassar first announced indictments in the licenses-for-campaign-cash investigation a month before the November gubernatorial election. More were announced shortly before a major Ryan address to the General Assembly last February and while Texas Gov. George W. Bush was in Chicago last summer for a presidential campaign fundraiser.

Lassar's office has said the timing was coincidental. Ryan has not been identified as a target, but more bad news concerning his stewardship of the secretary of state's office could hurt Republican turnout and his party's chances in the legislature.

During Franks' 1998 race, Ryan produced radio commercials for Brown. But this time, Ryan won't likely have much presence as Franks attempts to build on the 138-vote margin of victory he scored two years ago.

Since that razor-thin win, Franks has grabbed attention for himself by sponsoring bills to create a discount drug program for seniors, impose a sales tax holiday and abolish the Illinois State Toll Highway Authority. Republicans relished roasting his proposals, which largely remained bottled up in the House. The only plan to emerge from the chamber was his drug-buying program, which was passed when busloads of senior citizens were in the Capitol. It hit an immediate stone wall in the GOP-led Senate.

Franks, who said all of those ideas were his and not handed off by Madigan's staff, realizes the charges from Republicans come with holding a seat the GOP must regain to win the House. "I really think the path to the speakership comes through the 63rd House District if you're Lee Daniels.

I know he knows that. That's why he's spending time and effort campaigning for my opponent, doing fundraisers and making phone calls to key individuals," Franks says.

Daniels' aides scoff at the notion of a higher premium on Franks' seat. They argue some of their greatest potential gains could be downstate in what once was Poshard country. "If arrogance ever hits $40 a barrel, I'd like to have the drilling rights to Jack Franks' head,'' Daniels spokesman Gregg Durham says. "Lee Daniels gets involved in all races, and he's very involved with his members. We think that district is not being well-represented, and you'll find Lee Daniels everywhere that is underrepresented."

Meanwhile, Madigan has taken care of Franks by pushing public works dollars his way, including $500,000 for a water tower in McHenry and

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Salvi, who has no previous political experience, counters that Franks has tried to fool McHenry County voters. Salvi also says the type of poll-driven legislative initiatives Franks has sponsored and the state money coming into

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Salvi, who would be the only physician in the House if elected, wants to make health care one of his main issues.

Another big suburban House matchup lies about 30 miles to the east, where Garrett surprised Republicans in 1998. Garrett has developed a reputation as aggressive and outspoken in the Statehouse, and, like Franks, has endured Republican jabs the past two years, including during that same floor debate over House rules. "I've had to fight for this job from day one, and I believe strongly in what I'm doing, so maybe I'm cut out to do this,'' she says.

The GOP has dubbed Garrett "Special Interest Sue," criticizing her high ratings from the AFL/CIO and her acceptance of contributions from the Chicago Teachers Union in what traditionally is a pro-business district. Garrett also has come under fire from Republicans for supporting a bill that would undo some of the landmark 1995 Chicago school reforms, specifically collective bargaining restrictions affecting the CTU, though Garrett argues she cast a vote to get the bill out of committee but opposed it on the floor.

Over in the Senate, Republicans have their eye on first-termers, too.

In particular, they hope to pad their majority by unseating Terry Link, a Vernon Hills Democrat who represents the 30th District. Meanwhile, Democrats have set their sights on suburban Republican incumbents Patrick J. O'Malley of Palos Park, Christine Radogno of LaGrange, Wendell E. Jones of Palatine and Dave

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In the battle for the seat held by Jones, an appointee running in the 27th District against retired high school teacher Sue A. Walton of Rolling Meadows, the Democrats intend to exploit the incumbent's alleged inability last December to vote on Gov. Ryan's initial proposal to re-enact the Safe Neighborhoods Act. The legislation, which was nearly identical to a law struck down by the state Supreme Court, would have made illegal gun possession and transportation a felony in most cases and was viewed by law enforcement as an important tool in getting illegal guns off the streets and out of the hands of young gang members. Ryan's proposal, which unraveled amid intense lobbying from the Illinois State Rifle Association and opposition from Senate President James "Pate" Philip, contained fewer exceptions than the version that finally passed. Jones, who filled the unexpired term of Peter Fitzgerald when he left to become a U.S. senator, says he supported the governor's initial concept but wound up failing to be counted when it counted. He says his electronic voting switch did not work, which partly caused the governor's plan to fall five votes shy of passage.

The same gun vote also figures to surface in O'Malley's 18th District race against Rick Ryan, an Evergreen Park Democrat and attorney who has not held previous elected office. O'Malley voted present on Gov. Ryan's failed December initiative. Democrats also intend to attack O'Malley's low labor ratings in a district heavily populated by union members, as well as his staunch conservatism. They'll cite his support of legislation to let parents decide whether to have their children vaccinated, an idea that is supported by socially conservative home schoolers but is widely panned by the public health community.

Sullivan, who, like Jones, is another GOP appointee from the northwest suburbs, is being challenged in the 28th District by Arlington Heights Demo-crat Phil Pritzker, a former elementary school board president. Democrats hope to exploit Sullivan's close ties to the scandal-plagued governor. He was a high-level aide to Ryan before becoming a senator and received the governor's help in getting appointed to fill the seat of the late Sen. Marty Butler, a Park Ridge Republican. But the strategy of linking Sullivan to Ryan failed its first test last spring when GOP primary candidate Arlen Gould used it in his losing bid to unseat the freshman senator.

In the 24th District, which was decided by only 82 votes four years ago, Radogno is running for re-election against Mary Jane O'Shea Mannella, a Willow Springs Democrat and village trustee. Radogno has a solid legislative record, having sponsored the state's .08 anti-drunk-driving law. Democrats hope changing demographics more favorable to their party -- the same trend that has put most of the southern and southwestern suburbs into Democratic hands -- will help do in Radogno this time.

And in Lake County's 30th District, Link is attempting re-election after his surprise victory in 1996 that took a seat Republicans had held continuously since 1983. Link's opponent four years ago, former Rep. Thomas Lachner, accused Link of failing to make child support payments. But in one of the biggest political gaffes in recent memory, the political stunt backfired when Link's ex-wife vouched for her former husband's financial commitment to their children.

This time around, the GOP is pinning its hopes on Greg Kazarian, a 38-year-old Lake Forest attorney and campaign aide to former Comptroller Loleta Didrickson. He says Link has lost touch with voters in this swing region. He also criticizes Link for being disingenuous in voting to allow borrowing for the Illinois First public works program but voting against hiking license fees and liquor taxes to pay the debt. Link is quick to point out the projects he has brought home, but even the GOP has employed that strategy in this race.

Senate Republicans took the unusual step of going around Link and providing the Vernon Hills YMCA on Link's home turf with a $150,000 state grant they didn't even ask for, courtesy of Senate President Philip. "They called me up and asked if they should take it, and I said, 'Take the money and run,''' Link says.

That maneuver speaks to what life can be like living in a target district. Often, it doesn't matter how original or how passionate or how devoted a targeted lawmaker is toward advancing public policy. Getting handed poll-driven bills to carry, having building projects thrust into one's lap as thinly veneered, election-year tokens and being second-guessed on roll calls are all part of the guerrilla warfare being waged for control of the legislature. And, as Franks and Link can attest, it all begins the moment these politicians first set foot in the Statehouse.

While Franks' initiation to the process began on the floor of the Illinois House, Link's came during a chance encounter with the politically shrewd Senate GOP leader not long after the surprise win against Lachner in late 1996. "I was down in Springfield for an orientation,'' Link says. "It was the first week of December right after I was elected. Pate Philip was there, and I went up and introduced myself. He looked at me and he said, 'You're the kid who got lucky.' I turned to him and I said, 'No, I won.' Then he said, 'We'll see about next time.'"

For Link and other targets, the only way to get the bulls-eye off their backs is to string together a few winning campaigns. "I don't care if he is a Marine,'' Link says of Philip and the face-to-face encounter four years ago that has set the tone this fall. "I'm not going to back down."

Dave McKinney is Statehouse bureau chief for the Chicago Sun-Times.

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