New faces, old instincts

House Speaker Michael J. Madigan (D-Chicago) and soon-to-be Senate President James "Pate" Philip (R-Wood Dale) present a study in contrasts. A product of the city's legendary Democratic machine, Madigan holds sway as 13th Ward committeeman; Philip's roots lie in the Republican organization in DuPage County, where he is GOP chairman. Madigan, an attorney, has championed his home town's interests for some two decades, almost as long as Philip, a retired bakery salesman, has cultivated a reputation for Chicago-bashing. Polished and urbane, the speaker picks his words with surgical precision, while the rough-hewn Philip speaks with the off-handed bluntness of the ex-Marine he is.

Yet the pair have something in common that helped each post a solid victory on November 3: political instincts rooted more in pragmatism than in principle. Under Philip's leadership, Senate Republicans weathered President Bush's dismal Illinois showing to elect a 32-27 majority on the strength of a GOP redistricting plan that shifted political clout to the suburbs from the city. Madigan's House Democrats, meanwhile, overcame the Republicans' remap advantage to lose just five seats and keep a firm, 67-51 grip on the House.

While the GOP Senate takeover had been expected since Republicans won the remap sweepstakes last year, Democrats hoped strong coattails from President-elect Bill Clinton and U.S. Sen.-elect Carol Moseley Braun would tip the balance in enough close contests for a majority. In fact, outgoing Senate President Philip J. Rock (D-Oak Park) predicted Democrats might add to their current 31-28 margin by winning in a dozen target districts.

Instead, Republicans took nine of the target seats, breaking the Democrats' 18-year hold on the Senate. The key to their success was the new map, which created 34 districts with GOP leanings ranging from pronounced to overwhelming, based on average votes for University of Illinois trustees over the last four elections. Republicans won in 31 of the friendly districts, along the way ousting a pair of Democratic incumbents, Sens. Ted E. Leverenz of Maywood (39th) and Joyce Holmberg of Rockford (34th), and carried one Democratic-leaning district, the 58th, with Sen. Ralph Dunn of DuQuoin. Republicans lost two marginally GOP districts, won by Sens. Patrick D. Welch of Peru (38th) and William L. O'Daniel of Mount Vernon (54th), and the 62-percent GOP 29th, where Sen. Roger A. Keats of Glencoe was the only GOP senator to lose.

More impressive, however, was the performance by House Democrats. Facing a map that gave Republicans a 69-49 edge, Democrats won in 18 nominally Republican districts, as well as all 49 friendly ones, for a 67-51 edge. In three cases, Democrats won in 60-percent-plus Republican districts: Rep. Terry Steczo of Oak Forest bested Rep. Jane M. Barnes of Palos Park (35th), Barbara A. Giolitto of Rockford beat Rep. Ronald A. Wait of Belvidere (68th), and John R. Sheehy of Tinley Park topped Carl J. Vandenberg of Tinley Park (37th.)

Republican incumbents lost in two other strong GOP districts. Victimized were Rep. Robert P. Regan of Crete (80th) and Rep. David K. Deets of Dixon (73rd). Nine Democratic incumbents won on GOP turf, and Democrats also won in four open districts with Republican sympathies. Only four sitting Democrats lost, a pair to Republican veterans, and all in GOP districts. Rep. Virginia F. Frederick (R-Lake Forest) bested Rep. John S. Matijevich (D-North Chicago) (59th), while Rep. Timothy V. Johnson (R-Urbana) topped Rep. Helen Satterthwaite (D-Urbana) (104th). Also ousted were Reps. Andrew J. McGann (D-Oak Lawn) (36th) and Richard T. Mulcahey (D-Davis) (74th).

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Underscoring the House Democrats' success, in three downstate Senate districts (the 34th, the 50th and the 58th) Democrats took both House seats while Republicans elected the senator. In 11 other Senate districts won by GOP candidates, Democrats captured one of the House seats. Republicans failed to win both House seats in any of the 27 Senate districts won by Democrats, and picked up single House seats in just five cases. Also worth noting:

• A dramatic membership turnover. Largely due to redistricting, the legislature underwent its most thorough housecleaning in two decades. When the 88th General Assembly takes office on January 13, there will be 47 new faces in the House and 22 in the Senate, including 13 moving up from the House. The largest influx will be among House Republicans, whose 51 members include 27 newcomers (although three have previous experience).

• A surge in suburban numbers. Reflecting a demographic shift embodied in the remap, 11 freshman senators and 26 new representatives hail from districts in which all or most residents live in suburban Cook or the collar counties. Suburban strength will be particularly strong among Republicans, with 20 of 32 senators and 34 of 51 House members from suburban-based districts.

• Huge gains for women. In legislative contests, female candidates prevailed in 11 of 17 Senate and 30 of 44 House races involving women. The winners included six Republicans and five Democrats in the Senate and 15 from each party in the House. While the next legislature will have three fewer female senators, the number of women in the House will jump by 11. Women fared well in other races, led by Braun, the first black woman elected to the U.S. Senate. Appellate Court Justice Mary Ann McMorrow, a Chicago Democrat, became the first woman elected to the Illinois Supreme Court, while former state Rep. Peg Breslin, an Ottawa Democrat, won an Appellate Court spot.

• Mixed results for minorities. Hispanic numbers will double in the next legislature, to two senators and four representatives. African-American ranks will increase in the Senate to eight from seven but decline in the House to 12 from 14, as white Democrats won in six districts with black populations of 65 percent or more.

Charles N. Wheeler III is a correspondent in the Springfield Bureau of the Chicago Sun-Times.

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