Lake County Sheriff Mark Curran's Switch to GOP a "Matter of Conscience"; 'No Hope in the Democratic Party' (UPDATED x6)

While down in Springfield today, the fallout from Rod Blagojevich's arrest and the possible courses the General Assembly may take in dealing with it, were just beginning to develop, some fallout of a related sort was taking place up here in Lake County.

This morning, Sheriff Mark Curran held a press conference in a packed room at Lake County Republican Headquarters to announce his switch from the Democrats to the Republicans.

Curran stated emphatically several times that his switch was a "matter of conscience" and he said "My conscience will not allow me to stand by and be a member of the Democratic Party any longer."

The presser was attended by many past and present politicians, including former gubernatorial candidate and AG Jim Ryan, Congressman Peter Roskam, State's Attorney Michael Waller, State Rep. Eddie Sullivan, Jr., State Senator-elect Dan Duffy, former Lake County Board Chairman Bob Depke, County Clerk Willard Helander, County Treasurer Bob Skidmore, Congressman Mark Kirk's Chief of Staff Eric Elk, and Lake County Republican Chairman Daniel Venturi.

Curran spoke for about 10 minutes and said, "I'd hoped to fight for change within the Democratic party, I'd hoped to bring the Democratic party back to the ideals it once stood for. But as I stand here today, I do not believe that it is a possibility. I certainly do not believe that it is a possibility in the State of Illinois, and I certainly do not believe that there is any hope in the Democratic Party in this state or in [Lake] County."

Curran also took a swing at beleaguered Governor Rod Blagojevich and the Democratic party for supporting him, saying "When Rod Blagojevich ran against this man [Jim Ryan], once again, you didn't hear anybody stand up five years ago and say, 'you know what, Rod Blagojevich is nothing other than a hack Chicago politician, and he's not good for the state.' No, they all stood behind him as though he was reformer. It's a boldface lie to think that somebody who comes out of that ward boss system is going to be a reformer. It's a boldface lie, and we should quit telling those lies."

Here's Curran on "Conscience":



Here's Curran talking about no hope in the Democratic party.



Some nice comments from Lake County State's Attorney Michael Waller:



Here are comments from former AG and gubernatorial candidate Jim Ryan:



Here's Congressman Peter Roskam (6th Congressional Dist.) on behalf of himself and Congressman Mark Kirk (10th Dist.):



A few comments from State Rep. Eddie Sullivan, Jr., who was on his way down to Springfield immediately afterwards to (hopefully) work towards the impeachment of the guv:



And finally, our newest State Senator-elect, Dan Duffy:



UPDATED: Pioneer Press has an article with the Dem reaction, via "sneaky" Pete Couvall and Terry Link. It can be boiled down to: 1) if you don't like Blago, just remember Ryan was in jail first, and 2) can we have our Curran campaign contributions back?

Wow, pretty effective comeback, boys. Sorry, this day (week, month, year?) belongs to the GOP. You'd be better off not saying anything at all.

UPDATED x2: Here's the News-Sun article. Boy, Terry Link is pissed. “[Curran] didn’t make it on his own,” Link said. “I wear a wristband that says loyalty on it. He should get out a dictionary and look up what loyalty means. This guy has no loyalty to anyone other than Mark Curran.”

UPDATED x3: Here's the Daily Herald article.

UPDATED x4: Fox News Chicago appears to have two different video edits from this morning's press conference, where they reported live. Check them out here and here.

UPDATED x5: 12.16.08: Here's a recent article from the Tribune. Pete Couvall calls Mark Curran a publicity hound. Is that the best you can do, Pete?

And, here's a story and audio report from WBBM Newsradio.

UPDATED x6: WHAT'S BEHIND TERRY LINK'S HISSY FIT? As you know, if you followed some of the above news links, State Senator and Democratic County Chairman Terry Link was practically besides himself yesterday, railing against Sheriff Mark Curran for his 'disloyalty' and vowing to run a Dem opponent against Curran this next election cycle.

Why so red-faced, Senator Link? Is it perhaps because you expected to have political control over the Sheriff's office if a new casino goes in Waukegan? Why would you want that, and why is it so important, TA wonders?

Just sayin'.