After floating this balloon (and one for 10th Congressional district) for a few weeks, State Senator and Lake County Chairman Terry "Vote the Graveyard" Link has declared his intent to run for Lt. Governor.On one hand, the Lt. Guv position is pretty harmless; until Blagojevich got indicted, one could do little harm in that position. Some Lt. Guv's like Corinne Wood used the position to further good causes, like breast cancer awareness. But generally it's a not a power position, and a vacancy in that office isn't even filled per the state constitution (note that we currently have no Lt. Governor since Pat Quinn was elevated to Governor).
So in one respect, maybe getting Link out of Lake County and into a job where he can do less harm isn't a bad thing. But in my experience, anything Link wants can't be good for the rest of us. If Link doesn't take the coward's way out like State Senator Michael Bond (who bailed on the 10th Congressional District race when the Dem field got too tough for him) and drop out when it becomes clear which other Dems are interested, at the least, it will take Link's eye off Lake County and keep him busy elsewhere.
As most here in Lake County already know, Link has some questionable relationships and a checkered (to put it mildly) political history. Among just a few of the issues we've covered are: Link's relationship with the gaming industry (more here and here), the towing business (more here), his refusal to vote to recall Governor Blagojevich (but remember Link was "duped," so it wasn't his fault), questionable campaign finance disclosures, and of course, the capper on it all, the names of deceased individuals appearing on Link's campaign petitions, for which he refused to take responsibility and blamed 'Republican operatives,' even though the two campaign workers ended up pleading guilty to perjury (see here just for starters).
Sure, there's lots of reason to encourage Link to run for Guv Lite and get him into a position where he may do less harm. But let's still hope the GOP puts up a decent candidate against him and sends him packing in 2010.
Related: Last night at Waukegan's City Council meeting, Link's right hand man, "Sneaky" Pete Couvall, got booted from his position as Chairman of the Waukegan Development Commission by new Mayor Bob Sabonjian. Tough break, Pete.
Posts
4 comments:
This will be a short campaign.
Link's campaign workers were indicted and convicted.
He is hated in his own district (and would probably lose if up for reelection).
He is sick and does not look like a well man in public.
A very short, pitiful campaign.
His questionable campaign contribution antics continues. His 6/30/09 disclosure shows a $10,000 loan from the Cook County Assessor James Houlihan. Why would you need a loan when you have the type of balance he carries. Are these type of loans the beginning of finding a way around the new disclosure laws? His expenditures continues to be questionable when more expenses are not itemized than itemized ($19,055 itemized, $19068 not itemized). Not a standard practice. Even his senator from the adjoining district, Michael Bond has a totally different ratio of itemized ($112,321) to not itemized ($2,778). Also, why does he not show any legal fees, either actual or in kind, when he is fighting a legal , and pending, battle on previous campaign reporting? Why is he using his District Office address for campaign contributions to other committees? See Vernon Democrats for Change 6/30/09 disclosure receiving $500 from Terry Link at his State Senate District Office address. Is he mixing campaigning from his State paid District Office? If he cannot keep a simple senate district finances straight, what is he going to do with a state wide campaign?
Talk in Waukegan is that since the departure of Jones and Blago, Link has little to no clout left in Springfield and is worried about where Chicago Dems will draw the district lines before he'll have to run again in 2012. Add to this the fact that he relied heavily on Ryg's popularity in the 59th Rep. Disrict to carry the 30th senate district, and she's now gone makes jumping into the race for Lt. Gov. kind of a no-brainer.
Considering the way Link's Senate District is drawn and Garrett's Senate District is drawn, they both should be worried.
If you want a few good examples of gerrymandering, those two districts come to mind.
If the Republicans win the coin flip on redistricting (and the process used for determining who controls redistricting in this State is pretty pathetic to begin with), I'm sure those district lines will be redrawn.
Louis G. Atsaves
Post a Comment