Daily Herald Comes In For Sandy Cole; 59th District Hopefuls Debate

The Daily Herald has endorsed State Representative Sandy Cole, a favorite of this blog, for another term, based on her impressive level of experience:

Cole, 56, has 20 years of decision making on the Lake County Board and other agencies.

She has spent the three years since taking the district seat learning the ropes of governance at the state legislative level.

True, she has not written any important legislation, but that's not surprising given her party battles a large Democratic majority.

She has shown support for transparency laws and ethics legislation, and that's important given the current climate in Springfield.

Go Sandy!

In other local legislative news, both the Democratic and Republican candidates in the 59th District race appeared before the League of Women Voters in a forum in Vernon Hills this past Sunday.

Competing for the Dem nomination are appointee and incumbent Carol Sente, and Buffalo Grove Mayor Elliot Hartstein. The GOP contenders are Green Oaks attorney Dan Sugrue, Green Oaks businessman Mohan Mahnian, and Vernon Hills Trustee Cindy Hebda. All of the GOP contenders are worthy candidates; this blog has endorsed Dan Sugrue.

The Daily Herald reported:

Sugrue, 46, an attorney, said the public employee pensions are an example of what's wrong with Illinois government. He said there should be two-tiered systems with employee contributions similar to a private-sector 401(k) plan.

"We have teachers unions that contribute huge amounts of money to candidates," said Sugrue. "Those candidates who get elected turn around protecting these same public-sector unions with generous pensions. The only person that gets shafted is the taxpayer."