Many Are Waiting In the Wings to Succeed Mike Waller as Lake County State's Attorney (UPDATED x3)

Well, after months of speculation about the future of Mike Waller, who has served as Lake County State's Attorney for 22 years, Waller has now finally made official his decision to retire after completing his current term.

As many speculated that Waller might retire (and those in the know, knew pretty positively that this was coming for a while), many candidates on both sides of the aisle have already announced or expressed interest, as more are sure to come.

So far, TA's unofficial tally is:

Democrat Candidates

Chris Kennedy (former ASA, has announced)

Scott Drury (possible self-funder, reportedly has formed a committee) (UPDATED: Looks like Scott Drury will announce August 8th)

Reggie Matthews (current ASA)


Republican Candidates

Bryan Winter (municipal attorney, has announced)

Louise Bryant Hayes (current ASA, not yet officially announced)

Mike Nerheim (former ASA) (UPDATED x2: Nerheim will announce this coming Tuesday, apparently. His website, which is not yet live, will be mikenerheim2012.com)
(UPDATED x3: Nerheim has now made his bid official and his website (link above) is up and running)


If anyone knows of any more, let us know in comments.

State Senator Terry Link, the Lake County Democratic Chairman, has picked his horse already (Kennedy) and is reportedly frowning on any other potential Dem candidates that are poking their heads up. Here comes the intimidation, back-room buy-offs, and other schenanigans to clear the field.

I don't see that happening on the Republican side, so I think we may have a rocking and rolling primary, as Senator Mark Kirk used to like to say.