PollyPeoria: Pat Sullivan isn’t running for state senate

From Peoria Pundit:

The anonymous Peoria blogger says that she got the info from a source at Kelleher's, developer Pat Sullivan's pub on the Riverfront. She speculated that Pat doesn't want to run against retiring State Sen. George Shadid's (D-46th District) handpicked replacement, Dave Koehler.

There may be some truth to that assessment.

Polly is wrong, however, in calling Koehler ultra liberal. He spent more than a decade as director of the Peoria Area Labor Management Council (PALM), essentially an employee of the Peoria Area Chamber of Commerce, an organization not known for hiring leftists. While Koehler has good relationships with many in the labor movement, there are others who don't consider him that great a friend of labor. Which is kind of odd, considering Koehler once worked with the late Caesar Chavez of United Farm Workers' fame (which is no doubt the cause of the "ultra liberal" claim).

Sullivan, as readers may recall, was a leading candidate to take Jim Ardis' position as an at-large member of the Peoria City Council member after Ardis' election as mayor. That job instead went to George Jacob (a person who I have come to like a great deal, despite his holding different positions than I on many issues).

That decision surprised many, including Sullivan, who is known for his work with the Boys and Girls Club in Peoria, as well as for developing businesses on the Riverfront on his own terms, sometimes without support from city administration and politicians. There were others being considered who -- while they wouldn't have minded losing out to Sullivan -- were incensed to lose to Jacob, who was tagged as the Chamber of Commerce's voice on the council. Jacob later voted against the city buying the water system from Illinois American Water company, which was endorsed by the Chamber.

There has been talk that State Rep. Aaron Schock (R-92nd) might run for Shadid's seat. Some local GOPers think that Schock is the best candidate to capturing that seat. Also, some believe that Schock is vulnerable to a challenge by popular Peoria City Council member Bill Spears, who is running for the Democratic nod. Supposedly, Schock stands a better chance against Koehler, who also once served on the Peoria City Council. With Sullivan out of the race, that might entice Schock to bolt for the upper house.

Don't let Schock's youth -- he's 24 and looks barely out of high school -- fool you. He's smart and hardworking, and is constituent oriented. He's full of ideas and is capable of being a firm leader. My only knock against him is that he ran on his record as a budget cutter at Peoria School 150, and it wasn't until after his election to the Illinois House that the district's budget fell apart like a house of cards.
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