Pro-Environment Rs & Ds Big Winners Tuesday
As the dust settles from Tuesday’s Illinois primary elections, it looks clear that voters in both Republican and Democratic primary races rewarded pro-environment candidates with their votes for state and local office.
Sierra Club worked hard to help its endorsed candidates in these races. Sierra Club volunteers staffed phonebanks, CTA and Metra stops, precinct walks, and mailing parties. We produced targeted mail pieces in many races to reach pro-environment voters and let them know about our endorsement. A few numbers from our primary campaign efforts:
*100 volunteers working on campaigns around the state
*35,000 mailings to targeted voters
*Over 5,000 personal phone calls to Sierra Club members
*35 Election Day volunteers in Cook County
*8 victories in 9 contested General Assembly races (5 Democrats, 3 Republicans)
Here is a roundup of the outcome in contested races where Sierra Club made endorsements:
ILLINOIS GENERAL ASSEMBLY
Republican Primaries
Sierra Club targeted four suburban Republican primaries where there were clear differences between the candidates in hotly contested races. In Lake County’s 62nd District, Sandy Cole is a Lake County Board member who has been a strong voice for smart growth, water supply protection, and expanding Lake County’s forest preserves. She won with 59% of the vote against developer-backed candidate Barbara Oilschlager.
Incumbent Paul Froehlich, a solid supporter of measures to reduce mercury pollution, protect wetlands, and preserve open space funding won handily in the 56th District. In the 95th District, West Chicago Mayor Michael Fortner, who has been active in efforts to clean up local thorium contamination, and dedicating West Chicago Prairie as an Illinois Nature Preserve, beat a well-funded challenger. Palatine Mayor Rita Mullins lost her campaign for the Republican nomination in the s27th Senate District.
Democratic Primaries
In Democratic races, House Majority Leader Barbara Flynn-Currie, who last year won the Illinois Environmental Council’s Lifetime Achievement Award, and for years has been a leader in passing legislation protecting people from harmful pollution, won handily in the face of her first significant primary challenge in years. State Senator Martin Sandoval, a member of the Senate Energy and Environment Committee and strong supporter of measures to clean up air pollution, particularly from old coal-burning power plants, held off a well-funded challenger in the 12th Senate District.
State Senator Don Harmon, the lead Senate sponsor of legislation to spur renewable energy development and measures to clean up water pollution and protect open space, and State Representative David Miller, a solid supporter of clean air, wetlands protection, and open space legislation each won handily against primary opponents.
In addition, Sierra Club supported Dave Koehler in the Democratic Primary for Senator from the 46th District in the Peoria area. Koehler is seeking to replace retiring Senator George Shadid. He will bring support for action by the state to clean up pollution in the Illinois River, acquire more land for outdoor recreation, and promote clean, renewable energy sources to the Illinois Senate.
COOK COUNTY BOARD PRESIDENT
Forrest Claypool’s reform campaign for Cook County Board President fell just short of victory in the face of a strong showing by machine politicians and a late wave of support for incumbent John Stroger after he suffered a stroke in the campaign’s final days. However, our unprecedented effort to mobilize pro-environment voters across the County clearly demonstrated the public’s interest in taking better care of our magnificent forest preserves will sets the state for better protection of Cook County’s open spaces in the future.
METROPOLITAN WATER RECLAMATION DISTRICT
The victory for Debra Shore’s outsider campaign for MWRD is a testament to the outstanding campaign run by Debra, a longtime conservationist but rookie candidate, the public’s demand for clean water, and the power of a Sierra Club endorsement. Debra was the only candidate not slated by the Democratic Party to win a seat on the board.
DE KALB COUNTY OPEN SPACE REFERENDUM
Sierra Club's campaign efforts in DeKalb County were focused on supporting a land acquisition referendum for the DeKalb County Forest Preserve District. If you haven't been there lately, the county is undergoing rapid sprawl and until now had no funding available to try to save wetlands, prairies, and forests from development. Tuesday's victory provides $5 million over the next decade.
26 comments:
Nice work.
It is great to see you back winners.
It appears that Patricia Horton took the third seat on the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District away from incumbent Jim Harris.
Unfortunately, left out in the rush to put "Environmentalist" shore on the MWRD Board was attorney Frank Avila, who narrowly trailed Horton and Harris. Avila was the first candidate in the race to bring up the important issue of the need to treat pharmacutical drugs as they are passed from our bodies back into our water system, before they created more mutations in fish and other wildlife. The Sierra Club picked up on that issue, but turned a blind eye to Avila's candidacy. Could it be resentment to the fact that he is also a Captain in the U.S. Army Reserves JAG Corps?
I don't know the answer. But I do hope the environmental lobby pressures Shore and Horton into avoiding cutting any deal with the current powers-that-be at the MWRD. Those powers-that-be need their votes in order to maintain the officer positions on that Board for the coming two years.
Mr. Sherman,
Are you actually claiming that people who support a clean environment hate the U.S. military?
Looks like Shore was the top vote getter in that race, which is quite an accomplishment for a first-timer.
Sketter, I think what Sherman is saying is that he's got personal ties to Avila and he's sorry to see his clout lose. That may have gotten lost in translation.
Shore is a great candidate and it is a great win, BUT she is NOT the only non-incumbent or non-slated candidate to win, her numbers are not that incredible (although it was a low turnout election) Avila Sr. Majewski, Meany, and of course the biggest Patti Young all got more votes than Shore. But more than the Sierra Club, Debra Shore spent MORE than any of the other candidates and spent MORE than anyone in the history of the race. The media gave her some good publicity even maybe exxagerated. Sierra clubs impact on this race was minimum. Money talks.
Sierra Club lost Claypool and got a bad rap with the black voters.
Shore also piggybacked on the African American community (that she has no experience with) with a deal with winner Pat Horton and political mastermiind Senator Ricky Hendon. Congressman Jesse Jackson also did mailings for Shore.
So to portray Shore as this novice independent is not correct. Congressman Jan Shakowsky cut the deals with Jesse Jr. and others and Commissioner Larry Suffredin has other business and political interests.
Now let's see what Debra do for the African American community.
Debra is a fantastic person to have on the board. She will make everyone that voted for her very proud over the next six years she serves. That being said, I was actually disappointed with what the sierra club mobilized on the ground for it's slated canidates. 35 people on election day is dismal at best for major countywide races. I hope they can help organize a bit more in the fall. By the way, I am a sierra club member so I can complain.
1. Randall - We have nothing against Frank Avila, or any of the other candidates, for that matter. None of them are anti-clean water, and most of them, including Avila, as you point out, featured some very good ideas in their platforms. However, only Debra Shore comes from the environmental community, and making her campaign based on that biography.
I also congratulate Terry O'Brien, who has accomplished a lot in his tenure, and Patricia O'Brien. I see no reason why they wouldn't work with Debra to continue the important work of cleaning up the Chicago River and protecting Lake Michigan.
2. Anyonymous - you're right, my bad, Patricia Horton appears to have won the third seat, and she was not slated.
I agree the amount of money she raised for this race was very impressive, but the environmental community was a big part of that.
3. Our endorsements are color-blind. I understand that the racial overtones of the Stroger-Claypool race were unavoidable for many voters, but I hope that most can understand the policy reasons behind our endorsements. If anything, the public opinion data I've seen shows that African-Americans value clean and safe forests preserves as much, if not more than, any other group, so I doubt they would hold a grudge against people fighting for better forest preserves.
Jack
9:43 - We want to be stronger too! Send me an e-mail and maybe you can help us out!
jack.darin@sierraclub.org
Debra Shore campaign was a lot of hype without substance. You cannot get beyond the fact that the Sierra Club ONLY endorsed Claypool and Shore and went so negative on Stroger and did not endorse Avila or any other minority only Shore. The Claypool/Shore ticket was all white even while Shore tried to exploit the African American community. There was no outreach to Hispanics by the anti-immigration Sierra Club.
Debra Shore has a degree in FINE ARTS. She has NO technical or scientific formal or even informal background for the office she was running for. Claypool is a phony reformer and the voters didn;t by his BS. Shore is a self proclaimed environmentalist and the issues she talked about didn't deal with the Sanitary District.
She was the editor of a recreational wildlife magazine and has a background in fine arts and journalism. Avila's father is at least an engineer. Pat O'Brien at least worked on Superfund and has decades at the District. Shore cleaned up some forest preserves and kayaked. The theme was good without substance.
She also has some baggage that did not come out but should have with lesbian sexual harrasment and legal issues when she worked at the BGA.
The Sierra Club did not reach out to other candidates and voters.
All of the 35 volunteers they had on election day were white in lilly white areas. Stroger gave you all a spanking because they rejected the no growth racist, anti-immigration agenda of the tree hugging do nothings.
Randall Sherman supports an agenda of anti-clean water and more pollution. He supports candidates against the environment.
Two of our other priority races Tuesday were David Miller and Marty Sandoval, both of whom won.
Great! I am glad to see that my $25 actually went to elect some Republicans. Sweet...
Dean Maragos will have spent the most money in the MWRD race and didn't break into the double digits.
Marty Sandoval was a priority for the Sierra Club? Sierra Club had not impact in that race. Did you ever hear of HDO's links to Waste Management or Allied? Did you ever go to the 10th ward about HDO deals. Get for real.
Lovie's Leather -
Thanks. We have more R's to help this fall - let me know if you can help!
7:23 - I did not mean to imply we were the major factor in the Sandoval race. However, I think the campaign would tell you that the Senator's work on clean air, and his prior work with USEPA and the MWRD, appeal to voters in both the city and suburban portions of the district who are increasingly concerned about air pollution in particular. I was with Sandoval in February before a packed house of Pilsen residents angry about pollution from the coal plants on the SW side, and the suburban end is home to or near some of the biggest polluters in Illinois.
Did Sierra Club endorse any minority candidates????
12:13 - Minorities we endorsed in the primary include State Rep. David Miller and State Senators Mattie Hunter and Martin Sandoval. We had a relatively small number of total endorsements because we focused on seriously contested races, and did not do Congressional endorsements for the primary. There will be many more in the general election - some of the most reliable votes for clean air and clean water in Springfield and in Washington are minorities. All too often minority communities are exposed to disproportionate levels of pollution.
These were minorities ONLY in minority district NOT countywide or statwewide and ONLY to promote certain candidates. You had opportunities and you missed them.
Part of the reason Claypool lost.
What other candidates would you have suggested Sierra Club endorse that were countywide or statewide?
If you are going to criticize Sierra Club for missing opportunities, you might mention those opportunities--Randall did above and Jack explained why they went with who they did.
Frankly, technical degrees in such positions is often one of the biggest mistake because such people often work in the industry and tend to not to look for new solutions--a good balance is the best idea and Shore has strong credentials.
What exactly are Shore's credentials? Her formal education is in Fine Arts. Her work is in journalism. Environmentalism is not a pastime and not a significant one at that. Her issue of permeable surfaces is more municipal than MWRD. She brought up no other real issues. She has NO experience in waste water treatment.
We missed an opportunity to honor a longtime servant like Jim Harris and someone who really has environmental experience and real estate experience like Barret.
Shore has a nice sounding title but no substance. Good packaging.
Lots of money.
The Sierra Club should not be bragging about supporting HDO candidates, a few votes in the Senate does not compensate for rampant corruption and environmental terror in South Chicago where Victor Reyes is a lobbyist for waste haulers.
6:17 - Jim Harris did not return our questionnaire or respond to an invitation to an interview. Barrett Peterson is not a minority as far as I can tell.
7:22 - We worked for Sandoval, not HDO. We make endorsements based on the candidate's environmental record and positions, not their party, race, political organization, or other association.
I'm not sure what you're alluding to regarding the southeast side, but we have been working with residents in those communities for two decades to shut down those landfills, clean up the toxic waste sites, and protect the wetlands that remain there. I see no conflict with that work and backing a State Senator who stands up for clean air and water in Springfield.
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