The Chicago Tribune has released it endorsements for McHenry County posts.
You can read them below:
This photo will apparently appear on tomorrow’s Chicago Tribune editorial page.
Board Chairman: This is the first time voters will elect the McHenry County Board chairman instead of having board members choose their own leader. The voters would do well to keep the one they have. Republican Joseph “Joe” Gottemoller of Crystal Lake says he has reduced the county’s head count since he became chairman in 2014.
He pushed for a comprehensive economic study and stresses economic development and expanding efforts to retain and grow more businesses. His opponent in the primary is Michael J. Walkup, a County Board member, organic farmer and Crystal Lake attorney. We admire Walkup’s efforts to consolidate township governments and urge Gottemoller to embrace it.
State’s Attorney: We were bracing for another bare-knuckles political brawl in McHenry County when incumbent State’s Attorney Louis Bianchi suddenly dropped out of the Republican primary race for personal reasons. We got the brawl anyway after Bianchi endorsed one of his top deputies, Patrick D. Kenneally of Crystal Lake. Kenneally’s opponent is Daniel J. Regna of Woodstock, another former McHenry County prosecutor who ran against Bianchi in 2008 and now is in private practice. Both have strong legal experience. Kenneally pledges to step up a campaign to attack heroin use in the county and to continue to work with local law enforcement agencies to crack down on repeat DUI offenders. He also promises to reorganize the office to put more prosecutors in felony courtrooms. Kenneally is endorsed.
Recorder: Longtime incumbent Phyllis Walters is stepping down and three candidates are vying for her job in the Republican primary. Only one, Joe Tirio of Woodstock, pledges to eliminate the office before the end of his term. Tirio wants to fold the recorder’s office into the clerk’s office and save taxpayers big money. Tirio, who owns Monarch Senior Care Inc., which provides in-home care for seniors, faces Tina R. Hill, a McHenry County Board member from Woodstock, and Joni Smith, of Crystal Lake, currently a supervisor in the recorder’s office. Tirio is endorsed.
Judge of the Circuit Court: Judge James S. Cowlin was chosen by the Illinois Supreme Court to fill the unexpired term of Judge J. Gordon Graham, who retired in September. Cowlin, a third-generation McHenry County judge, had been an associate judge since 2007. He’s endorsed in the Republican primary over Demetri Tsilimigras, a 17-year prosecutor who has been deputy chief of the state’s attorney’s Criminal Division for eight years.
IT’S A CONSPIRACY AGAINST DEMETRI!!!11!!1!!!
(There, I saved all of you cheerleaders the effort.)
Dear Boethius:
First, let me say I appreciate your choice of a nom de Web.
Now, to the point, I will ignore your bombast and make a simple statement: I see facts in the Tribune’s endorsement of Cowlin; I see no reasoning.
No Boethius, it just means that everyone is laughing at you because of your childish behavior.
Right you are Steve Wilson, there is no reasoning behind the endorsement of Cowlin.
The best thing that could happen to McHenry County is that Judge James Cowlin RESIGN!
They endorsed Cowlin because of his previous hard hitting legal issues he had before being voted by the good old boy club, divorce and real estate lawyer!
LOL
Live, the Tribune doesn’t have all of the facts on Cowlin, or they had the information and chose to ignore it…lol…
Kind of like what was alleged in Cowlin’s courtroom, that either he doesn’t know the law or he chooses to ignore it.
Well now we know who Cook County wants.
Chasing these newspaper endorsements is ridiculous.
They are completely subjective, more often than not, biased, and always meaningless.
Candidates chasing subjective endorsements such as these is just a first step in the bastardization of the entire political process.
Each newspaper provides lengthy, essay style questionnaires to all candidates.
The candidates have an opportunity to answer these questions and have their thoughts, views and positions made public in a completely objective, unbiased, unbastardized way.
From there the news publications should report this information to the public. Period.
To pander to these interview boards, seeking their approval/endorsement without knowing anything of those doing the interviewing… Without knowing their personalities and principles… Without knowing their political views or paradigms… or what agendas they may have- in hopes of getting their endorsement, indicates a somewhat subservient, dependent character.
If you do not know the principles, views out political paradigm of a someone, why would you blindly ask for their public stamp of approval?