Going through some old campaign literatue, I found the following mailing from Nancy Zettler, Democratic Paerty candidate for the State Senste against appointed Republican Don DeWitte:
The vote will determine whether her predictive talent was correct.
He was appointed to replace Karen McConnaughay right?
Both Kane County and McHenry County Republican chairs exclusively make that pick.
The Kane County Republican Party is run by Len Shepro.
The McHenry County Republican Party is run by Diane Evertsen.
Primaries let the people decide.
Appointments give the power to insiders.
“Insider”, yes, State Senator Don DeWitte was appointed to replace State Senator Karen McConnaughay for her unexpired term in the 100th General Assembly, and to replace McConnaughay on the 2018 general election ballot.
This write-up below from someone who witnessed the entire process for appointing McConnaughay’s replacement reveals a very thorough vetting of the 6 applicants for the appointment, which included DeWitte, McHenry County Board Member Carolyn Schofield, then-Deputy (and now replacement) State Central Committeeman Laura Pollastrini, then-State Representative Steve Andersson and current State Representative Allen Skillicorn.
This was not the appointment process used in the late 1990s to replace resigning State Representative Anne Hughes that was billed to be “open”, but from the start appointed the insider to replace Hughes.
The result was 8 terms of Jack Franks representing the 63rd district, and now he’s the McHenry County Board Chairman.
See the below link to see how a 7th applicant tried the insider’s route to the state senate, and Kane County Republican Chairman Ken Shepro stopped him cold:
https://thefirstward.net/2018/08/01/quick-hits-anatomy-of-a-state-senate-appointment
Does the mailer indicate who paid for it (Zettler PAC?) and who paid for the postage (i.e Breaker Press)?
The link proides a good explanation of the appointment process to replace state Senator Karen McConnaughay.
The only element missing is that the Kane County GOP Chairman had the votes to select anyone he wished.
Concurence by McHenry County GOP Chairman Diane Evertsen basically meant nothing but a show of party unity.
Cal, you are right.
He did not mention the fact the Kane County Republican chairman held the deciding vote and he could have made the decision with zero input from the McHenry County Republican chairman.
That said, based on the article in the link, I do not believe Kane GOP chairman made a unilateral decision, and he genuinely wanted to work with his counterpart and make the right decision.
Given how the only McHenry County applicant was thoroughly vetted and dismantled by her voting record, though the article didn’t say it, I think the McHenry County GOP chairman did the bulk of that vetting.
One area where Kane GOP chairman acted unilaterally was how he dealt with the “7th” person who wanted to be the state senate appointee.
From the article, it sounds like the Kane GOP chairman told the “7th” guy what he could go do with himself, and the fact he shared this with the blogger, someone he is not that close with, showed how swiftly he quashed that attempted insider power play.
Kane County Republican Chairman Ken Shepro should definitely be commended for that.
Cal, would you agree that what happened last summer for the 33rd state senate appointment was far more superior to the Hughes vacancy in the 63rd district and the appointment process that happened in the late 1990s?
Indeed.