McHenry County Blog

Jack Franks

Actually, here is the parting paragraph of an article by JeffMD which shares a prodigious amount of research.

“We’re not winning the 6th, 14th, or 16th anytime soon (unless Dem state Rep. Jack Franks of Marengo runs in the 14th); if we do, jeffmd will uninstall Excel and GIS from his computer and never touch them again.”

Dr. Jeff didn’t mention that Franks did not get his dream base–all of McHenry County.

The new 14th District has Algonquin Township missing.

88,400 people for whom the Northwest Herald has provided uncritical coverage (as far as I can remember).

Guess Franks antagonized House Speaker Mike Madigan.

Jack Franks wants in the worst way to supress the information on this billboard about his lawyers, labor and lobbyist contributors.

Democratic Party State Rep. Jack Franks is doing his best to continue his contrarin ways.

It’s part and parcel of stayin’ alive in McHenry County as a liberal Democrat. It hides his super-pro-abortion twist to please Personal PAC for a potential statewide Democratic Primary election.

It keeps people from noticing that he is in the back pocket of labor and trail lawyers.

So, let’s try to put ourselves in Jack Franks’ head.

When this gets published, the session should be over.

He has burnished his populist credentials by voting against the Com Ed rate hike.

He voted against the Congressional remap that did not give him all of McHenry County as a political base, which he has as  result of the flattering newspaper coverage by the Northwest Herald.

What to do next, that’s the question?

It is my opinion that even without the 88,389 residents in Algonquin Township being placed in the 14th congressional district in which Franks resides, he is still considering running there.

I believe he does not want to run against 8th District Congressman Joe Walsh.  Walsh has a dynamism that Franks cannot begin to approach.

I have no photos of Joe Walsh kissing babies, but he does fine kissing this lady's hand at the Fiesta Days Parade..

But, if Walsh decides to run in the 10th District and 14th District incumbent Randy Hultgren runs unopposed in the 14th, then I think there is better than a 40% chance that Franks will challenge him.

Being in Springfield as long as Franks has been (since 1998) without having any real power except his bully pulpit (which I freely admit he uses well) must be wearing on him.

He must be thinking that it is “up or out” time.  I admit he has more endurance than I had in the 1970′s.  After less than eight years, I made the same decision.  And I wasn’t a millionaire.

Speaking of which, Franks obviously is not staying in office to get a good pension.  While not offering to give up his own, he has advocated abolishing them, not to mention cutting legislators’ salaries.  Easy positions to take for someone so well fixed.

So, what could he do to raise his stature with regard to a congressional race against Hultgren?

Jack Franks is an energic worker of parade crowds. Here at McHenry's Fiesta Days Parade he waves to band members on a stalled fire engine as he runs to crowds on the east side of Route 31.

Jack Franks could sue either independently or, more effectively, with Illinois Republicans to overturn the Congressional map in Federal Court.

Chicago television reporters would be given the opportunity to continue slobbering all over him.  WLS’ Don and Roma could continue interviewing their favorite Democrat (or is that Rod Blagojevich?).  You get the picture.

Jack Franks sits next to a staffer taping Joe Walsh's Shah Center Town Hall Meeting in McHenry.

He would look like a reformer, even if his opposition to the redistricting was out of personal pique as a result of House Speaker Mike Madigan not putting Franks in a congressional district containing all of McHenry County’s population.  That would have given him a base of  over 40% of the 14th congressional district.  That’s a lot better than the 30% of people who have followed his political career for over twelve years that ended up in the Hultgren-Walsh district.

Franks knows how Walsh campaigns.

They’ve been in the same parades.

Both are energetic greeters of the public.

Franks also know how Walsh extemporaneously works a Town Hall Meeting crowed.

He attended with a staffer, sitting in the back row while his employee taped the meeting.

Walsh saw him and invited him to say a few words to the crowd, just as he had with Republican State Senator Pam Althoff when she attended his pre-swearing in Town Hall Meeting at McHenry West High School.

What Franks doesn’t know about Hultgren is that he has been knocking on doors as long as Franks.  He does so as tenaciously as Franks.

Randy Hultgren

In the Republican district that the 14th is, that by no means gives Franks an advantage outside of McHenry County.

And, who knows?

Maybe Hultgren would put up that poster above all over the 14th District.

That might have more impact that the one billboard just south of Woodstock Harley-Davidson on Route 47 when Franks was running against John O’Neill.

Did you know that each congressional district but two in Illinois have 712,813 people?

The other two have 712,812.

The newly-approved congressional map, awaiting Governor Pat Quinn's signature.

So, as far as making them of equal size, Illinois Democrats did a superb job.

The current congressional map for Illinois.

Although the ethnic concentration requirements, which have never held much interest for me, even though they will be the basis of any challenge by Republicans, how the electorate was rearranged does pique my curiosity.

The following table shows this information for each of Illinois’ congressional districts:

Where people were under the 2002 Illinois congressional districts and where they will be starting ni 2012. Click to enlarge.

Let’s take a closer look at the three districts into which McHenry County is or will be.

First, Don Manzullo’s 16th congressional district.  Here’s where the 718,791 people in the current 16th District ended up.

Most remained in the 16th District.

314,072, to be exact.

209,889 were placed in the 17th District.

That’s a district that goes to the Mississippi River hooking around the new 16th District’s north-south portion as it pretty much rings the collar counties from the Wisconsin border on its way to the Indiana border south of Kankakee.

It also hooks around the upper part of the 18th District like a cloud forming into a tornado.

The vast majority live in the City of Rockford.

106,441 were from Alden, Chemung, Coral, Dunham, Grafton,Hartland, Marengo, Nunda, Riley and Seneca Townships in McHenry County.

Basically, the western half of McHenry County, plus Grafton Township and the Crystal Lake part of Nunda Township.

88,389 gave been assigned to the 6th congressional district.

That is the Algonquin Township part of the current 16th District.

They will presumably be represented by Congressman Peter Roskam after the next election.

Congressman Joe Walsh’s current 8th District is split asunder.

104,825 go into the District numbered 6.

That’s the one where House Republican Deputy Whip Peter Roskam now resides.

Most of that population comes from McHenry County’s Algonquin Township, but some is from the lower tiers of townships in southwestern Lake County.

185,195 of the most Democratic parts of the 8th District that could be found were kept in the new 8th District, which is based in Schaumburg, which is no longer the solid Republican territory it was when Don Totten was Republican Township Committeeman.

So the new 8th is less than one-third of the old 8th.

233,771 people in the 8th were assigned to the 10th district.  That’s the part in the upper part of Lake County.  It actually contains Joe Walsh’s Fox Lake congressional office.

Almost as many people–215,049–ended up in the new vertical McHenry-Kane-DuPage County district.  Incumbent 14th District Congressman Randy Hultgren resides just inside its eastern border in DuPage County.  Joe Walsh lives near its northern border–the Wisconsin-Illinois state line, in McHenry.

With more of Joe Walsh’s district’s population going to the new 10th District, which has no resident incumbent, it occurs to me that Walsh might decide to run there, instead of in the 14th.  (The 6th with GOP Leader Peter Roskam in it, is pretty much out of the question, although Walsh has significant connections in the Barrington portion.  That’s where he grew up.)

But, 60% of the voters in the new 10th District were in the old 10th District, which Robert Dold took over from now-U.S. Senator Mark Kirk.

The 431,609 people being carried over from the old 10th District are pretty far from Dold’s home.

As you can see, 1,508 people are shunted to the 14th District.

Finally, let’s take a look at the 14th District.

Randy Hultgren is its congressman and it now butts up against the McHenry-Kane County line.

Similar havoc can be expected in states controlled by Republicans.  See if you can pick them out from the map below, which shows which states got extra congressional seats and which, like Illinois, lost one or more.

The largest portion–293,306 people–are still in the same numbered district.

But 293,306 out of 712,813 is only a bit over 40%.

The next largest contributor of constituents to the 14th District is number 11.   There are 184, 335 from there.

That’s fellow freshman Adam Kinzinger.

The 8th contributes 93,602 from McHenry County.

88,879 come from Congressman Don Manzullo’s district, also primarily from McHenry County.

Finally, 33,641 are now represented by freshman Bobby Schilling.

States who won and lost the population game.

Joe Walsh on ABC News telling high school students the same thing he tells adults.

In the Elgin House Reapportionment Committee hearing on April 28 , 2011, a member of the Schaumburg Area Democratic Organization called for the elimination of the 8th Congressional District.

Roger Bianco thinks this would result in “a more representative form of government.

You can read why below:

MR. BIANCO: My name is Roger Bianco. It’s R-o-g-e-r, B-i-a-n-c-o. I’m a resident of Elk Grove Village living in the Schaumburg Township.

As a matter of full disclosure, I am a member of the Schaumburg Area Democratic Organization. I’m the deputy committeeman and a member of the board of that organization…

As a suggestion and as our concern as an organization, our concern lies mainly with the congressional districts; that is, the 8th Congressional District. [Congressman Joe Walsh's] And what we would like to see done is the following or at least propose this as a solution.

And this might catch a lot of people by surprise, but essentially, we would like to see the elimination of the 8th Congressional District and combine that with the 9th Congressional District.

We would like to see the top northeast portion of the current 8th Congressional District moved into the 10th Congressional District [Robert Dold's].

We would like to see the taking of the top northwestern portion of the 8th Congressional District and combine that with the 16th Congressional District [Don Manzullo's].

The current Congressional map for Northern Illinois. Click to enlarge.

We would like to see taking the 8th Congressional– I’m sorry, the eastern portion of the 14th Congressional District [Randy Hultgren's] and move that into the new 8th Congressional District, and move the northeastern and northwestern spurs –

There’s two areas that spur up on the 6th Congressional District [Peter Roskam's] and have them moved into the 9th Congressional District [Jan Schakowsky's].

The current Congressional map for District 8, plus surrounding areas.

This is all based on statistical and demographic information that we have researched and looked at.

All that basically means is that we feel that this will result in a more
representative form of government. It will allow all people of all demographic makeups.

It’s welcoming the southeast Asian, Indian and Hispanic/Latino communities into our districts.

We feel that this truly represents –

We come from a district that has had some very close racism. We think that this makeup will continue to make close racism.

And by close racism, we have had, in the last election, hundreds of people and differences in votes that significantly lead to one vote per person and we would like to see that continue. That represents an equal balance.

= = = = =
Maybe someone can explain what “close racism” is.

Their districts are adjacent, but neither Democrat wants to be know as a Democrat and neither is willing to say whether or not he will vote for their incumbent House Speaker. Below you will hear Bill Foster dodging and ducking.

Here’s the article about Jack Franks refusing to return the Tribune’s John Kass’ phone call asking who he will support for House Speaker.

Fortunately, both Bill Foster and Jack Franks have Republican opponents who won’t vote to retain the respective Democratic Party House Speakers, Nancy Pelosi and Mike Madigan.

They are Randy Hultgren and John O’Neill.

The short answer is, of course, Republican Randy Hultgren is giving incumbent 14th District Democrat a real run for his money.

The other answer might be Bill Foster’s record.

Take a look.

Melissa Bean

This should be no surprise if you follow politics and know how liberal the Daily Herald’s current editors are.

But the rationalization for the Daily Herald endorsing Democrat Melissa Bean is a whopper. Here it is:

Bean “is unafraid to vote against the party line.”

I guess being a deciding vote for Obamacare to mess up our health care system and not offering a single compromise to attract a single Republican vote was what the Daily Herald was thinking of.

Or Bean’s spendaholic stimulus vote that was all Democrat.

Newspapers trying to keep failed liberal politicians in office is one of the reasons Illinois remains so corrupt.

Consistent with “Let’s keep Democrat Liberals in Office” the Daily Herald endorsed liberal Democrat Bill Foster.

As a practical matter the Daily Herald isn’t going to endorse a conservative for the U.S. House if they think he or she has a good chance to win.

Of course the Daily Herald also endorsed liberal Democrat Dan Seals for the U.S. House.

• Bean - Liberal Democrat – Endorsed by Daily Herald
• Foster – Liberal Democrat – Endorsed by Daily Herald
• Seals – Liberal Democrat – Endorsed by Daily Herald

See any pattern?

I guess we are supposed to be thrown off their scent by the Daily Herald endorsing Republican Bill Brady for Governor.

Endorsing Captain Pudding Head was probably too embarrassing.

See also:

Daily Herald Tries to Cover Rear End on Joe Walsh

Randy Hultgren

Here’s the press release:

Randy Hultgren Up By Six

ST. CHARLES – The Randy Hultgren for Congress campaign issued the following statement from campaign manager John Cooney regarding new poll numbers.

“For months, Bill Foster has tried to run from his record of lockstep support for Nancy Pelosi’s disastrous agenda.

Instead of trying to defend his votes for the failed stimulus, Wall Street bailouts and nationalized health care, Bill Foster instead has polluted the airwaves with lies about Randy Hultgren. Bill Foster’s desperate and negative attacks have failed to fool Illinois voters.

Despite weeks of negative attacks and distortions, Randy Hultgren now enjoys his largest lead in this race, and is poised to defeat Bill Foster in November.

Illinois voters do not want a Congressman who votes in lockstep with Nancy Pelosi and the Democrat Congress. They are ready for real leadership in Washington.”

Apparently stung by charges levied in a television ad by his opponent Bill Foster, the incumbent Democratic Party congressman, challenger Randy Hultgren has issued the following statement:

BILL FOSTER IS LYING

Randy Hultgren

By now you may have seen the malicious and utterly false ads from my opponent, Democrat Congressman Bill Foster.

His allegations against me are not true.

Frankly, he is lying about my employment.

With his millions of campaign dollars, Bill Foster hopes he can fool you into believing a lie.

I do not and have not sold or benefited from the sale of toxic assets. I have not been involved in transactions with sub-prime mortgages or benefited from the massive government bailouts that Bill Foster has championed.

I was against government bailouts yesterday, I am against bailouts today, and I will be against government bailouts tomorrow.

The truth is, I am proud to work for a local company that’s providing investment advice to families and is employing many who reside here in our community.

So why is Bill Foster doing this?

Clearly he does not want this election to be about his record or about our values and vision for the future. He has made the decision to disregard his own constituents and has voted with Nancy Pelosi a mind-boggling 92.5 percent of the time!

Bill Foster is desperate to retain his seat in Congress. It did not take him long to adopt the Washington insider view that it’s ok to say and do anything to get reelected.  I hope Bill Foster will make an attempt to regain his integrity in the days that remain in this campaign, by focusing on the issues and his record.

Many of our neighbors are suffering in this recession. That suffering has been prolonged by Bill Foster’s job killing policies and reckless spending.

I believe the true priorities of this campaign are getting our friends, family and neighbors working again by creating an economic climate that encourages job creation. That’s what we ought to be talking about in this campaign, and that is what I intend to continue talking about.

Thank you for everything you’re doing, and for your ongoing support. If you have any questions, please let me know.

Best regards,

RANDY HULTGREN
Candidate for Congress

Randy Hultgren

The following email was received from State Senator Randy Hultgren’s campaign:

FOSTER’S DESPERATION

• Trailing 10% among independent voters and
• having voted with Nancy Pelosi 93% of the time in support of bailouts, failed stimulus, crippling regulations on small-business and the government takeover of health care,

Congressman (Bill) Foster just decided his last resort is to distort Randy’s record with a deceitful new television ad.

Many of you have expressed alarm that Congressman Foster would resort to such shameful tactics, and we agree.

The bottom line is Randy has an exceptional record as a proven leader in fighting for lower taxes. But don’t take my word for it, here’s what Jim Tobin, President of National Taxpayers United of Illinois and Tax Accountability, has to say:

“Randy Hultgren has a proven record of voting for lower taxes, smaller government, and greater accountability… which has earned him our taxpayer’s friend award six years in a row.”

“For a tax-and-spend liberal like Bill Foster to attack a committed tax-cutter like Randy Hultgren is the height of desperation. Bill Foster has voted for higher taxes at almost every opportunity – that’s why he’s received a lifetime rating of 14 percent from the National Taxpayers Union. Randy Hultgren has consistently been a champion of Illinois taxpayers and pro-growth policies; for Bill Foster to suggest otherwise is ridiculous.”

If you’re tired of these deceitful and negative attacks, here’s what you can do to help:

1. Come walk precincts with us THIS SATURDAY. Contact our precinct squad leader Scott; you can email him here: scott@hultgrenforcongress.com
2. Volunteer for a 2 hour shift at our Victory Center. Call Rose, our Volunteer Coordinator at 630-609-0016

And, if you can afford it, make another contribution. $100, $50, $25, $10, or $5 will make a big difference. Remember, Congressman Foster has raised hundreds of thousands of dollars from lobbyists and out of state donors; but we’re counting on the support of local people here in our community.

As always, thank you for your continued support.

Best regards,

MISCHA FISHER
Political Director | Hultgren For Congress

= = = = =
Hultgren’s district is just south of the McHenry County line.