McHenry County Blog

Rep. Jack Franks supported and endorsed Governor Quinn’s primary opponent Comptroller Dan Hynes.

Quinn wasn’t enough of the organization Democrat he goes fishing with in Canada, I guess.

Too unpredictable.

So, it shouldn’t be a big surprise that Franks is not a political fan of Quinn.

But Quinn heads the Democrat ticket. A kick at Quinn doesn’t help the undercard of Dem candidates.

Franks is wildly trying to get any publicity to show he isn’t the liberal Democrat that he really is.

On Sunday morning’s Fox channel television show Franks decided to give Quinn a huge political kick to make himself sound unlike one of the Dems that drove Illinois broke.

Franks outright said Quinn wasn’t competent. To make sure no one can misunderstand Franks, he said:

“He’s frankly not been competent.”

This is after saying this about Quinn:

“He is an honest Governor.”

Franks later tries to pull the wool over viewers’ eyes with this one:

“What’s the difference with the parties in the State of Illinois. I can’t tell the difference.”

On difference is that Republican candidates for the legislature are not running away from their gubernatorial candidate.

Why denounce Quinn, but not Rod Blagojevich in 2002 ans 2006?

That’s a pregnant question, isn’t it?

What Franks doesn’t want voters to get is how the Democrats have held all of the political power in Illinois for eight years and this is their mess.

Franks included.

If Quinn is so honest, then why did his chief of staff who just resign?  Engaging in political activities while on the job may meet Franks’ interpretation of “honest.”

Franks is trying to position himself for the next election, possibly running for U.S. Congressman representing all of McHenry County in a newly-drawn district.

If he has to give Quinn a kick in the political not-competent groin, he couldn’t care.

He’s trying to build an image with voters as not being part of the last twelve years as a Dem State Rep driving Illinois broke.

He’s betting image will trump facts.

A lesson learned from Blago.

Franks is trying to win big in this election and somehow prove he is different than all of the other Dems across Illinois.

You can hear Franks’ not competent remark at about 4 minutes into playing this link.

Dems who stand near Jack Franks need to watch out for being thrown under the nearest moving bus.

Why do local Democrats need enemies when they can have a friend like Franks?

It’s possible if Democrats get severely trounced that Franks may make the argument he can do a better job of leading his party in Springfield.

Quinn, Madigan, does anybody think Franks cares about who he throws under the bus?

A real team Dem, oops, me kind of guy.

It says a lot about how much trust anybody beyond immediate family should put into Franks.

For anyone watching Franks’ attack on Quinn, Franks didn’t back up his opinion with any facts.

He went for the jugular with an immediate here’s your-throat-is-sliced conclusion.

Will Franks now follow the example of Democratic Party Sheriff Art Tyrell and become Chairman of Democrats for Bill Brady? Tyrell, elected in 1970, was Chairman of Democrats for Dick Ogilvie for Governor in 1972 when I first ran for state representative.

With Democratic Party State Representative Jack Franks’s support, State Comptroller is edging out Governor Pat Quinn in McHenry County.

Caution is urged in viewing these numbers because the early and absentee votes have not yet been added.

Mike Tryon

Happened upon the endorsement of State Senator Kirk Dillard by Crystal Lake’s State Rep. Mike Tryon.

If anything has been made of it, except listing it on Dillard’s web site in a press release announcing that the Sangamon County Republican Party (can’t get much more Establishment than that) was endorsing Kirk, I’ve missed it.

Also listed there is Family PAC right next to the Illinois Education Association. That’s the first time I’ve seen those ideological opponents on the same page.

Found Irene Napier of McHenry County Right to Life, as well. She attended State Senator Pam Althoff’s breakfast at 1776 for Dillard.

McHenry County Treasurer Bill LeFew has signed up, too.

Jack Franks

And, on Pete Gonigam’s First Electric Newspaper, I discovered that Democratic Party State Rep. Jack Franks supports State Comptroller Dan Hynes for governor.

No big surprise there.

Franks was willing to hold hearings on Governor Pat Quinn’s “Catch and Release” prisoner program.

Some call it by the “Revolving Door.”

If you looked at the front page of the Chicago Tribune Sunday, you saw five candidates on top of the page.

They are ones that the Tribune’s poll found leading in both the Democratic and Republican Party primaries.

It was Pat Quinn and Dan Hynes for the Democrats. In that race, the Tribune endorsed no one.

In the GOP contest, the heads of Andy McKenna, Jim Ryan and Kirk Dillard appear. The Tribune has endorsed McKenna.

Maybe the supporters of a GOP candidate not in the top three (and who found less than 10% support in the Tribune poll) can surpass the three front-runners.

But, I don’t think it will happen.

If my analysis is correct, people who want to play a role in the decision-making process regarding who the Republicans put up in November have to select among McKenna, Ryan and Dillard.

Having run against Ryan (and Rod Blagojevich) as the Libertarian Party candidate for governor in 2002, I have seen him cozy up to Blagojevich to make sure I was not allowed to be any of the debates.

(If you are interested in the details, here they are.  The Illinois League of Women Voters had sponsored debates for each statewide race for decades.  in 2002, the League said everyone would be include who received at least 5% in an independent poll.  The Daily Southtown, a newspaper, showed me slightly above 5% prior to the League’s deadline.  Ryan and Blagojevich decided not to participate in that debate.  For that reason, I know that Ryan is capable of cutting deals with Democrats when it is in his personal self-interest.)

Then, there is Stuart Levin, Ryan’s law school study partner, long-time supporter and largest lifetime contributor.  To say that that relationship is a problem strikes me as something of an understatement.

It’s not that I think Jim Ryan is dishonest.  It’s not that I think he knew his friend was a crook.

It’s that I know how large contributors often get rewarded.

If Levine had asked Governor Jim Ryan to appoint him to the Illinois Health Facilities Planning Board, I think Ryan would have appointed him.  (Levine was involved in the licensing scandal involving the Mercy Health System hospital application in Crystal Lake.)

If Levine had asked Governor Jim Ryan to appoint him to the Downstate Teachers’ Retirement System board, I think Ryan would have appointed him.

After all, Levine contributed over $800,000 over Ryan’s career and he trusted Levine.

Therein is the problem.  Levine would have been right where he was when he committed felonious acts during the Blagojevich administration.

So, here’s the question I ask of Jim Ryan supporters:

If Jim Ryan had been elected in 2002, how much less corrupt would his administration have been than Rod Blagojevich’s?

Certainly somewhat less corrupt.  As I said before, no one thinks Jim Ryan is a dishonest man.

But his level of discernment about the motives of this man he had known all of his adult live was subpar, to put it as mildly as possible.

And, that doesn’t get into substantive issues like gun control.  Ryan would never win the support of fans of the movie “Red Dawn.”  I know.  He wouldn’t appear on the DeKalb radio station in a forum about gun control when he learned I was in the studio.

That leaves two candidates:

• Kirk Dillard
• Andy McKenna

I can enthusiastically support whichever one wins the primary.

However, Dillard has one vote that is just horrible, in my opinion.

It is his vote to triple suburban collar county RTA sales taxes.

To solve DuPage County budget problem, DuPage County Board President Bob Schillerstrom and State’s Attorney Joe Birkett successfully prevailed upon Dillard and two other DuPage County state senators to vote for what National Taxpayers United of Illinois’ Jim Tobin calls the “CTA bailout.”

Kirk Dillard

It was that, but it was also a bailout of DuPage County because, contrary to the first suburban “bribe” plan–allowing the collar county boards to spend one-quarter of one percent of the three-quarters of one percentage point increase on roads–after the DuPage County officials got involved, it could be spent on transportation or law enforcement. DuPage County had a referendum on the ballot at the time to raise the sales tax of law enforcement purposes, but, hey, if you can get your state senators to take the heat, why bother the voters.

Not only did Dillard’s vote raise our taxes, it rendered asunder the suburban bipartisan coalition on the Regional Transportation Authority put together in 1974. I can only remember a couple suburban legislators who voted for RTA who got re-elected. (Both the Republican Senate and House bill sponsors were defeated.) I guess I take that a bit personally.

Other than that, I find his and McKenna’s positions fairly similar, except that Dillard has not taken a no tax increase pledge and McKenna has. (I have to admit that having the Illinois Education Association, surely an income tax hike organization, endorse Dillard raises my eyebrows.)

Andy McKenna

One more thing about McKenna.  At the GOP convention in Decatur, he heatedly criticized DuPage County Board Chairman Bob Schillerstrom, who just withdrew his name from consideration as a candidate for governor (but who will still be on the ballot) about his lobbying DuPage County state senators to triple the RTA sales tax.

Only State Senators Carol Pankau (now a candidate for DuPage County Board President) and Randy Hultgren (now running for Congress in Kane County and more) voted against the 300% increase in the RTA sales tax.

How hot was the criticism?

Most of the DuPage County delegation walked off the convention floor.

In addition, taking on Thompson’s continuing show of support of incarcerated former Republican Governor George Ryan, McKenna said,

“It disappoints me with a former governor lobbies the president to pardon a former governor.”

So, which of the top three are you leaning toward?

Kirk Dillard

Andy McKenna

As I suggested after I got Mary Pat’s call on behalf of Andy McKenna earlier today, the race for the Republican nomination for governor has narrowed down to three candidates:

• Andy McKenna – 19%
• Jim Ryan – 18%
• Kirk Dillard – 14%

The Tribune’s Eric Zorn is reporting the results seen above.

17% reported still being undecided.

Among those with less than 10%, here are the results:

• Bill Brady – 9%
• Adam Andrzejewski – 7%
• Dan Proft – 6%

Bob Schillerstrom had 2%, but he dropped out in favor of Jim Ryan today.

In the Democratic Party primary, Zorn reports

• Pat Quinn – 44%
• Dan Hynes – 40%

As Zorn puts it,

“Game on.”

In the governor’s race, here are the figures offered up by Adrian G. Uribarri in Chicago Current:

• Pat Quinn: $3.15 million in receipts, $2.36 million in expenditures and $1.5 million in available funds at the close of the period
• Dan Hynes: $2.32 million, $2.75 million, $3.1 million
• Andy McKenna: $2.23 million, $2.17 million, $63,500
• Kirk Dillard: $1.4 million, $1 million, $369,000
• Adam Andrzejewski, Republican: $752,000, $775,00, $334,000
• Bob Schillerstrom, Republican: $661,000, $674,000, $120,000
• Bill Brady, Republican: $443,000, $662,000, $192,000
• Jim Ryan: $313,000, $123,000, $190,000
• Dan Proft: $169,000, $135,000, $51,300
• Rich Whitney, Green: $6,120, $6,260, $2,570

He has an analysis in his article.

That’s what the new 15-second TV ad from opponent Dan Hynes says.

I don’t think it’s as good as the Willie Horton ad I posted in my January 1st article

“Catch and Release” Program Dooms Pat Quinn’s Election Chances

But it will do until Republican ad wizards get a crack.

Of course, Hynes may win and not give the GOP a crack.

As I mentioned earlier reporting on the Chicago Sun-Times endorsement of Kirk Dillard, Republican gubernatorial candidate Andy McKenna was endorsed by the Chicago Tribune on Sunday. Strangely, the endorsement appears online on Friday.

On the same editorial page, was a non-endorsement for the two candidate for the Democratic Party nomination. The piece is mainly a lament for Pat Quinn’s having not lived up to expectations raised by a lifetime of attacking the establishment.

Dan Hynes disappointed the editorial board for not being willing to reduce pension benefits for FUTURE employees.

Go figure, with the pension debt facing taxpayers.

(And, of course, I have a continuing interest in my pension to be paid. Again, I thank taxpayers for the opportunity to serve them as state representative fo sixteen years and county treasurer for four.)

Never let it be said that McHenry County’s State Representative Jack Franks (D-Marengo) doesn’t have a good eye for what will attract media attention.

Think of his four-year fight to get cheaper prescription drugs for seniors.

Think of his many attacks on and early call for Rod Blagojevich’s impeachment after Franks’ initial attempt to get relatives and supporters appointed to various positions and Blagojevich’s release thereafter of that memo and a letter of support for licensing the Crystal Lake Mercy Hospital when the Stuart Levine scandal broke.

Now Franks has decided to take on another story with “legs,” as the media folks would say:

Pat Quinn’s botching of early release of prisoners

How many legs?

I think it dooms Quinn’s election chances in the fall, if not the primary.

Here are a week’s Chicago Sun-Times and Tribune editorials on the subject (click to enlarge).

And, take a look at what is on page 2 of the Chicago Sun-Times today.  Obviously there is plenty of potential publicity out there.

Jack doesn’t talk to me anymore at anything but public events, so let me offer my advice here.

Mruder-Related Convicts Released Early

Call Bill Bradly as your first witness.According to a WBBM-Radio story yesterday, the Republican state senator and candidate for the Republican Party nomination for governor has first-hand information from the Department of Corrections Director that Quinn made the decision about early release.

By putting Brady first, you would be providing some cover to what might be the real reason for your interest in this issue, getting State Comptroller Dan Hynes. (Pardon me if I think you are supporting him based on nothing more than the signs for Hynes that appear heavily in the Marengo area in his previous runs for office. If you are supporting Quinn, I would be happy to relay that information to McHenry County Blog readers.)

From the photos of “murder-related convicts released early” found on page 3 of today’s Sun-Times, there is a lot of potential.

At some point, someone might also want to look at sex offenders who were nnot released early under Governor George Ryan. Sometime after the Democrats took control, they started getting to use their “good time” to get out earlier.

Already Hynes is running his version of the Willie Horton ad on TV.

Hostile hearings chaired by Franks would have a re-enforcing effect.

The big news in the Northwest Herald Sunday was that State Representative Jack Franks was not going to run for governor.

He had been teasing the media that he might make such a run for a long time, gathering about a million dollars of mainly family money into his campaign fund to generate a July publicity push.

He was getting mentioned into late August. But not so much after State Comptroller Dan Hynes entered the race against appointed Governor Pat Quinn.

He said he would decide by Labor Day.

But didn’t.

Instead he went to Ireland with the two guys who will have the most to say about reapportionment for Congress for the 2012 election.

And, Sunday the big news was Franks’ congressional ambitions, about how he’d like to have McHenry County all be in one congressional district, which, I would point out, it would come close to dominating.

And, in order to wait for that, he would run for state representative again.

Which brings us to the question about his run for governor:

“If a tree falls in a forest and no one is around to hear it, does it make a sound?“

So, I anxiously watched to see if any of the statewide media would report that Franks was not running for governor.

Last night, I typed “Jack Franks, governor” into Google’s news search engine and set it to be from newest to oldest story.

I discovered that only one paper had written a story besides the Northwest Herald. That was the Galesburg Register-Mail. The story appeared on its web site Tuesday night at about 6 P.M.

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The cartoon of Jack Franks wearing a cook’s hat is from his invitation to his Bull Valley Country Club breakfast on October 3rd.