McHenry County Blog

Low rollers are invited to Algonquin’s Port Edward Monday night for a $55 fund raiserfor the McHenry County Republican Party.

High rollers are invited to October 24th dinner at Crystal Lake’s 1776.

Both the local Republican Party Chairman’s Circle Political Action Committee and the House Republican Organization will benefit from $150 a person event.

It’s being called a “Whiskey Tasting and Dinner.”

The money raised will go to help oust Mike Madigan from his Speaker-for-Life post and toward the Victory 2012 campaign effort.

Surf and turf, the invitation says.

He has no opponent, but State Rep. Mike Tryon is holding his annual fund fish boil fund raiser on August 1st at Huntley’s Parkside Pub.

The price is $40.

The details of the event are in the flyer seen below:

If you are wondering why a State Representative without an opponent needs money, perhaps the $2,500 contribution to the House Republican Organization might provide something of an explanation.

As I have explained before, Republican House leaders expect large contributions from members. The higher the position with the party hierarchy, the more money is expected.

Mike Tryon is expected to pony us $10,000 a year.

For those who want to take out Mike Madigan from the House Speakership, it has to be realized that Republican candidates in districts where Republicans might defeat an incumbent Democrat that there is not a tradition of giving money to Republican legislative candidates.

That means to have a chance of winning, money must come from somewhere else.

McHenry County is one of those “somewhere elses.”

If you would like to see how Tryon spent his money, campaign contributions for the first quarter of the year (the quarter with the primary election) here and in the second quarter Tryon gave $500 to Ken Koehler’s campaign.

Other itemized (over $150) expenditures can be found here for the first quarter of 2012 and here for the second quarter of the year.

Multiple sources have contacted McHenry County Blog with the news that State Rep. Mark Beaubien’s widow Dee is telling people she is running for State Representative against Republican winner Dave McSweeney.

“There’s no doubt that she’s running,” one source who wished to remain anonymous said.

Whether she will run as an independent or a Democrat or on a specially-created third party has not yet been ascertained.

What is known is that Terry Cosgrove’s pro-abortion Political Action Committee, Personal PAC (the one that engineered my defeat in the 2002 GOP primary) will be the force behind Dee Beaubien’s campaign.

McSweeney is strongly Pro-Life.

The incoming Chairman of the House Republican Organization, State Rep. Ed Sullivan, wrote,

“I just wanted you to know on the record coming from the new Chairman of HRO that Tom Cross and HRO will be 100% with David McSweeney.”

Sullivan represents the eastern half of State Senator Dan Duffy’s district, while McSweeney is the Republican candidate in the western half.

Duffy has also drawn a female opponent backed by Personal PAC.

“I completely support David McSweeney, but I’m confused at Dee Beaubien’s entry into the race.

“If Dee Beaubien were interested in the race, why didn’t she run in the Republican primary, unless, of course, she’s not really a Republican as she as portrayed herself to be.”

The Beaubien campaign fund had $17,600 in it, as of the end of 2011.

During the last quarter of 2011, the fund made the following contributions:

• McHenry County Chairman’s Circle (controlled by Mike Tryon) – $500.00
• Committee to Elect Michelle Schurman, Mt. Carroll – $500
• Friends of Kay Hatcher (endorsed by Personal PAC) – $250
• Nunda Township Republican Central Committee – $250
• Citizens for Bryan Winter – $200

Since her husband’s death last June the Political Action Committee or Dee personally has made the following contributions:

• 11-7-11 Personal PAC – $600
• 10-14-11 Citizens to Re-Elect Bob Miller – $600
• 9-22-11 Personal PAC – $800
• 8-29-11 Citizens for Kent Gaffney – $8,381.65
• 8-24-11 Citizens for Kent Gaffney – $4,000
• 8-1-11 Personal PAC – $8,000

It’s not like some Republican state representative campaigns have seen, but over $35,000 coming into a campaign where his opponent millionaire Jack Franks spent more on White Sox tickets than Republican John O’Neill raised during the first half of the year is big news to the challenger.

The most interesting is from Two Party System, Inc. $22,353,66 in all, all in-kind donations:

• $18,480.78 – Pro Rata share of Staff Time for Telephone Services and Supporting Technology Two Party System, Inc.
• $2,316.88 – Telephone Services and Supporting Technology Callfire.com
• $1,515 – Campaign Database Software Trail Blazer Campaign Services, Inc.
• $41 – Mileage for Kristina Keats

And $5,653.52 from the House Republican Organization. The $653.52 was a poll, the rest in cash.

$5,000 came last week from Jack Roeser’s Republican Renaissance PAC.

Transferred from the McHenry Township Republican Team Fund was $1,500, plus $500 from McHenry County Republican Chairman and State Representative Mike Tryon and $200 from State Senator Dan Duffy.

Other sources giving more that $150 are

• $450 – Kathleen Kuchta
• $200 – Joe and Mary Alger
• $200 – Maureen and Daniel Stephan

$33,452.18 in all.

Plus a lot of sweat equity on O’Neill’s and his volunteers’ part.

O’Neill is the first Republican in six years to challenge incumbent Democrat Jack Franks.

And Franks is so concerned about the Democratic Party label that his first mail piece made him out to be an independent, not a guy who asked Rod Blagojevich to appoint his friends and family to jobs and commissions.

There is a $125 fund raiser on June 29th at Rocks Bar & Grill, located across from1776.

State Rep. Mike Tryon is sponsoring it.

Co-Hosts are former Illinois and McHenry County Republican Party Chairman Al Jourdan and Engineer John Smith.

Cocktails and appetizers at 5; dinner at 6.

House Minority Leader Tom Cross and former U.S. House Speaker Dennis Hastert will be in attendance.  Hastert is the longest serving Republican House Speaker in American history.

I don’t cover too much of what is going on, but the man who was elected to the Illinois House when I decided to run for State Comptroller in 1982, Ron Wait, is being challenged for the second time by the former Winnebago County Democratic Party Chairman Greg Tuite.

It’s a TV market, so costly.

When I was running for state rep. in 1983 before I got recruited by Governor Jim Thompson to run for State Comptroller against Roland Burris, the district stretched all the way from Woodstock to Rockford.

In addition to the cash, it appears that two staffers have been assigned to the race–Garret Hill and GM Anderson, not to mention TV ad production money, polling and advocacy calling.

I don’t cover too much of what is going on, but the man who was elected to the Illinois House when I decided to run for State Comptroller in 1982, Ron Wait, is being challenged for the second time by the former Winnebago County Democratic Party Chairman Greg Tuite.

It’s a TV market, so costly.

When I was running for state rep. in 1983 before I got recruited by Governor Jim Thompson to run for State Comptroller against Roland Burris, the district stretched all the way from Woodstock to Rockford.

In addition to the cash, it appears that two staffers have been assigned to the race–Garret Hill and GM Anderson, not to mention TV ad production money, polling and advocacy calling.