I hate to tell you, “I told you so,” but the McHenry County Republican Party’s failure to allow Tonya Franklin to try to get on the ballot to oppose Jack Franks has indeed allowed him to play around more than he probably would have been able to do otherwise.

We all know about his efforts to change the form of county government from a weak County Board Chairman to a strong County Executive.

Now, he is found endorsing union-financed Ryan Heuser’s campaign for District 6 County Board member.

The address side of Ryan Heuser’s mailing

And, in an intriguing similarity to District 4’s Mary Margaret Maule’s attack on incumbent John Hammerand, Heuser’s oversized post card attacks the two incumbent Republicans most likely to be able to mount a challenge to Franks in the future–Ersel Schuster and Diane Evertsen.

There are so many misstatements above that perhaps pointing out the Diane Evertsen’s name is spelled wrong might indicate the quality of the effort that went into preparing it.

The bottom of the back of the post card is dedicated to promoting Jack Franks’ County Executive referendum.

Ersel Schuster and Diane Evertsen are attacked by Jack Franks’ endorsed Ryan Heuser on this side of the mailing.

There’s a pitch for Franks’ County Executive referendum, too.

The issues used are similar in Maule’s and Heuser’s hit pieces.

Contributors to Heuser’s campaign with donations large enough to be identified by name follow:

Ryan Heuser posting on FaceBook in favor of video gaming.

• 2-12-12 International Union of Operating Engineers Local 150, Countryside – $2,500
• 2-14-12 International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 117, Crystal Lake – $200
• 2-24-12 Laborers International Union Local 1035, Marengo – $300
• 3-2-12 Plote Construction, Hoffman Estates – $250
• 3-16-12 Northeastern Illinois Federation of Labor, Gurnee – $500
• 3-20-12 International Union of Operating Engineers Local 339, Chicago – $500
• 3-20-12 International Union of Operating Engineers Local 150, Countryside – $800 (20 4 by 8 pieces of plywood)
• 7-27-12 McHenry County Building Trades Council, Crystal Lake -$1,000
• 7-27-12 IronworkersLocal 498, Rockford – $250
• 7-27-12 Carey Electric, McHenry – $250
• 8-1-12 International Union of Operating Engineers, Countryside – $1,365.62
• 8-7-12 Bricklayers Local 21, Elgin – $200
• 8-10-12 Plote Construction, Hoffman Estates – $250
• 10-22-12 International Union of Operating Engineers Local 150, Countryside – $5,178.85
• 10-30-12 Cecily Heuser, Marengo – $5,500

That’s $9,844.47 from Local 150, whose primary interest in what the County Board does has had to do with legalizing slot machines in unincorporated areas.  In the 13-10-1 County Board vote to ban video slot machines the first of December, 2009,  Schuster and Hammerand voted against gambling.  Evertsen had not yet been sworn in for the two-year term she won in November.

The involvement of Local 150 in both lobbying for the legalization of video poker and support of County Board candidates (see Mary McClellan’s sign at the Lakemoor Banquet Hall, and got $300 on Sept. 26th, which, strangely, is reported by the union, but not by McClellan).

Mary Margaret Maule got $2,000 from Local 150 on October 27th and $250 on August 25th, a quarter in which there were five other union locals making contributions.