Posted on 08/01/2002 11:33:01 AM PDT by spintreebob
Mark Guethle, the new chairman of the Kane County Democratic Party, said he voted for a Republican in the 2000 primary election because his union told him to. Guethle's Kane County voting history indicates he took a Republican ballot in the 2000 primary election.
Now the union's political organizer, Guethle said Painters Union District Council No. 30 strongly supported Sunny Abello, who was challenging State Sen. Chris Lauzen, R-Aurora, in the primary.
"It wasn't the first time," Guethle said of voting in a Republican primary on the directive of his union.
"When the union director sends you a letter, you read it and tend to vote for who he tells you to," Guethle said.
Guethle said he voted for all Democrats in the 2000 general election.
Lauzen trounced Abello in the primary, taking 67 percent of the votes. Lauzen went on to beat Democrat Stephan Hughes by a nearly 2-1 margin in the general election in the fall of 2000. There was not a contested primary race among Democrats to face Lauzen in the general election.
There was wide speculation that many Democrats throughout the country took Republican ballots in the 2000 primary election and cast votes for U.S. John McCain, R-Ariz., for president. Some Democrats believed McCain would be a weaker national candidate than George W. Bush.
Guethle said he did not vote for either Bush or McCain and only cast a vote in the race for state senator. He took a Democratic ballot in this spring's primary election, according to records.
"Folklore," is how Mikel Wyckoff, a political science professor at Northern Illinois University, described such union voting tactics.
Wyckoff said political parties have accused other parties of working to put a weaker candidate in office since the 1970s. "When McGovern was nominated in 1972, the Democrats said the Republicans tried to get the weakest candidate for Nixon," Wyckoff said. "There really isn't any evidence of this on a large-scale basis, but there are certainly examples from time to time."
Guethle moved to Kane County three years ago from Hillside. He became chairman of the county Democrats in April and is trying to revitalize the party in a mostly Republican county.
The voting history of Ed Malek, chairman of the Kane County Republican Party, indicates he has taken a Republican ballot in every primary since 1996. Kane County records chart voting histories for only the past seven years. However, voting records indicate Malek did not vote in the general election in 1998.
Malek did not return a phone call Wednesday seeking comment. 08/01/02
Do you like the way the college prof denies reality and then changes the subject to an irrelevant non sequitor?
How about the Republican Chair not even voting in 98?
St Sen Chris Lauzen is part of the conservative FAB 5 that also includes US Sen Peter Fitzgerald. They are called the Fab 5 because they have fought for truth in accounting, including government accounting since they entered politics together 10 years ago, and are the only ones who have beat the Republicrate machine. Without them, we would never have had the massive takeover of the party we've seen in the past 4 months.
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