Run On Sentences

It's a good thing that ducks have no teeth because for lameduck State Rep David McSweeney the toothpaste is out of the tube.

Everybody knows that battery charges were filed this week against Lake County Ex-Sheriff Mark Curran:

Radio host William Kelly claims battery in confrontation with former Lake County sheriff Mark Curran at GOP U.S. Senate endorsement event

And David McSweeney -- who is expected to run for US Senate in 2022 -- no doubt is working on legislation that would bring back the death penalty for former elected officials who are convicted of battery.

One non-spokesman said: "And anyone acquitted of battery gets an automatic five years added to his sentence."

Your LakeCountyEye will keep you apprised when further developments warrant.

Death and Traffics

Your LakeCountyEye encourages Operatives to pass along this simple travel tip:

The safest way to livestream while driving is with red-light-cameras.

But if Lame Duck State Rep David McSweeney gets his way, all Lake County roads will be less safe.  McSweeney wants to eliminate red light cameras:

Leading in the push for a statewide ban on the devices is state Rep. David McSweeney, R-Barrington Hills, who said the cameras do little more than generate money for local governments.
More call for statewide elimination of photo-enforced traffic lights

A deer-in-the-headlight would be no match for McSweeney, he also wants to reinstate the death penalty in Illinois:

McSweeney pitches plan to restore death penalty

When it was pointed out that death penalty incarcerations cost three times as much, one party spokesman denied that McSweeney's proposal will do little more than generate money for local governments: "Campaigning on the death penalty will generate for us three times the donation money from our MAGA voters."

Your LakeCountyEye will keep you apprised when further developments warrant.

McSweeney to Flee the Sceney

Your LakeCountyEye won't have David McSweeney to kick around any more. Lame Duck Lake County politician McSweeney says he will not seek another term:

David McSweeney is out as a state representative but not out of politics. The Barrington Hills Republican announced Thursday he won't run for re-election next year and instead will pivot to a statewide bid in 2022. "I'll serve out the rest of my term and very likely will run for secretary of state (in 2022) if Jesse White doesn't run," McSweeney said referring to the popular Democrat incumbent, "or U.S. Senate depending on the circumstances."
McSweeney sets sights on statewide office, won't seek re-election

Highly observant observers say McSweeney had only one option: to quit while he's ahead: "What would he do if he lost his seat in 2020? Run for US Senate Governor Secretary of State two years later on a record of not being able to get re-elected?"

As things stand, McSweeney can tell his voters with a straight face:

"I think I can add value to the state's major problems," McSweeney said.
State Rep. McSweeney plans to run for new office in 2022

So true it is. So true.

Note to downstate Ops: Look for David McSweeney at rubber chicken Lincoln Day dinner near you real soon.

Self Promotion

Among Lake County political warhorses there is an old saying: "Don't bother being kind to people on your way up. In Lake County there ain't no way up."

Haha, Lake County State Representative David McSweeney thinks there is a way up:

Earlier this year, Rep. Dave McSweeney, R-Barrington Hills, lost his comms staffer for criticizing fellow Republican Rep. Steve Reick for allegedly making "racist" comments and calling on House GOP Leader Jim Durkin to resign for being a "fake Republican" and "corrupt insider." McSweeney, who wants to run statewide in 2022, said he paid for his own communications staffer, so he wasn't concerned.
The return of the circular firing squad

David McSweeney may not want to represent you in Lake County any more, but who is going to blame him? Especially when there will be plenty of statewide constituencies up for grabs in 2022.  What will McSweeney do in 2022? Your LakeCountyEye doesn't expect him to run for Township supervisor. No, here's the smartmoney handicap over the 2022 election:

• A U.S. Senate seat will be on the ballot. While McSweeney managed less than 45% of the vote when he ran against Melissa Bean for Congress in 2006, challenging an incumbent U.S. Senator next time will be totally different. Totally.
  
  
• Every Illinois Constitutional office will be on the ballot. But McSweeney, presumably, will give the cold shoulder to Secretary of State, Attorney General, Treasurer and Comptroller. None of these positions are much of an improvement over being a State Representative. Even being a State Representative in the minority party. And even a State Representative in the minority party who's been warming a backbench.
  
  
• Whether it needs to or not, Illinois will elect a Governor and Lieutenant Governor in 2022. If history is any indication, you can't get elected Governor in this state without name recognition, being admired, being trusted, etc. You can however get elected Lieutenant Governor. This position is tailor-made for McSweeney.

As is too often the case, your LakeCountyEye makes it a point to remind candidates that there will always be another election. In this instance, the 2024 Presidential Election. The position of US Vice President will be tailor-made for a perennial candidate like David McSweeney. 'Nuff Said!

Political Ambition

Has Lake County seen yet it's share of toxic spills? Apparently not -- someone just spilled the beans on State Representative David McSweeney:

Earlier this year, Rep. Dave McSweeney, R-Barrington Hills, lost his comms staffer for criticizing fellow Republican Rep. Steve Reick for allegedly making "racist" comments and calling on House GOP Leader Jim Durkin to resign for being a "fake Republican" and "corrupt insider." McSweeney, who wants to run statewide in 2022, said he paid for his own communications staffer, so he wasn't concerned.
The return of the circular firing squad

Which statewide office will David McSweeney run for in 2022? No one is saying.

Your LakeCountyEye is betting that McSweeney will run for Township Supervisor. It may not be a statewide office, but he won't have to worry about David McSweeney sponsoring Bills any more to eliminate township government.

Off Message

US Congress? Or US Senate? Or even the President of the United States? Does anyone know what office David McSweeney is running for in 2020?

To find out, your LakeCountyEye visited State Rep David McSweeney's Facebook page:

Facebook

And clicked the link to www.davidmcsweeney.org, his posted website:

www.davidmcsweeney.org

David McSweeney must be running for something. His picture is all over the Internet:

You're not pixelated. No, this is another hilarious LakeCountyEye Double Vision™!

Note to David McSweeney campaign Ops: Invest in a high-res photo of your candidate. You won't be disappointed.

The Runaround Agenda

Who knew? As things turn out, it is easier to shut down the Federal government than to shut down Township government. DMW Governor Bruce Rauner proved he is no Donald Trump by vetoing a bill that could have eliminated some Lake County townships.

Lake County's lone remaining Republican State legislator, David McSweeney, who sponsored the bill, was fit to be tied:

State Rep. David McSweeney, the Barrington Hills Republican who carried the bill through the Illinois House, said Rauner's veto represents an appropriate end cap to his final days in office. "Gov. Rauner leaves office as a liar, a hypocrite, a phony, the worst governor in the history of the State of Illinois," McSweeney said. "This just shows what a phony he really is."
Gov. Bruce Rauner vetoes McHenry County township consolidation bill

Attempts to reach McSweeney, to find out how he really feels, failed.

Speaking on conditions of anonymity, however, one anonymous source told your LakeCountyEye: "What's not to understand? We get no blowback from the TOI or any elected Township officials. And at the same time we get to go home and tell our constituents that we voted to eliminate the Townships. It's a win-win for everyone!"

Note to Ops: So much winning.

Cook the Books

Knowledge may be power. And the Republican Party in Lake County may be out of power. But it does not follow that the Lake County GOP is no sharper than a rubber donut.

No, but it does go a long way toward explaining why the Lake County GOP has mounted a coordinated effort to dumb down the electorate -- ensuring a constituency that will be easy prey to the politics of fear and greed.

The game plan is simple: erect barriers between the voters and sources of knowledge. One strategy, to replace public education in Lake County with a system of vouchers and home-schooling, failed. Plan-B for the GOP, it now seems, is to undermine Lake County's libraries.

Benjamin Franklin established the first public library in 1731: "The doors of wisdom are never shut." On the other hand, Dan McConchie, Lake County's lone remaining Republican State legislator, walked through the doors of a Lake County library and perceived a pork-barrel:

"Sure," McConchie said, "they provide nice services to their folks, but I walk in there, and there's people that are just sitting there on the clock doing absolutely nothing."
McHenry County GOP leaders: Want tax cuts? Look at libraries

And David McSweeney, Lake County's lone remaining Republican State legislator, thinks your public library is a cash-cow:

"require voter approval for any major capital expenditure, even if they're using tax reserves," McSweeney said.
Suburban libraries hoard money, avoid getting voters' approval to build

Note to Ops: If you can read this then your public library was established for people like you.

No Taxation With Our Carbonation

While it took 3 days to clean up a spill on Route 14 in Barrington, contrary to widespread belief the toxic substance was not high-fructose corn syrup. According to the Daily Herald the toxic substance in question was actually methylene diphenyl diisocyanate:

The misidentification of the substance spilled during a crash on Northwest Highway in Barrington caused valuable time to be lost in cleanup efforts that led to nearly three days of lane closures, authorities said Friday.
Misidentification of chemical spill caused cleanup delay, authorities say

David McSweeney represents that stretch of Barrington and, perhaps not coincidentally, has sponsored an Illinois House resolution condemning taxes on soda drinks:

MCSWEENEY LEADS EFFORT TO STOP NEW BEVERAGE TAXES

McSweeney, Lake County's corporeal State Representative, is out front on an effort to sweet-talk the State Legislature into torpedoing any proposed tax on sugary beverages.

One spokesman said: "These beverage taxes represent a sweetheart deal for the fat-cats in Springfield. We should be trimming fat off of the budget instead."

Another spokesman said: "Any tax on soda is a whale of a mistake that will fail like a lead balloon."

One spokesman spoke from the Capitol rotunda: "Fat chance we'll see a beverage tax, now. Not after we finish'em off."

Take a Run for Your Money

Note to those Ops vowing to make good on a promise to renounce their citizenship and move north of the border. It has come to your LakeCountyEye's attention that Wisconsin is not a foreign country. Who knew?

For those who will ride out the next four years in the USA, there is, however, hope. The Penultimate President of the United States, Barack Obama, has a parting message for you:

If you're disappointed by your elected officials, grab a clipboard, get some signatures, and run for office yourself.
Sweet: Obama's goodbye — 'Yes we can. Yes we did.'

Will everyone who heard President Obama's call to action, please step forward? Because David McSweeney has a message for you as well:

Not so fast, there, Kaputnik!

Haha, McSweeney, Lake County's puffed-up State Representative, wants to make it harder for you to run for office -- not easier:

State Rep. David McSweeney, R-Barrington Hills, introduced another House bill this week that would prohibit new legislators elected or appointed after Nov. 6, 2018, from participating in the retirement system.
Lawmaker, officeholder pensions may fade away

Independent authorities agree. Combine Governor Bruce Rauner's attempt to stop payment of legislator salaries with McSweeney's bill to eliminate legislative pensions, then the only people left who could run for State office would be millionaires and billionaires. Like Bruce Rauner and David McSweeney.

A spokesman for former President Obama acknowledged the problem: "Absolutely. And we encourage everyone to grab a clipboard, get some signatures, run for office, and win the lottery!"

Note to Ops: You can't win if you don't play.

The Monkeyshines in Mundelein

As heavyweight matchups go, this one may rival the Rumble in the Jungle and even the Thrilla in Manila. In one corner sits the defending champ and 6-time incumbent, Ed Sullivan Jr. And in the other corner is his challenger, past treasurer of the Lake County Republican Party, Bob Bednar. At stake is who will be the next undisputed State Representative of Lake County's 51st District.

Bob Bednar vows to uphold the 2012 Illinois Republican platform which calls for a constitutional amendment to preserve traditional marriage. Not surprisingly, right off the heels of Ed Sullivan's vote to legalize same-sex marriage in Illinois, some heavy hitters have entered the ring for Bednar. According to the Illinois Review ...

Fallout from passage of the gay marriage bill is being felt in Lake County where an email from Lake County GOP Vice Chair Jack Koenig states that he and Chairman Bob Cook are backing Bob Bednar in his attempt to unseat Republican State Rep. Ed Sullivan who voted for the bill (SB10) to redefine marriage in the state of Illinois.
Lake County GOP chair backs opponent of Republican State Rep. Ed Sullivan

Predictably, Keith Brin -- rumored next GOP Chair of Lake County -- is none too pleased. Brin thinks it is inappropriate for current GOP Chair Bob Cook to take sides in a Republican Primary, and said so in writing. According to the CapitolFaxBlog, Brin warns Cook that ...

if you will not disavow these series of events tagged with your name as Chairman, I would ask you to resign your official position until such time as a replacement may named.
Court clerk wants disavowall or resignation
Candidate: Lake County GOP chairman supports Sullivan ouster

The 51st District that Sullivan represents is paired with State Rep David McSweeney's 52nd District. The two districts -- 51 & 52 -- comprise Senate District 26, which is represented by Dan Duffy.

It is known that both Duffy and McSweeney voted against the marriage equality bill that Sullivan supported. It is not known whether Dan Duffy plans to support Ed Sullivan or Bob Bednar. Nor is it known whether David McSweeney will support Ed Sullivan or Bob Bednar.

Anyone?

Bueller?

A Fifty-Two Pickup

Operatives travelling to Springfield on January 9 to see David McSweeney sworn in will find themselves a day late and a dollar short. Plus two days. Not to mention eighty bucks worth of gas.

McSweeney, Lake County's newest District 52 State Rep is to be sworn in three days early. Anyone who thought the seat is still held by Kent Gaffney -- the outgoing District 52 Rep -- would be wrong. According to the Daily Herald ...

Gaffney, a Lake Barrington Republican who lost his primary bid this year, resigned this week, and McSweeney will be sworn in Jan. 6. That's when state lawmakers will be in their so-called lame-duck session, possibly voting on last-minute efforts to legalize gay marriage, ban certain guns and cut teacher and state worker retirements.
McSweeney to start serving in House early

Your LakeCountyEye will not speculate why Gaffney resigned in advance. However McSweeney needed to be caucused-in to be eligible to claim the seat before the end of the session. So it is a safe bet that some sort deal was brokered in advance and that Gaffney did not leave in a huff. Likely it was in a late model sedan, perhaps bound to Springfield where all the lobbying and legislative aide jobs are.

Lake County will now sleep well knowing that gays will not be able to get married and that guns will not be banned and that teachers will not get their pensions -- not with a true Republican like David McSweeney on the watch.

Your LakeCountyEye has been told that the news did not sit well with one Lake County Republican, County Board Chairman Aaron Lawlor. It is rumored that Lawlor was promised Gaffney's seat and had been observed measuring the drapes at the District 52 State Rep office in Springfield.

In related news, it is widely believed that John Boehner may fail in January to be re-elected as Speaker of the House. And Aaron Lawlor has been recently observed measuring the drapes at the Speaker's office in Washington DC.

Return of the Tin Man

David McSweeney, who lost to Melissa Bean in 2006, now hopes to be elected to Illinois House District 52.

The District, which had been represented by the late Mark Beaubien, includes some of the most affluent municipalities of and near western Lake County: Barrington, Barrington Hills, Inverness, Lake Barrington, North Barrington, South Barrington, Tower Lakes. This has not deterred McSweeney from running on a jobs platform:

The caption on one McSweeney mailer, above, says ...

Enough TALK about creating jobs,
Hire someone who will DO IT.

and shows a picture of McSweeney presumably in the act of creating jobs. It is not exactly clear what jobs McSweeney is creating.

McSweeney's own bio states he has

worked as an investment banker, financial consultant and currently as an investment specialist

The photo, however, shows McSweeney in a machine room, inspecting some unidentified mass produced items. Is McSweeney promising to create manufacturing jobs? The real question then is -- what sort of manufacturing job? Tin Foil Hats?

Statute of Eliminations

If the year was 1982 and David McSweeney was Boeing stock then your LakeCountyEye would be wishing to have bet on David McSweeney. However it's not 1982 any more. For that matter, David McSweeney is not Boeing stock. Ha ha, McSweeney, the Republican nominee for the 52nd Representative District seemed to be on a glide-path to electoral victory in November. But as readers of this blog are aerodynamically aware ...

McSweeney Agonistes?

McSweeney has, all-of-a-sudden, a high-profile opponent in the 2012 Election, Dee Beaubien. It is being widely reported that Mark Beaubien's widow is considering an Independent run against McSweeney. If so, that McSweeney glide-path may now be a tail-spin, as Beaubien's enviable name-recognition would virtually guarantee her the seat in November.

There had been a golden parachute floating over McSweeney's horizon. A bill HB2009, signed into law on March 30, prohibits anyone who voted in a Primary from running in the General election as an Independent candidate or for a different party.

That parachute, however, may turn out to be a lead balloon. The tireless tax fighters at the McHenryCountyBlog are reporting that ...

One would have thought that Dee Beaubien, who worked the phones to get her husband's budget man, Kent Gaffney, appointed to fill Mark's spot, would have voted in the Republican primary election for him. But she didn't. She took a non-partisan ballot
Dee Beaubien Covers Bases in Primary by Voting Non-Partisan

Ha ha, no flies on Dee! It's widely believed that no one on either side of the aisle is eager to see McSweeney join the Illinois Legislature -- none of which was likely lost on Beaubien. That McSweeney stock, in your LakeCountyEye's opinion, is about as valuable these days as shares in Pan Am.

McSweeney Agonistes?

Lake County has its hands in a wringer -- at least that part of Lake County, west of the Route 53 Extension, that nobody talks about. Lake County has been wringing its hands over David McSweeney's upset victory over incumbent Kent Gaffney in State Rep District 52. In particular, everyone is wondering how perennial losing-candidate McSweeney was able to beat Gaffney -- the hand-picked successor to Mark Beaubien -- in the Republican Primary.

Although politically a centrist, Gaffney had been voting in Springfield like a Joe Walsh, and at the same time gathering an elephantine trunk-full of conservative endorsements, to get the Republican voters to like him. Your LakeCountyEye knows better, however, and could have advised Gaffney that he was wasting his time. The typical voter does not care about how their Rep votes in Springfield or who endorsed him. That's because the typical voter does not know who their Rep in Springfield is. For that matter, the typical voter does not know what a Rep in Springfield is.

Your LakeCountyEye would've advised Gaffney to raise a trunk-full of campaign cash and carpet-bomb the mailboxes in his district with campaign lit. Which is exactly what McSweeney did. The end.

Or is it?

Now the Daily Herald reports that Dee Beaubien is making plans to run against McSweeney:

Dee Beaubien, wife of the late Republican state Rep. Mark Beaubien of Barrington Hills, is considering a run for Illinois House as an independent, she said late Thursday. "Considering is the correct word," Beaubien said.
Dee Beaubien thinking about House run

Local pundits think it is a given that Beaubien will run -- the real question is: As a Democrat or an Independent?

A Democratic candidate would need to gather 500 petition signatures to qualify for the November ballot. An Independent candidate for the same office needs to obtain three times as many -- 1,500 petition signatures. On the other hand, Independent candidate Beaubien would be the odds-on favorite in a head-to-head match against McSweeney. No amount of lit-bombing on McSweeney's part would make a dent in Beaubien's enviable name recognition at the ballot box. If Beaubien did opt to run as a Democrat, however, McSweeney might be able to use that as a wedge to peel off enough votes from Beaubien to squeak out a victory in November.

Your LakeCountyEye is convinced: the I's have it.

Challenge Challenged?

Note to operatives searching for that last-minute gift: If any of the candidates who filed in Illinois Senate District 26 or Representative District 52 are on your gift list, your LakeCountyEye recommends presenting them with a framed copy of their birth certificate. Ha ha, as readers of this blog are postnatally aware ...

Unidentified Flying Objections

Sharon Meroni has filed objections against every candidate in Senate/26 and Rep/52 -- for not providing documentation to prove they are US citizens. Legal-eyed operatives may observe that proof of citizenship is not a ballot requirement in Illinois. On the other hand, it costs nothing to file a ballot objection.

So it shouldn't come as a surprise that Meroni's were not the only objections filed there. According to the Daily Herald ...

David McSweeney of Barrington Hills is trying to clear out his competition in the GOP primary for the Illinois House by challenging the petition signatures turned in by his two opponents, incumbent state Rep. Kent Gaffney of Lake Barrington and Danielle Rowe of Island Lake. McSweeney sent out a statement that said, among other things...

"I have taken this step in order to sustain the integrity of the petition process and to respect the high ethical standards that the people of the 52nd should expect from candidates and elected officials. I believe that the Illinois State Board of Elections will determine that both of my opponents will not qualify to be on the ballot."

As it turns out, McSweeney's petitions have been challenged as well.
A primary challenge challenge

(Note #2 to operatives: if you're an election lawyer in Representative District 52, life is good.)

The Herald story never actually names who challenged McSweeney's petitions, mentioning instead an unreturned call to Kent Gaffney and an on-the-record comment by Danielle Rowe that McSweeney is acting like a "bully." Those operatives who would assume the unnamed McSweeney challenger is Gaffney or Rowe would be wrong. Currently the only pending objection against McSweeney is ...

MERONI V MCSWEENEY

Once McSweeney digs up a birth certificate he's in the free & clear. Your LakeCountyEye can't say as much for Gaffney or Rowe.