Stand By Your Man

As was reported here, and by the TeamAmerica blog, Keith Turner broke with the Lake County Democratic Party to endorse Republican Keith Gray over Terry Link in their 2008 contest for Senate District 30. Given the spate of news items about Turner and the Lake County Board lately, your LakeCounty Eye had assumed there was no more mileage to be had from this angle of the story.

So it came as a surprise yesterday to see a letter to the NewsSun penned by Keith Gray, and in support of Turner:

How disappointing that seated Democratic County Board officials won't support a Democrat to fill an empty seat for fear that they might not run for re-election as a Democrat! These people, like Blagojevich, Burris, Link, and countless others, can't even see the narrow-minded partisan perspective that has consumed them. What happened to looking at the person and what they've done, or what their position is on key issues affecting the county when deciding whether to endorse a nominee or not?

Gray diplomatically doesn't mention Keith Turner by name. But anyone following the soap opera over Bob Sabonjian's vacant County Board seat knows it is Turner.

Given the events of the past week, loyalty of this nature from a politician on either side of the aisle is rare and uplifting. Your LakeCountyEye salutes Keith Gray, the politician with the mettle to stand by his man.

What happened to looking at the person and what they've done, or what their position is on key issues affecting the county when deciding whether to endorse a nominee or not?

What happened indeed.

As the World Turns

It was incorrectly reported on this blog here and here that Bill Durkin is a previous Mayor of Waukegan. Durkin is Waukegan Park Commissioner. It is Durkin's father who had been the mayor of Waukegan in the 1990s. The two have the same name. Your LakeCountyEye's sharp-eyed fact checker has been on assignment running criminal background checks on some new volunteer bloggers (they come highly recommended) and flubbed the mistake. Your LakeCountyEye regrets the error. Your LakeCountyEye regrets even more having missed an opportunity to insert another nepotism joke here.

In a related matter, and as predicted by your LakeCountyEye here, Lake County Board Chair Suzi Schmidt has been backpedaling furiously over the Keith Turner embarrassment. Turner had helped Bob Sabonjian get elected Waukegan Mayor. Returning a favor, Sabonjian recommended Turner to replace him on the County Board. Suzi Schmidt has the final sayso on who gets nominated, and over the objections of many, fast-tracked Turner's nomination last week. Turner then withdrew his nomination a short time after accepting the nomination and under what can be best described as murky circumstances.

Schmidt is now telling the Daily Herald that Turner withdrew because he did not have the support of the Democratic Board members. Your LakeCountyEye is naturally skeptical. Schmidt knew that Lake County Democratic boss Terry Link, along with some Democratic Board members, were on record as opposed to Turner's nomination. And if Schmidt in fact was unaware of this opposition, then how is it that someone that disengaged could become County Board Chair in the first place?

Now the goal of political backpedaling is to cya. Anything beyond that is political backfilling, which is cover your tracks. Schmidt tells the Daily Herald how the decision was made:

During a meeting in her office Friday, however, Schmidt said she and Turner agreed he wasn't right for the job. The expected lack of support from some of the board's Democrats contributed to the decision.

Your LakeCountyEye has heard that anyone who knows Keith Turner knows that more likely Turner withdrew because he was shown the door. And if Schmidt did indeed drop the hammer in that meeting, it wasn't because all the players conceded that it was not likely an Obama-style consensus with the Democrats could be built.

Which leaves your LakeCountyEye wondering. If Turner is radioactive, why didn't Sabonjian know -- and, even worse, go as far as hand-pick him as his replacement? And what really came down at that Friday afternoon meeting?

Turned Out

This is probably a Lake County Board revolving-door record of some sort. Friday morning, Keith Turner was nominated by County Board Chair Suzi Schmidt to replace outgoing Board Commissioner Bob Sabonjian. Turner accepted the nomination. And Turner withdrew his name from nomination. All within the span of an 8 hour work day.

Schmidt had fast-tracked the appointment of the newest County Board Commissioner, with Turner issuing a statement reported by the NewsSun:

It is very humbling to have been selected for appointment to fill Bob's seat to represent and (serve) the residents of the 8th County Board District.

Turner had been reported saying he was "overwhelmed" to have Sabonjian's endorsement. According to the Daily Herald story, Sabonjian praised Turner as "the kind of guy who thinks for himself". Reportedly a party was scheduled the same weekend to celebrate the nomination.

Now, less than a day later, Turner is no longer the nominee, telling the NewsSun, "At this time, it's not something that I can take on." Elaborating on this sudden one-eighty Turner said:

I decided to withdraw my name for personal reasons. It's time for me to focus on my family and my health ... There's been some recent developments of a personal nature and a family nature, and I don't see myself being able to devote the time or attention that the office deserves.

Need to focus on family and health? No time to devote to the office? Hmm. These are familiar sounding cliches, at least within the tightly scripted sphere of political discourse -- and a sure-fire indicator that there is more to this story than meets the eye.

Turner has been a long standing fixture in (Democrato-centric) Waukegan politics. But as reported by the TeamAmerica's blog, Turner broke with the Democratic Party last year to endorse Republican Keith Gray's unsuccessful 2008 State Senate challenge against Terry Link.

Turner had also helped State Representative Eddie Washington fend off party-backed challenger Angelo Kyle in the 2008 Democratic primary. And Turner, as self-proclaimed campaign manager, helped Bob Sabonjian defeat Dick Hyde for Waukegan Mayor this past April. It was this role that landed Turner his nomination to the County Board.

Sabonjian's promotion to Waukegan Mayor necessitated his resignation from the County Board. Suzi Schmidt, as County Board Chair, has the responsibility to nominate a replacement. Terry Link, as Lake County Party boss, was on record saying he wanted to see Waukegan ex-mayor Bill Durkin in the job. Sabonjian meanwhile had other ideas. This comes as no surprise because, as reported in this blog, it was Link's political ally Dick Hyde that Sabonjian successfully drove out of office. It is not known whether Sabonjian was motivated out of a desire to see good government flourish, or out of an instinct to stick it to Terry Link -- but in any event, Suzi Schmidt ended up nominating Turner on Sabonjian's sayso.

According to your LakeCountyEye's magic crystal ball, the fact that the nomination fell apart as abruptly as it did is a strong indication that information had surfaced in the interim serious enough to kill the deal. What that information might be and who might've leaked it, the crystal ball does not say. However what you hear coming from the direction of Waukegan is not the sound of cars being impounded. It is the sound of Suzi Schmidt & Bob Sabonjian backpedaling to beat the band.