The Sun-Times today continues its endorsements for the Illinois House: 43rd District: Ruth Munson, the incumbent, is a compassionate legislator who was successful in passing legislation to provide more funds for fast-growth school districts. She has worked on anti-gang laws and tried to help families living in affordable manufactured housing communities who have had to abandon their homes because they can no longer afford to lease the land.
She is a moderate Republican who endorses stem cell research, although she thinks a financially strapped state such as Illinois should not be targeting new funds for it. She gets the nod over Democrat Laurel Bault.
--dropend--> 44th: Fred Crespo, a former Hoffman Estates village trustee, is trying to unseat incumbent Republican Terry Parke but he will have a tough job wrangling this northwest suburban district from a lawmaker who has been in the House for more than two decades. This district, however, is trending more Hispanic, and Parke, who is very conservative, may find he is not in sync with his constituents. Still, we continue to endorse him.
45th:Newcomer Republican and lawyer Franco Coladipietro of Bloomingdale is running for the seat once held by Republican Rep. Carole Pankau, who moved to the Senate and is running for comptroller. His opponent is Rob Bisceglie, a consultant for nonprofit organizations.
Coladipietro has a more impressive resume and has thought hard about the sticky issue of school funding. We endorse him. 46th:Democrat Joe Vosicky and Republican Dennis Reboletti are running for the seat held by former GOP House Leader Lee Daniels.
Reboletti, an assistant state's attorney, has been active in local politics in the city of Elmhurst and Addison Township. We endorsed Vosicky in the 2004 race because of his concerns over the rising cost of health care and helping ex-offenders. We support him again.
47th:Incumbent Republican Patricia "Patti" Bellock of Hinsdale pushed hard to create a separate juvenile justice agency and should be applauded for that. She is being opposed by Democrat Carol DiCola of Downers Grove, who works for Oakton Community College. Bellock has been a good legislator, supporting specialized programs for autistic children.
She is our choice. 49th: Timothy Schmitz of Batavia is the Republican incumbent for this district that encompasses the northern part of Kane County. A firefighter and a land developer, Schmitz has ably represented this area since 1999.
Christine Adelman, a Democrat from Geneva, is running against him. Schmitz gets our nod. 50th: This is the district long represented by Republican Patricia Reid Lindner, the assistant minority leader.
She is a moderate, pro-choice Republican who is working on legislation to examine unusual or suspicious deaths of the elderly. We endorse her over Democrat Joe Serra, who works in the wireless industry. The district covers the southern half of Kane County and most of Kendall County.
51st:Democrat Amanda Howland, a lawyer from Lake Zurich, is taking on Republican incumbent Ed Sullivan Jr. for his northwest suburban district. Howland is an activist in her community but is weak on specific issues.
Sullivan is smart and effective. We endorse him. 53rd:Democrat Michael MacDonald has no chance against the well-funded campaign run by incumbent Republican Sidney Mathias -- not just because of Mathias' campaign chest but also because MacDonald has few ideas about fixing education and rapid transit.
Mathias is one of the stalwarts in the House, a sensible, committed lawmaker. He is discouraged by the lack of stability in school funding, but opposes a tax swap, worrying that local municipalities will lose some control over property taxes. We disagree with him about this, but we do appreciate his understanding of the issue and also the recognition of the complexities of the funding for rapid transit.
We support him.
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