2nd Maher throws hat in for Cook County board ... and Orland Township committeeman

Gerald Maher, who was soundly defeated in a bid to unseat Orland Park Mayor Dan McLaughlin last Spring, has turned his sights against his own Republican Party and is soliciting signatures to challenge Elizabeth “Liz” Doody Gorman both as Cook County Commissioner and the GOP Committeeman.

Maher, a Republican, believes he didn’t get enough support from Gorman and the Orland Township Republican Party in his bid to unseat McLaughlin and even alleged that Gorman backed McLaughlin.

McLaughlin, a union communications director, is also the Democratic Committeeman of Orland Park. Here's how Maher and McLaughlin did in the past three elections:

2001

Dan McLaughlin      6771 votes

Gerald Maher          2704 votes

2005

Dan McLaughlin      9248 (unopposed)

2009

Dan McLaughlin      5427

Gerald Maher         3049

Gerald Maher denied his candidacy is intended to help the candidacy of Patrick Maher, the Orland Fire Protection District president and the son of Orland Park Village Clerk David Maher, a McLaughlin ally.

“I am running because I want to make a difference in the 17^th Cook County District,” Maher said Tuesday during a telephone interview while soliciting signatures for his petitions. “Liz Gorman has been in office eight years and what has she done? Nothing. But absolutely, this has to do with her not supporting me and not doing what a committeeman is supposed to do when I ran for office.”

Maher said he is running for both positions that Gorman holds including Republican Committeeman for Orland Township.

Gorman, who has been leading the effort to repeal Cook County Board President Todd Stroger’s oppressive 1 percent Sales Tax, scoffed at Gerald Maher’s assertions.

“He’s a stalking horse,” she said. “I put out a mailer for every one who ran for office and the only group I endorsed who lost was Gerald Maher’s slate. The highest vote getter came from the Republican side and I am proud of that. I had him in the endorsement sheet and he didn’t even have a mailer,” Gorman said.

“At the end of the day, everyone will figure out that Gerald Maher is a disgruntled wannabe public official who is upset not because I and the Republican Party did not help him. He is upset because has tried repeatedly to win office and has been consistently rejected by the voters. ‘Liz Gorman’ didn’t make him lose. We didt everything for him. He lost because the voters don’t like him. He did it to himself.”

Gorman also said that she finds it ironic that Gerald Maher and David Maher got into a high profile battle over who was using whose name to win votes. (Read the story on the Maher vs Maher name controversy?) She is referring to the letter that was published in the Orland Pairie newspaper just before the village election in which David Maher, the village clerk, blasted Gerald Maher for using their good name.

Gerald Maher said he despises the tactics David Maher used in the last election and he insisted his own candidacy is not an effort to boost David Maher’s son’s chances next year. He also denied that Gorman endorsed his candidacy, but Gorman showed me her Township GOP brochure that in fact did include Maher's Ad, discounted..

“Is my candidacy a plus or minus for Pat Maher. I see it as an absolute minus. Contrary to what his father claims, I have been to Tipperary, Ireland and that is where the Maher name originates,” Gerald Maher said.

“They don’t pronounce it Mah-her there. They pronounce it ‘Maer.’ That name belongs to me as much as it does anyone else. For them to think they have the ownership of that name is naïve at best. Is it helping Pat Maher? Absolutely not. It is just the opposite.”

In an unexpected move, Gerald Maher's brother Robert Maher announced his unequivocal support for Gorman, blasting his brother and blaming him for his own election defeat. Robert Maher served as Orland Township Supervisor and was ousted in the April 7 elections by Democrat Paul O'Grady.

"I lost the election to Paul O'Grady mainly because my brother Gerald ran against Mayor McLaughlin and that caused a lot of confusion. But I think worst of all is my brother Gerald ran a terrible race," Robert Maher said in a telephone interview.

"I want to make it clear that I wholeheartedly support Liz Gorman's re-election for the Cook County Board and for Republican Committeeman. She has led the fight to repeal the 1 percent sales tax and to challenge County Board President Todd Stroger. She could not have done more for me in my election bid and I believe she is one of the most effective Republican leaders and county commissioners we have."

Patrick Maher is expected to file next week for the office of County Board in the Democratic Primary. He is expected to face Dr. Victor Forys in the February primary election. The winners of the Democratic and Republican primaries will face-off in the November 2010 general elections.

end

Dan McLaughlin wins Orland Park elections, for himself and everyone else

Orland Park Mayor Dan McLaughlin once again easily slid into re-election Tuesday to begin a record 5th term. McLaughlin served as a trustee for 8 years and 16 as mayor. But it was McLaughlin's coattails that are the story in this victory.

McLaughlin's challenger Gerald Maher, with little money, tried and did better than he did 8 years ago, garnering a higher percentage of votes. And while his candidacy insured that voters would get to hear the issues addressed, his message was swamped by mud-slinging. Not from McLaughlin, but from some of McLaughlin's circle of allies.

Clearly, the winner in this election was McLaughlin, although he ran the way any professional candidate would run, not taking anything for granted. I thought the race could have been friendlier, with less animosity. But while there were some contentious moments in the village elections, they didn't even come close to the namecalling and mud that dominated the Orland Township election fight.

The unofficial totals (all of the numbers here are unofficial) for Orland Park Village President (Mayor), with 58 or 60 precinct reporting:

OPF - Daniel J. McLaughlin 5287 64.02%
CCO - Gerald F. Maher 2971 35.98%

In the race for village Clerk:

OPF - David P. Maher 5327 66.50%
CCO - Patrice E. Pykett 2684 33.50%

In the race for 3 trustee seats:

OPF - James V. Dodge 4995 21.53%
OPF - Kathleen M. Fenton 4870 20.99%
OPF - Brad S. O'Halloran 4814 20.75%

CCO - Kenneth M. Wzorek 2847 12.27%
CCO - Marian M. Klemme 2880 12.42%
CCO - Kenneth M. Houston 2791 12.03%

In the election, some 8,258 votes were cast above for Mayor. In 2005, uncontested, McLaughlin received 9,248. In the 2001 election, McLaughlin won 6,775 votes to Maher's 2,704 votes. McLaughlin received more than 71 percent of the vote in the 2001 election battle, and slipped slightly with only 64 percent in this election.

Orland Township election results showed only real upset:

With 84 of 88 precincts reporting, Paul O'Grady swept into office on McLaughlin's coattails, easily defeating incumbent Robert Maher. McLaughlin made a last minute pitch and his pitches have resonance with voters who have supported his leadership for the past 16 years.

OTF - Paul A. O'Grady 7028 65.04%
OTP - Robert J. Maher 3778 34.96%

Maher, who was hammered by O'Grady's constant attack brochures and literature, didn't come close to spending the money that O'Grady was able to raise from his Democratic supporters, union and 19th Ward supporters. Although O'Grady denied he had any ties to the 19th Ward -- something that really irked me about a candidate -- he had many 19th Ward workers including 19th Ward office holder Sheriff Tom Dart pitching for him in Orland Township.

But O'Grady didn't win it on the issues. He won it because McLaughlin gave him his public blessing and McLaughlin's blessing is the crown in Orland Park, without a doubt. he also had the hard backing of the Democratic Machine and lots of money, as seen by his assault of direct mail literature.

O'Grady also won because the Democrats came out strong behind him, while the Republicans seem to be losing some of the former grip on the township. That's an assessment that needs closer examination. Orland Township Republican Committeeman Liz Gorman tried to be more focused on what is best for Orland Park instead of simply following a hard ideological line. Gorman is focused on the bigger challenge facing voters, the rising taxation in Cook County. A member of the Cook County Board, Gorman strongly supported the Fight the Taxation Forum that Radio Chicagoland sponsored Monday March 30. And McLaughlin also came out. (So did Orland Trustees Pat Gira and Ed Schussler, indicating they, too, oppose the higher taxation choking suburban Cook County residents.)

Former Republican Committeeman Jim Dodge did what he always does, pushed himself hard in his bid for Orland Park trustee; it showed with him leading the pack of three incumbent trustees behind McLaughlin.

Voter turnout was pathetic for most of Cook County, but Orland Park voters maintained what they always do in elections, turning out better. Not strong. Better than the rest of the county. But that turnout is in part a result of the contested races, and contests and criticism may not be liked by the candidates or the incumbents, but it is what is best for the voters.

Total Registration and Turnout in Cook County was 299,178. That is about 19 percent of the 1,463,070 registered voters. Yikes!

The shift, though, clearly seems to reflect a move in Orland Park from the once strong Republican base to a voter base driven by Democrats and their Chicago machine ties in the 19th Ward. There were several 19th Ward former precinct captains and captians (some who I know personally) and others who just shrugged they were there as a part of a push by the downtown unions, to help O'Grady ... at McLaughlin's bidding.

In other races:

District 135 race, with 51 of 52 precincts counted, the four winners are:

Ann M. Gentile 4374 19.15%
Tom Cunningham 3567 15.62%
Lynne Donegan 3408 14.92%
Mary A. Bragg 3369 14.75%

The closest challenger is James W. Leib 3243 with more than 126 votes behind Bragg, making it difficult to win.

In District 230 schools, for sure 3 of the 4 winners are:

Laura Murphy 8201 16.66%
Frank J. Grabowski 7095 14.42%
Michael E. Hastings 6391 12.99%

Michael Hastings, whose resume impressed many voters, is the son of controversial Orland Hills Mayor Kyle Hastings. Baker was leading Peterson by 39 votes.

Carol Baker 6170 12.54%
Kathleen J. Murphy-Peterson 6131 12.46%

But, the site shows only 139 of 145 precincts were counted, which means the final results in that 4th place seat could easily change.

In the Moraine Valley Community College Race, the apparent winners for the two seats are:

Patrick D. Kennedy 28407 39.41%
Mark D. Weber 25234 35.01%

Robert M. Stokas received only 18,441 votes. Weber was a young appointee to the MVCC board who ran with the support of a lot of voters who believe the board needs more younger representation and fresh ideas.

In the race for Orland Fire Protection District, the result was unquestionably decisive for the one available seat.

James P. Hickey 3958 49.57%

Cynthia Nelson Katsenes 1539 19.28%
Robert K. Brennan 1119 14.02%
Christopher Ciciora 959 12.01%
John Jacobsma 409 5.12%

Ciciora was a young student who ran his first election and did a great job, although he fell short of what he needed to win. And Katsenes, a former board member battling OFPD President Patrick Maher, the son Orland Village Clerk Dave Maher, came in second.

On the issue of breaking from Cook County and fighting increased taxation:

The battle for secession from Cook County inched forward, the only real race worth fighting. Voters in Orland Township responded with a resounding rejection of the county sales tax increase. Voting NO by a whopping 9905 votes or 91.18% of the ballots. Not that Stroger is going to listen to anyone, and now that the Democrats have pretty much locked up Orland Township, the voice of the voters when it comes to Stroger, will be muted.

-- Ray Hanania
http://www.radiochicagoland.com/

While Orland Mayor holds his own, Paul O'Grady moves in for a sweep

Democrat Paul O'Grady, who pelted Orland Township with expensive and tough literature, appears to have pulled off the impossible in a suburban election defeating an incumbent, Robert Maher.

Here's the latest election results as of 9 PM CST from the Cook County Clerk's election monitoring web site.

Township Supervisor Orland
2 Candidates - Vote for 1
Precincts Counted: 56 of 88 (63.64%)

Candidates Votes %
Paul A. O'Grady (OTF) 4,609 65.02%
Robert J. Maher (OTP) 2,480 34.98%

The odds of overcoming that lead are slim indeed.

Mud and mean campaigning in a low turnout election has its merits. O'Grady's slate may make it a sweep across the board. Who knew 19th Ward heavy Sheriff Tom Dart had so much pull in Orland Township.

Meanwhile, Robert Maher's brother, Gerald Maher, is on his way to losing his second try at unseating incumbent Dan McLaughlin.

Orland Park Village President
2 Candidates - Vote for 1
Precincts Counted: 37 of 60 (61.67%)

Candidates Votes %
Daniel J. McLaughlin (OPF) 3,403 64.70%
Gerald F. Maher (CCO) 1,857 35.30%

-- Ray Hanania
www.RadioChicagoland.com

Mudslinging in local Orland Township elections

Like many residents in Orland Park and Orland Township, I have been inundated with political mailers

Candidate Gerald Maher comes out swinging

Politics is starting to come alive in Orland Park with less than four weeks left to the April 7 election. That might tell you about how tough it is for non-incumbents to find the resources to challenge incumbents.

Gerald Maher is running a second time against Orland Park Mayor Dan McLaughlin. They're both good men. They both love Orland Park, but one of them is the incumbent with a huge campaign warchest. The other is not, with a huge hurdle -- convincing voters to take notice.

While McLaughlin's warchest is significant -- I've written about it -- it does reflect his 16 years in office. He's built up a lot of alliances, good will and a decent track record. The current economy has put the spotlight on the village's taxes and the decision to trim back the property tax rebate has ruffled some feathers.

But it still takes a lot to mount a campaign.

Maher is focused squarely on the taxation issue, a smart move with taxes rising all around Orland Park and revenues dropping like fundamental words out of Chicago Mayor Daley's sentence structure. It is the heart of a two-sided, yellow flyer with black ink that was inserted into the weekly home-mailed edition of former Senate candidate Jack Ryan's Orland Park Prairie newspaper. It's an affordable way to get the word out, but far from what is needed.

His single disclosed campaign contribution came two days ago from Kang Lee, the restaurant in the heart of the controversial dust-up of the village's stalled multi-million dollar "Main Street Triangle" project and the planned razing of the Orland Plaza Shopping Center. It's the last parcel of land the village needs to begin plans to create an old town atmosphere around the train station west of LaGrange Road at 143rd Street. But the $2,000 from Kang Lee two days ago is small change to fuel the ambitions of the Concerned Citizens of Orland Park and its admirable slate of candidates. (Between now and the election candidates need only disclose contributions of more than $500 so the donation amount may not be a true indicator of what he has available.)

There are five positions up in the April 7 elections in the village. Mayor, clerk and three trustees. Two of the incumbent trustees running with McLaughlin are vulnerable, Kathy Fenton and Jim Dodge. The other incumbent is trustee Brad O'Halloran and the Village Clerk Dave Maher.

Dodge, who has more ambition than successes in politics, has a campaign photo that haunts him with a smile that looks like a bent tin can. He's close to Orland Township Republican Committeeman Elizabeth Doody Gorman, who doesn't have a great record in terms of helping the Republican Party at all, but that her friends in politics keep insisting has great potential. I've yet to hear from her and can only go by her public record. Gorman's biggest anchor is her political ties to Ed Vrdolyak, who pled guilty to corruption but managed to skate out of a jail term only through what observers conclude is either the senility of U.S. District Court Judge Milton Shadur, or political cronyism.

While Maher is known by many, his slate is not as well known, but courageous. They are Patrice Pykett, the candidate for clerk, and trustee candidates Kenneth Wzorek, Kenneth Houston and Marian Klemme.

Although Maher is basically a Republican, and McLaughlin a Democrat -- he's the Orland Township Democratic Committeeman, in fact -- party labels won't help much.

Maher's literature makes some good points, like addressing the village's mounting debt of $94.2 million. But using the term "pay-to-play" goes a bit too far. When asked about Maher's candidacy, McLaughlin asked where Maher has been the past eight years since the last election, but then took a swipe quoted in the newspapers that was too negative. Still, the election will help bring out issues citizens of Orland Park need to understand.

The expected turnout for April 7 will probably be low, though past mayoral elections have drawn some 9,000 votes.

But without deep pockets and more Kang Lee's, it will be very tough to mount the kind of campaign one needs to bring out the votes and crack McLaughlin's very tough to beat record.

It's going to take a lot more than an insert in the Orland Park Prairie to move people to vote on April 7 and Maher's people, despite a soft campaign warchest, are promising more. Money is the measure of a candidate's viability, not just the issues.

The Township race is also starting to percolate, too, with Maher's brother and Orland Township Supervisor Robert Maher being challenged by Paul O'Grady, who is not related to the former sheriff nor any of the powerful O'Grady clan. O'Grady's blue and white signs have already popped up on LaGrange Road.

For more information, you can visit Gerald Maher's web site at www.CCOP.us. McLaughlin's slate does not have a campaign web site that I know of and I couldn't find one for Robert Maher, either, but you can find info on both McLaughlin and Robert at their official government sites, www.orland-park.il.us and the township's web site is http://www.orlandtwp.org/. Paul O'Grady's web site is www.otfp2009.com for the Orland Township First Party.

-- Ray Hanania
http://www.radiochicagoland.com/

Low vote turnout in 5th District foreboding for Orland Park?

The low voter turnout in the 5th Congressional District was really shocking. Literally, 10 percent of the registered voters in the district turned out to vote this past week on Tuesday March 3 to select a candidate to lead their parties in the April 7 election for congress.

Some might say the primary election is always low and the April 7 election will have a higher voter turnout. The voters are merely waiting to let the Democrats, Republicans and Independents fight it out amongst themselves first. And, they will then go to the polls April 7 to select from that final round.

If that is true, it only shows how naive voters really are. The primary election pretty much sealed the fate on that district. Fortunately, Cook County Board Mike Quigley, who won the Democratic nomination, will almost certainly become the congressman in the seat once held by Rahm Emanuel, a very controversial former congressman who is now President Barack Obama's Chief of Staff.

What does it mean for Orland Park. This week, candidates in the village elections and township elections will be able to start putting up their campaign election signs.

The key contests are between Village President (Mayor) Dan McLaughlin and his slate versus Gerald Maher and his slate, and on the Township level between Township Supervisor Robert Maher and his slate and his challenger Paul O'Grady and his slate. And, there is an important contest to fill one trustee seat on the Orland Park Fire District. There are four candidates and one known name, Cindy Katsenes along with a young candidate Chris Ciciora.

In the past, Orland's mayoral contests have drawn strong voter participation, more than 10,000 voters (our town only edged towards 60,000 population this past year so that's a great turnout). Will it last? It takes community interest in the issues, not the fluff, and it takes money to reach the voters.

I'll get into all three elections in the coming weeks.

-- Ray Hanania
http://www.radiochicagoland.com/

Just when I thought ...

Just when I thought the Republican Party in Orland Township was getting their act together and showing leadership, I see that it is asking not telling its members who to vote for.

That may sound good, but the choice isn't between two Republicans for office. It is between Republicans and Democrats, all running on the non-partisan April 7 election ballot in Orland Township.

It's significant because so far the race has not seen much real activity. No mailers inundating our mail boxes. Some fluff pieces with no real substance in the local newspapers, but nothing that even suggests there is an impending election.

Instead of endorsing the Republicans who are running in the Township races, Orland Township Committeeman Elizabeth Doody Gorman is asking her precinct captains and paid GOP members (all of them) if they want to support Democrats who are running, not just Republicans. Ooops!

If you are a Republican, that has to be disappointing. It's another example of Gorman's failed Republican leadership. She did a poor job as county chairman, and has been replaced by the very active and energetic Lee Roupas. And now she is not doing a very good job as Orland Township Republican Committeeman, either. She launches a great web site that touts all of the Republican party achievements, that far outshines the non-existent web site of the Orland Park Township Democratic Organization, headed by Orland Park Mayor Dan McLaughlin.

And then she goes and does this.

The Democrats have to be happy, though.

A GOP precinct captain recently wrote that the GOP and Democratic Party are prohibited by law from slating candidates in the local elections. That's not true, but maybe that's the pitch being made to explain the GOP's double-edged non-action. The GOP could have slated Republicans in the election primary Feb. 24. Running as "Republicans." That's the election for "established" parties. Instead, the Democrats and Republicans are running on "independent" and "new party" slates. But anyone can see who they are and what their party affiliations are.

On the Township Level, that's Township Supervisor and incumbent Robert Maher, who is a Republican. He's done a great job although he is getting challenged by Paul O'Grady, who is a Democrat and is NOT tied in anyway to the 19th Ward Republican commissars insinuating their way into local politics.

Who is the GOP backing? Gorman has a habit of supporting herself over other Republicans. The rumors are strong that she may step down from her county board seat and give it to Paul Vallas, the former Chicago schools CEO who is running against Mr. Taxman Todd Stroger for president of the county board. Having a seat on the board would give Vallas a forum to challenge Stroger and do what many on the county board are failing to do, fight Stroger's tax Tsunami.

That might be the best thing Gorman can do for the Republican Party.

AROUND THE VILLAGE AND TOWNSHIP

In the village, incumbent Mayor Dan McLaughlin is a Democrat for sure. He's the Orland Township Democratic Committeeman. Under his watch, Orland Park has grown tremendously and has much to showcase, although I do have some issues with property taxes, the tax rebate and a few other issues like some of the people around him. He's the favored to win with a long record of wins. He's being challenged by Gerald Maher, who ran against him once before and lost, but that loss was before many of today's taxation and economic issues were around. It is a new ballgame. Gerald Maher happens to be Robert Maher's brother, although they are not working together.

And of course, neither Robert nor Gerald Maher are related to David Maher, the incumbent candidate for clerk who is running for re-election, too, and who is the father of Patrick Maher, the head of the Orland Park Fire District, which faces many confused issues that need to be better sorted out like the change in ambulance service.

Turns out what Patrick Maher is trying to do is NOT sock residents with an ambulance charge, but is trying to get the help of residents who have insurance to make the insurance companies reimburse the district for ambulance service. It's all confusing, but the bottom line is if you don't have insurance, no one is going to make you pay for an ambulance. If you do have insurance, make those insurance company robber barrons pay. The district needs you to give the insurance forms to the insurance companies so the district can get paid. The district lost as much as $1.3 million a year from not getting reimbursed.

Patrick Maher, who is not running for re-election, is working for some of the candidates, too. And maybe it's in the bi-partisan spirit we're talking about here. He is supporting O'Grady in the Township race, but backing Patricia Thompson and Marty McGuire, incumbents on the re-election slate of Robert Maher. He insists it is not for political reasons, but because they asked him and I believe him.

In elections, there is one important rule about voters and support. If you don't ask, you don't get. I remember the stories of elected officials who told me they met voters and shook their hands and the voters said they loved them. But when it came time to vote, the voters voted for the opponents. When the candidate asked the voter why, the voter said, "You never asked me for my vote."

And even though you didn't ask for my opinion -- or maybe you did by visiting this blog in record numbers -- I'll give it to you. Robert Maher is a solid candidate with a good track record. Paul O'Grady is not a front for the 19th Ward, though, and is NOT related to any of the famous O'Grady's. Gerald Maher is an important independent voice in the village and deserves credit for challenging the incumbent. And Mayor McLaughlin, who I have chided in the past for his poor choice of associations, is re-examining those ties and still has the edge.

Of course, the election is about six weeks away. Sounds confusing.