August 14th, 2008
Local teachers unions have endorsed Rockford Democrat Greg Tuite in his race against Rep. Ron Wait, R-Belvidere, according to a Tuite new release …
ROCKFORD – In an effort to invoke change, the Illinois Education Association (IEA) and the Illinois Federation of Teachers (IFT) announced their support for Greg Tuite, candidate for State Representative in the upcoming general election.
“I am honored to have the support of local teachers and believe that we need to change the direction our state is heading,” said Tuite. “I believe that we should work together with educators, parents and school leaders to improve the quality of education in our state. As the father of three children, I will work to guarantee that our kids are getting the best education possible while ensuring that local schools have the resources they need to succeed.”
The Illinois Federation of Teachers represents 80,000 teachers and paraprofessionals in Illinois. The Illinois Education Association represents more than 130,000 education employees. Both the IFT and the IEA have officially endorsed Greg Tuite in his bid for election in the November 4th general election. Each union bases their endorsement on a candidate’s commitment to supporting educational programs, resources and new opportunities in local schools.
“Greg Tuite knows that the education our children receive is incredibly important to the future progress of our region,” said John Seeber, a local teacher and member of the Illinois Education Association. “It’s time we elected someone who will advocate for our local schools and be a strong voice for us in Springfield. Greg will work for a strong educational base that will prepare our students to compete for jobs in today’s global economy and bring back our fair share of state resources.”
For more information, please contact Tuite’s campaign office at (815) 544-9647. The district includes portions of Belvidere, Caledonia, Capron, Cherry Valley, Genoa, Kingston, Kirkland, Loves Park, Poplar Grove, Rockford, Roscoe, South Beloit and Timberlane.
March 25th, 2008
A recent fax alerting the media to one of Rep. Ron Wait’s publicity events looked as if somebody had scribbled it on a random sheet of scratch paper.
Actually, it looked as if the writer opted to write it with writing instrument clenched firmly in fist. The penmanship was a little rough, you might say.
In substance, the advisory contained the necessary points: It announced a Ron Wait press conference at 1 p.m. on March 10 at Dial Machine in Rockford concerning the “capital budget & economic development.” Yet in style, the advisory, pictured here, was most peculiar.
Wait, R-Belvidere, is a veteran lawmaker. Moreover, this is an election year and Wait is facing a stiff challenge from Rockford lawyer Greg Tuite, the immediate past chairman of the Winnebago County Democratic Party. One might think Wait would be on his toes.
“Geez, I’ve never seen anything like this,” Wait told our Statehouse intern, Andrea Zimmermann, by phone on Friday. “It’s sure not my writing. I have never seen this before. I sure wouldn’t have sent this out. It’s new to me. … I don’t know who would have sent this out. … Believe me, I’ll start asking questions though.”
Tuite saw the media release as well, and said it struck him as odd.
“We all have our ways of communicating, but you would think that a state representative would try to put out something a little more professional when he’s communicating either with the media or with businesses,” Tuite told Zimmermann.
On Monday, a spokesman for House GOP Leader Tom Cross called and said that Wait’s staff had, in fact, distributed the scribbled advisory to media. The spokesman, David Dring, said the staffers were determined to notify the media of Wait’s appearance as quickly as possible.
Just for the record, House GOP staff subsequently distributed a formal media advisory for the Dial Machine event. This time, they typed it.
January 24th, 2008
State party support can make a huge difference in a local legislative race. The state party can send the dollars a candidate needs to buy advertising and the foot soldiers a candidate needs to build an organization.
But there’s also a certain stigma attached to state party support, particularly in the minds of independent voters. They want their local legislator to walk in lockstep with their own values, not with party leaders. A candidate who accepts state party support, and who goes on to win the election, certainly is under pressure to vote with party leadership — at least when it really counts.
Whether and to what extent the Democratic and Republican parties get involved in the race to represent the 69th legislative district, which includes a slice of east Rockford and all of Boone County, certainly will affect the outcome of the race. The district leans Republican. But when Democrat Greg Tuite challenged incumbent Republican Rep. Ron Wait in 2006, he came within just a few points of winning.
Tuite, of Rockford, did not enjoy support from the Illinois Democratic Party in that race. In the summer before the 2006 election, he played down the influence of state party dollars. From the Register Star:
(Tuite) said he is not expecting financial support from the Illinois Democratic Party, and that he got only a few donations from Chicago folks.
“It’s all Rockford people and Belvidere people,” he said, “who feel that they’ve been ignored and underserved.”
But after losing the election, he changed his tone. Also from the Register Star:
Rockford’s Greg Tuite came so close to ousting Belvidere’s Ron Wait, a 22-year incumbent, from the Illinois House.
Tuite was 1,383 votes — 3.5 percentage points — from beating Wait. That’s so close that Tuite on Wednesday was wondering, “What if the Illinois Democratic Party had put dollars behind my campaign?”
House Speaker Michael Madigan controls the Illinois Democratic Party. Madigan opted during the 2006 election to play defense and focus on keeping seats in the House rather than play offense and attempt to gain additional seats. He focused state party dollars on defending incumbents like downstate Rep. Kurt Granberg from GOP attacks.
Tuite wondered whether those dollars would have made a difference in his race:
“If I could have gotten some of that Granberg money — the money that was put into some of those other races — in my race, there might have been a different result,” Tuite said.
Madigan spokesman Steve Brown responded to Tuite at the time:
“I know we were aware of his candidacy. He was a quality candidate. But there is a limited amount of resources, and you’ve got to defend incumbents for starters. So we did.”
Tuite is challenging Wait, of Belvidere, again in this election. On Wednesday, I asked him whether he expected support from Madigan this time around.
“We’ll see,” he said. “I’m not gonna bank on it. You know, my opponent, he had state party support from his party last time. And obviously if that happens again, I would welcome state party support on our side. But I’m going to proceed as if it’s not going to happen.”
Tuite continued, “Obviously, if the Republican Party comes in and dumps a couple hundred thousand dollars into the race, I would appreciate if the Democratic Party would do the same.”
Wait enjoyed support from House GOP Leader Tom Cross’ organization in 2006. I asked him whether he expected the same support — money and staff — this time around.
“I wouldn’t be surprised,” he said. “Usually, they’re here to help incumbents and stuff like that. The question is, Madigan probably will send somebody up to help my opponent this year. So I wouldn’t be a bit surprised to see that happen. That usually happens.”
January 23rd, 2008
Democrat Greg Tuite has roughly three times as much money in his campaign fund as Rep. Ron Wait, R-Belvidere. Tuite challenged Wait in 2006, nearly taking him out.
From the State Board of Elections, here are the vote totals from 2006:
COUNTY WAIT TUITE
BOONE 8091 7266
DeKALB 1702 1215
WINNEBAGO 10689 10618
Totals 20482 19099
This year, Tuite is challenging Wait again.
Tuite had $62,825.81 on hand on Dec. 31 after raising $70,504.22 and spending $8,980.32. The cash includes a $50,000 loan that Tuite gave to his own campaign.
Wait, by contrast, had just $20,978.48 on hand after raising $20,600.00 and spending $13,927.46.
