Posts filed under 'Todd Sieben'
March 11th, 2008
Former Lee County Sheriff Tim Bivins on Tuesday began his first day in his new job — as the state senator from the 45th district.
The 55-year-old Dixon resident was sworn in Friday by a Lee County judge to replace retiring Sen. Todd Sieben, R-Geneseo.
Although Bivins was appointed to the seat, he still must be elected during November’s general election. Marty Mulcahey, who works for the Illinois Secretary of State and is the son of former Rep. Dick Mulcahey, is Bivins’ Democratic opponent.
In February, Bivins won the Republican primary for Sieben’s district, which includes the western part of Winnebago County and all of Stephenson County. Sieben has said he hopes his retirement will give Bivins an advantage over Mulcahey during the general election.
Bivins, who was the Lee County sheriff from 1986 to 2006, said one of his legislative initiatives will be to watch the state budget closely.
“We can’t borrow ourselves out of debt,” he said.
In the short term, Bivins’ largest task will be learning how Springfield works and of course, learning names.
“(I’ve forgotten) all of them, including my own,” he said.
March 6th, 2008
The Republican County chairmen of the 45th Senate district will vote tomorrow on who will replace retiring state Sen. Todd Sieben.
Lee County GOP chairman Gregory Witzleb said Republican Tim Bivins is the only candidate whose name has come up.
“I have not heard of anybody else,” Witzleb said. “As it appears now, Tim is the only candidate.”
Bivins won the Republican primary for the seat on Feb. 5. Sieben, R-Geneseo, has said allowing Bivins to be appointed to his seat will give him a substantial advantage over Democratic opponent Marty Mulcahey.
Witzleb said after the vote, the person elected president and secretary of the group will hand-deliver the results to the State Board of Elections, the Secretary of the Senate and the Secretary of State.
We will have more details later on what happens after the appointee’s name is given to the state.
March 5th, 2008
As you loyal blog readers know, Sen. Todd Sieben retired from the Senate last week and ended his 21-year career in state politics.
The Senate spent nearly 10 minutes remembering the Geneseo Republican’s tenure, and now you can listen to the touching tribute.
Sieben’s retirement becomes official on Thursday. We are closely watching the eight Republican county chairmen from the 45th state Senate district because they are supposed to vote soon on Sieben’s replacement.
In January, Sieben said he hoped former Lee County Sheriff Tim Bivins, who won the Republican primary for 45th state Senate seat on Feb. 5, would be appointed to his empty seat.
This could give him a distinct advantage in November over his Democratic opponent, Marty Mulcahey, who at the time said such an appointment smacks of insider, “backroom” politics. Mulcahey, the son of former Rep. Dick Mulcahey, is the former Democratic chairman of JoDaviess County and works for the Secretary of State.
The 45th state Senate district stretches from the northwest Illinois border in JoDaviess County across Stephenson to cut through the middle of Winnebago and Ogle counties and encompasses all of Lee. It also includes parts of Whiteside and Carroll counties.
Keep watching the blog for more updates as we follow this story.
February 28th, 2008
Sen. Todd Sieben, R-Geneseo, today said he intends to resign, and in effect retire from the Illinois Senate, on March 6.
In late January, Sieben said he planned to retire after the Feb. 5 primary to help pave the way for fellow Republican Tim Bivins, a retired Lee County sheriff.
Republican Bivins would therefore enter the Nov. 4 general election as the incumbent, potentially giving him a significant edge over Democrat Marty Mulcahey.
Since the Senate seat is held by a Republican, the district’s GOP chairmen get to pick Sieben’s successor. The district covers much of northwestern Illinois, stretching from western Winnebago County through Freeport to Galena and south to Geneseo. …
Mulcahey said the move smacks of insider, old-school politics — an attitude he claims he would counter as a legislator. …
The Senate district leans strongly Republican, so this development seems like bad news for Mulcahey. It’s largely rural with scattered urban pockets. In the 2004 presidential race, George W. Bush won 56.2 percent of the vote. Democrat John Kerry won just 43.8 percent.
Sieben has had a 30-year career in politics, where he served in the Senate for 16 years. He also spent three terms in House. He is assistant Republican Senate leader.
UPDATE 1
Senators honored Sieben on the chamber’s floor today, as he presented his final bill as a senator.
No one seemed to really care about the contents of the bill during the debate. Instead, one after another, senators on both sides of the aisle spoke fondly of the retiring Republican.
“You exemplify what it really means to be a statesman,” said Sen. Jacqueline Collins, D-Chicago.
Sen. Kimberly Lightford, D-Maywood, was one of several lawmakers who said they considered Sieben a mentor, particularly when they were freshman senators.
“I don’t have any opposition to the bill, but I do have opposition to Sen. Sieben leaving us,” Lightford said. “I appreciate all the support you have given us over the years, and like you say, you watched me grow here.”
Sen. Brad Burzynski, R-Clare, joked with Sieben about the possibility of him staying in the Senate longer.
“If this bill goes down in defeat today, will you stay in the General Assembly long enough to pass it?” Burzynski asked.
In response, Sieben said:
“That decision has been a challenging one since last August, but this will be my last effort for sure so I hope the (voting) board doesn’t go too red too long,” he said.
As Sen. Rickey Hendon, D-Chicago, opened voting, more than two dozen legislators voted against the bill.
Then slowly a few legislators changed their ‘No’ votes to ‘Yes,’ and suddenly in snowball-like fashion, the ‘No’-voting senators flipped their votes as well.
As Hendon called for the last votes to be cast, the Senate fell silent, watching the board’s final two ‘No’ votes.
Burzynski, as if toying with the idea of pursuading Sieben to stick around, finally flipped his ‘No’ vote to ‘Yes.’ The Senate erupted in cheers, and Sieben, triumphantly throwing his fist in the air, ended his legislative career with his final bill passing, 51-0.
January 23rd, 2008
Sen. Todd Sieben said Wednesday that he plans to retire shortly after the Feb. 5 primary election, paving the way for Republican party bosses to fill his seat with Tim Bivins.
Republican Bivins would therefore enter the Nov. 4 general election as the incumbent, potentially giving him a significant edge over Democrat Marty Mulcahey.
Since the Senate seat is held by a Republican, the district’s GOP chairmen get to pick Sieben’s successor. The district covers much of northwestern Illinois, stretching from western Winnebago County through Freeport to Galena and south to Geneseo.
“Certainly, an individual who is an incumbent senator has an advantage in an election,” said Sieben, R-Geneseo. “That’s been proven over and over again.”
Mulcahey said the move smacks of insider, old-school politics — an attitude he claims he would counter as a legislator.
“This falls into that politics as usual, that backroom, you know, cigar mentality of how we do things,” he said.
Sieben noted he’s just doing what Democrats do all the time.
“I learned how to do this from the Democrats,” Sieben said. “This is nothing new in their playbook. This is a typical way that the Democrats would handle the same situation.”
Sieben is retiring after serving more than 21 years in the General Assembly — six in the House and 15 in the Senate.
Mulcahey, the son of former Rep. Dick Mulcahey and a former legislative staffer, works for Illinois Secretary of State Jesse White. He lives in Galena.
Bivins, a retired Lee County sheriff, lives in Dixon. He is excited about Sieben’s move.
“It’s a probably a two-edged sword right now,” he said of the prospect of incumbency. “If we have another year like last year (in Springfield), where the session lasts until August and into September and there’s numerous special sessions, it could be a disadvantage.”
Update 1
The Senate district leans strongly Republican, so this development seems like bad news for Mulcahey. It’s largely rural with scattered urban pockets. In the 2004 presidential race, George W. Bush won 56.2 percent of the vote. Democrat John Kerry won just 43.8 percent.
It’s tough to say at this point whether the November general election will be good for Democrats around Illinois. If this state’s own Barack Obama is the Democratic nominee for president, Democrats and independents probably will head to the polls en masse.
On the other hand, all-Democratic control of state government has been nothing short of a trainwreck for a solid year. Party infighting has been so severe and so consistent, it’s hard to imagine that voters won’t unleash some level of anti-Democrat sentiment once they get to the polls.
Then again, Illinois simply is an increasingly Democratic-leaning state. The Democrats control literally every statewide office, as well as both U.S. Senate seats. And it’s hard to imagine the Republicans winning any of those statewide seats back in the next two years. Their own state party infrastructure is in shambles.
UPDATE 2
More from my conversation with Sieben:
“I’ve let it be known to the county chairmen, the eight county chairmen in my Senate district, that my intention is after the primary, after the Feb. 5 primary, that I intend to retire as state senator,” he said. “Once I do retire, then that obviously creates an opening and my hope is that the county chairmen would then appoint Tim Bivins to complete my term.”
He continued, “Since the office is held by a Republican, the Republican county chairmen are notified of the vacancy and they convene a meeting, elect a chairmen and a secretary, and each county chairmen then casts a weighted vote for a candidate to complete my term.”
January 23rd, 2008
Democrat Marty Mulcahey didn’t waste any time catching up with his opponent’s fundraising in the race to represent the northwestern Illinois 45th Senate District.
Mulcahey ended 2007 with$11,205.18 in his campaign fund. However, on Jan. 14 he reported a $10,000 donation from the Northwest Illinois Central Labor Council. If he hasn’t spent that money already, then he has more than his opponent, Tim Bivins. Republican Bivins ended the year with $20,007.88 on hand.
(Mulcahey reported two other contributions since Dec. 31, but he filed those statements on paper. That means I can’t give you those details until tomorrow, when the State Board of Elections opens.) The State Board of Elections just called and said the two reports are blank.
The two men are racing to succeed Sen. Todd Sieben, R-Geneseo, who is not seeking re-election.
Mulcahey, who works for Illinois Secretary of State Jesse White, is the son of former Rep. Dick Mulcahey. He lives in Galena.
Bivins, a retired Lee County sheriff, lives in Dixon.
The 45th Senate District runs from western Winnebago County through Freeport and Galena to the Mississippi River, then south to Geneseo. The district is pictured here in yellow.
