Republicans Find Nominee In Weller Seat

Republicans appear to have found their candidate to run in the seat of retiring Rep. Jerry Weller (R-Ill.) after their previous nominee, New Lenox mayor Tim Baldermann, abruptly dropped out of the race last month.

Businessman Martin Ozinga, who owns a Chicago-area concrete company, announced he will be seeking the support of the district’s party leadership, and appears to all-but-assured of the nomination, according to a state GOP operative.

The 11th Congressional District State Central Committee will be officially naming a replacement candidate at a meeting on April 30.

“After much prayer and careful consideration – and at the urging of Republican leaders, 11th District voters and my family – I have decided to run for Congress to be a positive part of the process of returning to the foundational truths established by our forefathers,” Ozinga said in a statement.

The Democratic nominee, state Senate President Debbie Halvorson, has been one of the party's leading recruits and reported banking nearly $400,000 by mid-January.

“Businessman Martin Ozinga, who owns a Chicago-area concrete company...”

That might come in handy if the Republicans in IL had any b@lls and made sure that their ‘Rat opponents were “sleepin’ wid da fishes!”

(Sorry. Couldn’t resist. Frustrated Wisconsinite, here. Your IL Politics have been seeping into my state for waaaay too many years, already!)

This must be Marty Ozinga III, because Marty Ozinga Jr. is from my hometown, which unfortunately is in Crook County and stuck in Bobby "Black Panther" Rush's district. The younger Ozinga is further south, but I've heard that he's also not quite a resident of the 11th District (he's in newly incorporated Homer Glen, a tad north of the Joliet area), and would have to establish residency.

One thing about the Ozingas is they are quite a wealthy and connected political family and they are rather prominent in Republican circles. The elder Ozinga briefly flirted with a run for Mayor of my hometown back in 2001 when the old Mayor since '68 died and the village clerk became Mayor, but ultimately decided against it, probably due to his age (I think he was pushing 70 at the time)

Speaking of which, I think fieldmarshaldj made a remake a while back that I didn't have a clue what political party my mayor was, which is bizarre as the freeper who commented that fieldmarshaldj was a Romney sympathizer.

I know exactly what party is "in power" here but the answer is rather complex:

The "local" villages and cities in Chicagoland aren't affiliated with the "major" parties (the exception being Cicero, controlled by crooked RINOs, and Calument City -- they all have a "D" next to their names), but instead the local elections are fought between "local" parties with names like "Integrity Party" "Taxpayers Party", "Citizens Party", etc., which generally either align with either the Democrat or Republicans, but don't list them as such on the ballot. My town had the "United Homeowners" and "Good Government" parities back in the 70s and 80s, but there really wasn't much difference as they were pretty much in favor of whatever party was in power in Illinois at that moment in time. So in the 90s they merged and my hometown is run by the "United Homeowners-Good Government Party", which holds every office in town and generally runs unopposed. Our mayor recently attended the Worth Township Regular Republican Party function and renewed his yearly membership for $10 (I was there), but if I had to venture I guess, he probably does the same thing when the Worth Township Democrat Organization meets. These guys are all "post-partisan" as they say.

"Speaking of which, I think fieldmarshaldj made a remake a while back that I didn't have a clue what political party my mayor was, which is bizarre as the freeper who commented that fieldmarshaldj was a Romney sympathizer."

As I recall, you stated you were from Peoria, and you didn't know the party affiliation of your Mayor.

"The "local" villages and cities in Chicagoland aren't affiliated with the "major" parties (the exception being Cicero, controlled by crooked RINOs"

Cicero has fallen. With Betty Loren-Maltese's incarceration, power passed to a Hispanic Republican machine, but that fell swiftly and was replaced by a non-partisan election for Mayor and the Hispanic Republican they sent to the IL House was defeated by a Hispanic Democrat and it hasn't gone back since.

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