Posted on 10/02/2009 4:05:24 PM PDT by Clintonfatigued
Political payback could turn an Illinois primary campaign into a Republican grudge match.
Less than two years after a divisive primary crippled the GOP’s hopes in a special election won by Rep. Bill Foster (D-Ill.), Republicans are setting up strikingly similar battle lines in their February primary.
State Sen. Randy Hultgren announced his candidacy for the seat on Monday, joining attorney Ethan Hastert — the son of the district’s longtime congressman and former House Speaker Dennis Hastert (R) — and several other candidates.
Hultgren has drawn praise from state Sen. Chris Lauzen, who bloodied up businessman Jim Oberweis in the 2008 special primary before Oberweis went on to get upset in the general election. In that race, Oberweis had the backing of the elder Hastert and his political operation.
(Excerpt) Read more at thehill.com ...
Randy Hultgren is the only candidate who has won elective office in the past and he’s the more conservative. Choosing him would be a win/win situation.
Does anyone know anything about Jeff Danklefsen? I met his wife after Foster’s Not Townhall meeting in Geneva. They were getting signatures on petitions so he could run against Foster.
I’ve never heard of him, but I’m not from Illinois.
I agree. I've endorsed Hultgren in this race and will be posting an in-depth exposition thread about his background when the time is right. This is one of the few spots where were really able to find a top-tier recruit. The good news is that one of the less known "non Hastert" candidates, Bill Cross, has already withdrawn and endorsed Hultgren. Now we just need Jeff Danklefsen and Mark Vargas to follow suit so they won't split the anti-Hastert vote. I'm confident Hultgren has the strongest chance to take out Foster AND he's the most conservative candidate in the field.
BTW, last year's nominee Jim Oberweis apparently felt the need to weigh-in on this one:
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Oberweis, who is supporting Ethan Hastert’s campaign, said his former opponent is exacting revenge for his loss.
“Mr. Lauzen does not hold Mr. Hastert in high esteem, which is a shame,” Oberweis said. “And I think this is sort of an attempt at payback, which is not good for the Republican Party.”
Oberweis said Hultgren will have to answer to supporters about his decision if and when he loses.
“I think it’s a mistake for him, and I think it’s bad for the party,” Oberweis said.
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The funny thing is NONE of the Oberweis fans on FR will admit to voting for him in the 2008 primary, even though that's the ONLY primary he won. They DO continue to rehash the 2006 primary though, and continue to blame Bill Brady for Oberweis' defeat (three years later, this is a common 'talking point' of the Andrejewski voters who are backing him because they hate Brady), and even use it as an excuse why no one should vote for Brady this time around because he supposed "made a deal with Topinka" last time around "to stop Oberweis from becoming Governor". For freepers who claim not to be particularly fond of Oberweis, they sure seem to repeat his I-was-a-victim-of-other-Republicans talking points verbatim. Reminds me of Michael Moore and the Nader crowd continually harping on Bush "stealing" the 2000 election from Gore when they claim they never supposed Gore to begin with. Why are they so upset that he lost then? I wasn't upset when RINO Topinka lost to Rod Blo-jo.
Jeff Danklefsen is a property maintenance manager for a St. Charles management company. He's a conservative activist who was involved with the Kane County Tea Party last April in Geneva, Illinois. He threw his hat into the ring before Hultgren announced because conservatives were looking for someone to challenge Ethan Hastert and stop nepotism. Mark Vargas is a defense department civilian employee in Iraq who was similarly motivated to enter the 2010 primary. Bill Cross is an hardware store owner and Ex-Aurora City Councilman who also jumped in to stop Hastert. He has now withdrawn his candidacy and is throwing his support to Hultgren. I hope Danklefsen and Vargas follow suit.
Hultgren has an 87.5 lifetime rating from the Illinois Republican Fund, (the local answer to the ACU though they only rate a few key votes).
Conservatives should unite around him.
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