My parish priest who has been in our diocese for over 33 years, has not been elevated to monsignorer. The Archbishop who heard his homily and saw how he conducted his Mass, actually was shocked that he was not a least a monsignor, and spoke it openly. To paraphrase, "Doesn't your diocese send people out to observe their priest?"
The saddest thing is that observers probably WERE sent. That's very likely why he isn't monsignor.
The diocesan bureaucracies (not necessarily the ordinary himself) in the US are largely in the hands of the enemy (IMHO).