Welcome to the home page of the Moraine Township Democrats! This is the front page, on which you will find news, announcements, and upcoming events. For a chronological list of events, click here. Check back frequently for updates!
Welcome!
Voter Registration Training
The greatest gift this country can offer its citizens is the right to vote. And registering fellow citizens so that they are able to exercise that right is a dynamic way to participate in the political process. Tenth Dems is organizing training sessions for residents of Lake and Cook counties. If you are interested in training to be a deputy voter registrar for the coming election cycle, call us at 847-266-VOTE (8683) or contact us at volunteers@tenthdems.org. Be sure to leave your name, address and phone number.
Hamos, Garrett, Hoyer Endorse Schneider
Brad Schneider
Former State Rep. Julie Hamos has endorsed Brad Schneider for the Democratic nomination for Congress in the 10th Congressional District. Schneider also has received endorsements from State Senators Susan Garrett and Jeff Schoenberg and, most recently, from House Democratic Whip Steny Hoyer.
“From my years of serving the people of this area, I have no doubt that Brad is the person we need in Congress,” said Hamos, who ran for the post two years ago in the Democratic primary. “With his foresight and values, he will take on the nonsense in Washington and be an intelligent, forceful voice for middle class families.”
Drury To Run for Karen May’s Seat
Scott Drury
Highland Park native Scott Drury is the first Democrat to announce his candidacy for the Illinois General Assembly seat held by retiring State Rep. Karen May (D-58th). Drury, a Highwood resident, withdrew from the Lake County state’s attorney’s race to run for nomination as a Democratic candidate for state representative in the March 20 primary.
Drury’s departure from the state’s attorney’s race leaves Libertyville resident and Lake Forest attorney Chris Kennedy, Assistant Lake County State’s Attorney Reginald Mathews of Waukegan, and Mundelein attorney Karen Williams competing for the Democratic nomination.
Poll: Dold Likely to Lose Congressional Seat
Ilya Sheyman
- Brad Schneider
John Tree
According to a poll taken by Public Policy Polling, only 42% of voters in Illinois’ 10th Congressional District would like to reelect Bob Dold, while 50% would prefer someone else. Just 35% have a favorable opinion of the Republicans in Congress, with 54% holding a negative one. Brad Schneider, Ilya Sheyman, and John Tree are among the five Democratic primary election candidates competing for Dold’s seat.
Three U.S. Congressmen Endorse Ilya Sheyman for Congress in Illinois’ 10th District
Ilya Sheyman
Three U.S. Congressmen, including the Congressional Progressive Caucus’ two co-chairs, endorsed Ilya Sheyman’s campaign for Congress in Illinois’ 10th District on Thursday, October 27, adding to a growing coalition of national and local support. Rep. Keith Ellison of Minnesota, Rep. Raúl Grijalva of Arizona, and Rep. Jesse Jackson, Jr., of Illinois, threw their backing behind Sheyman.
Sheyman and his family emigrated from the former Soviet Union to Illinois as Jewish refugees. The community organizer and former national Mobilization Director for MoveOn.org aims to unseat incumbent Republican Rep. Robert Dold in 2012.
“We need more progressive voices like Ilya’s in Congress,” said Rep. Grijalva. “I look forward to serving with him in the Congressional Progressive Caucus as we work to rebuild the American Dream.”
Rep. Grijalva, a fifth-term Congressman from Arizona’s 7th District, is a long-standing member of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, where he chairs the Education Task Force. He is also vice-chair of the House LGBT Equality Caucus.
Reps. Ellison and Grijalva serve as co-chairs of the Congressional Progressive Caucus (CPC), the largest caucus within the House Democratic Caucus.
With the CPC and Rep. Grijalva, Rep. Ellison (MN-5) helped shape historic health care reform and Wall Street reform, raise the federal minimum wage, start the process to end the War in Iraq, strengthen veterans’ benefits, combat hate crimes, and create guarantees of pay equality for women. With Rep. Jackson, Rep. Ellison is also a member of the Congressional Black Caucus.
“Throughout his career as a community organizer, and throughout this campaign, Ilya Sheyman has proved that he is a force to be reckoned with,” said Rep. Ellison. “Ilya has demonstrated that he has what it takes not only to beat a Republican incumbent and take the 10th District back for the Democrats, but also that he’s ready to get down to the serious business of rebuilding our devastated middle class. I look forward to working with him in the Congressional Progressive Caucus.”
Rep. Jackson, who represents Illinois’ 2nd District, is one of the most senior members of the Illinois Congressional Delegation. He is a member of the Congressional Black Caucus and the CPC.
“Ilya Sheyman is a true Democrat–one who will stand up and fight for the needs of working families. I am proud to endorse him as the next Democratic member of the Illinois Congressional Delegation, and I look forward to having him as an ally in Washington as we continue to focus on putting people back to work across Illinois and the entire nation,” said Jackson.
Sheyman said he is “grateful and honored” to have the support of Reps. Ellison, Grijalva and Jackson. “These Congressmen have been champions on critical issues affecting the people of Illinois and across this country–from health care reform to job creation and beyond,” said Sheyman. “I can’t wait to serve alongside them in Congress to bring good paying jobs back to Illinois.”
The Congressional endorsements are another signal of growing momentum for Sheyman, who nearly doubled his primary opponent’s fundraising in the third quarter of 2011.
Sheyman has the support of former Democratic National Committee Chair Gov. Howard Dean, as well as MoveOn.org, whose 12,000 members in the 10th District recently voted to endorse him. Sheyman has also been endorsed by Democracy for America, the Progressive Change Campaign Committee, the Sheet Metal Workers Union, Local 73, the International Longshoremen’s Association, AFL-CIO, and Mike McGue, president of the Lake County Federation of Teachers.
For more information about Ilya Sheyman’s campaign for Congress, please visit www.sheymanforcongress.com or contact Joanna Klonsky at 312-307-0840.
To learn more about the CPC, please visit http://cpc.grijalva.house.gov/.
Three Dem Officials To Bow Out
State Sen. Susan Garrett
State Rep. Karen May
County Board member Anne Flanigan Bassi
Three local Democratic stalwarts—State Sen. Susan Garrett (D-29th), State Rep. Karen May (D-58th), and Lake County Board member Anne Flanigan Bassi (D-23rd)—will not seek reelection. Their current terms expire in November 2012.
So far, West Deerfield Township Supervisor Julie Morrison has announced her candidacy to succeed Garrett. Highland Park City Council member Steve Mandel, a board member of the Solid Waste Agency of Lake County, is considering a run for the newly redrawn county board district. Scott Drury, a Highwood attorney, has withdrawn from the race for Lake County states’ attorney to seek May’s seat in the General Assembly.
Garrett, who has served as a state legislator for 12 years and is currently Senate majority whip, received the Ab Mikva Political Courage Award at the Tenth Dems fundraiser September 18. She fought to create the office of Inspector General to oversee the RTA in the wake of alleged misappropriation of funds and mismanagement at Metra. She sponsored policies designed to provide more transparency and accountability in state government, which led to the creation of the Illinois Transparency and Accountability Portal (ITAP). She has worked with the IL Environmental Protection Agency and the IL Department of Public Health to develop a system for managing household wastes. Most recently, she sponsored legislation to help increase recycling of discarded electronics.
During her 10-plus years in office, May has pushed for pension reforms, including banning those receiving public pensions from also receiving taxpayer-paid salaries and reducing the maximum pensions that retired public employees may receive. As leader of the Green Caucus in the General Assembly and chair of the Renewable Energy and Environmental Health committees, she has fought for tougher laws protecting natural resources and ending the production, sale, and distribution of harmful consumer products such as those containing mercury. She was a leading advocate of budget tightening reforms and has consistently opposed pay hikes for legislators.
Bassi, who has served on the Lake County Board since 2002, chairs the Board’s Revenue, Records and Legislative Committee and is treasurer of the Lake County Forest Preserves Commission. She has advocated for affordable housing and has secured more than $800,000 in county funds for that purpose. She also helped obtain grants for wetland restoration, environmental remediation at the Karger Center, and ravine work at Fort Sheridan. She was instrumental in establishing a flood protection fund, into which developers must pay. Bassi has no current plans to seek elective office but does not rule it out.
“Leaving office will not mean I’m leaving public service,” Bassi wrote in a letter e-mailed to constituents. “I am not retiring, just re-inventing. There are different ways to serve, and many venues through which to work on issues that impact the quality of life for our community.”