May 1, 2002
REPUBLICAN WAR STILL SIMMERS IN MAINE TOWNSHIP

ANALYSIS & OPINION BY RUSS STEWART

It wasn’t quite the ghost of Christmas past, but rather the ghost of transgressions past – plus the ghost of Marty Butler -- that propelled former Maine Township Supervisor Mark Thompson to a 153-vote victory in the March 19 race for township Republican committeeman.

Thompson defeated appointed incumbent Bill Darr, an unanticipated outcome which suffused local Democrats with orgiastic delight, as they expect it will create a permanent split among the Republicans, and open the door for a Democratic takeover of township government in 2005.

Darr is closely allied with township Supervisor Bob Dudycz. In January of 2001, at the township Republican caucus, Darr and Dudycz packed the session with supporters, and dumped Thompson, who had been supervisor since 1993. Dudycz, brother of retiring Chicago State Senator Wally Dudycz (R-7), won Round One, replaced Thompson, and went on to trounce his Democratic foe.

But Thompson, by coming back to win Round Two, sets up what will surely be a fierce and acrimonious Round Three, wherein he will attempt to reclaim his old job and oust Dudycz in 2005.

Maine Township is a rough square bordered by Harlem, Devon, Mount Prospect Road, and Central Road, and takes in Park Ridge, Des Plaines, and parts of Niles and Glenview. It contains 146 precincts. Once a Republican bastion, it has been trending Democratic: it went for Al Gore in the 2000 election by a narrow 24,729-23,196 margin over George Bush.

However, in the 2001 township election, then-Trustee Dudycz defeated Democrat Mike Yesner by 9,545-7,075. Dudycz got just 41 percent of the 2000 Bush vote total, but Yesner got only 28 percent of the Gore total. More of the Republican base came out than did the Democratic base; but, if the Republican base is split in 2005, then a Democrat will triumph.

Darr, a longtime political operative who worked for George Ryan when he was both Secretary of State and governor, is the current state commissioner of Banks and Real Estate; he was named committeeman in 1999 by the Republican county central committee after the death of much-beloved incumbent Marty Butler in December of 1998.

Butler was then a state senator, and had been Park Ridge’s mayor from 1973 to 1991. He was elected committeeman in March, 1990, defeating Phil Raffe, and named himself to the Illinois Senate in January, 1991, when the seat was vacated by Bob Kustra, who had been elected as Illinois’ lieutenant governor.

Butler was a master accommodationist, especially adept at placating the warring factions of the township party, who were chronically contentious on the issue of abortion rights. His secret weapon was his wife, Gerry, who oversaw Butler’s vast network of friends and allies, and kept everybody happy with her husband. In the1990 Republican primary, when Butler won the committeemanship, anti-abortion State Representative Penny Pullen, of Park Ridge, lost to pro-abortion Rosemary Mulligan, of Des Plaines, by 31 votes; a recount, however, gave Pullen a five-vote win.

In 1992, Mulligan came back to trounce Pullen by 1,224 votes, and has held the House seat since. Butler, who was publicly pro-life, nevertheless believed in the Big Tent approach, tolerated differing viewpoints, bridged the ideological gulf, and kept the party united. Instead of warring among themselves, Butler directed party workers to war on Democrats, and orchestrated the township campaign of 1993 which resulted in Thompson winning the supervisor’s job by just 27 votes; Thompson was re-elected in 1997 by 5,116 votes. Thompson was a key Butler ally and protégé.

Upon Butler’s death, his successor as senator was Dave Sullivan, then a top aide to then-Secretary of State George Ryan; and Darr, who also worked for Ryan, and was deemed to be a non-ideological technician, was named committeeman. Darr kept the peace in the abortion wars, with Mulligan in 2000 backing the pro-life Sullivan for nomination as senator, and Sullivan backing the pro-abortion Mulligan for renomination as representative.

But, in 2001, Darr conspired with Bob Dudycz, who had been elected a trustee in 1997, and they proceeded to dump Thompson as supervisor. Not advising Thompson of their intentions, Dudycz and Darr brought busloads of voters into the January caucus, which voted by 251-50 to nominate Dudycz for supervisor. Thompson, expecting to be chosen for another term, didn’t make any effort to bring his supporters to the caucus – much to his chagrin. The $18,000-a-year supervisor’s job is somewhat the equivalent of a Chicago alderman, providing and managing services in the unincorporated areas. With about 50 jobs under his direct control, the supervisor is a key political player.

But the ill-will engendered by Thompson’s purge didn’t dissipate; Thompson endorsed Yesner, even though he was then the president of the Maine Township Republican Organization, and many Republicans were irritated, if not incensed, by the Darr-Dudycz coup d’etat. Revenge was in the air in 2002. Thompson announced against Darr, and became a magnet for all those who resisted the Dudycz-Darr machine.

Darr’s precinct captains voted to endorse Jim Ryan for governor, Dave Wiltse for judge in the suburban 12th subcircuit, and incumbent Herb Schumann in the 17th County Board District. Everybody else – supporters of Corrine Wood for governor, of Sandra Tristano for judge, of Elizabeth Doody Gorman for county commissioner, the backers of Mulligan in general, and, most importantly, the vast network of Gerry Butler’s acquaintances – embraced Thompson, both  as a mechanism to defeat and diminish the Darr-Dudycz operation, and also to exact retribution for the wrong inflicted in January 2001. And, like a raft atop an onrushing wave, Thompson succeeded, beating Darr by 4,505-4,352. Thompson won not by actively crafting a coalition of anti-Darr/Dudycz people, but rather by just passively being the anti-Darr candidate on the ballot, and getting the vote of all the Darr/Dudycz enemies.

Jim Ryan carried Maine Township by 2,213 votes over Wood – 4,797-2,584, with 2,486 votes for Pat O’Malley – but Gorman beat Schumann, and Tristano beat Wiltse.  Thompson’s most effective ally proved to be Gerry Butler; she was infuriated by Thompson’s treatment in 2001, sent out several mailings to the over a thousand Maine Township Republicans on Marty Butler’s mailing list, forwarded  postcards to her friends, and made hundreds of phone calls. “She was instrumental in my victory,” concedes Thompson. “A lot of people were upset by the sneak attack which ousted me as supervisor. That anger provided the passion which was the key to my success.”

“We had 120 of (the township’s) 146 precincts covered,” explained Darr, “and we almost won.”  Darr believes that Thompson began the campaign well ahead. “He’d (Thompson) been in township government since 1981, had run five times for township office, was active in the party organization, and was well-known. This was my first township race,” said Darr. “Everybody who was antagonistic toward us backed him (Thompson).”

Darr did not highlight Thompson’s apostasy in backing Yesner, and simply relied on his captains to deliver. His reliance was misplaced. Thompson was first on the ballot, had been active in his church for decades, had run and won townshipwide in 1981, 1985, 1989 (for trustee), 1993 and 1997 (for supervisor), had spent years attending various civic affairs and dinners, had the benefit of the sympathy factor, and was simply better known. Darr didn’t deluge Republican primary voters with mailings, and didn’t campaign door-to-door.

So what happens now? Darr said that he is going into political retirement. Dudycz is sulking and doesn’t return phone calls. But the other township Republican officials seem to be adjusting to the new reality. Thompson held his first organization meeting on April 11, and claimed that there “was a huge crowd.” Thompson can keep the Mulligan people happy, but the problem is that they only work precincts for Mulligan. Can he get the Darr-Dudycz captains to follow his leadership? Or will they stick with Dudycz, and treat Thompson as their enemy? If they think that Thompson will try to oust Dudycz as supervisor in 2005, then they will boycott and try to undermine him.

My prediction: Until Thompson publicly forswears revenge against Dudycz in 2005, the Maine Township Republicans will remain seriously divided. Thompson could be a unifying force, much like his mentor, Butler, but his first task is to get Dudycz back in the fold.

Thompson was vengeful after he lost; He filed a federal lawsuit 2001, after his dumping, which alleged that Darr, the Dudycz Brothers, Governor George Ryan, and the director of the Illinois Department of Professional Regulation, where Thompson works as an attorney, conspired to punish him by transferring him to Springfield. Thompson stayed in Chicago, but lost the lawsuit, which he then appealed. Everybody involved had to spend money for their defense, and Bob Dudycz’s contempt for Thompson is palpable. Now it’s Dudycz’s turn to be vengeful.

Expect Thompson and Dudycz to remain estranged. And, given that division, expect  both Thompson and Dudycz to run for supervisor in 2005 (one on a new party slate), and expect a Democrat to win the post.