October 6, 2004
PRIMOGENITURE AN ISSUE IN 15TH DISTRICT RACE

ANALYSIS & OPINION BY RUSS STEWART

Republican Bill Miceli hopes that voters in the 15th Illinois House District recognize the difference between political royalty and what he sees as a political travesty. "Nobody has a right to any public office by imperial birthright," Miceli said, referring to Democratic opponent John D'Amico.

D'Amico, age 41, the grandson of the late Alderman Tony Laurino (39th) and the nephew of Alderman Marge Laurino (39th) and of former state representative Bill Laurino, represents the next generation of the "Laurino Clan" to engage in the family business -- politics. D'Amico, a district foreman for the city Department of Water Management, is seeking an open seat in a district which is anchored on the 39th Ward.

"(Miceli) is a chronic campaigner with no credibility," said Randy Barnette, Marge Laurino's husband, who is the 39th Ward Democratic committeeman. "He's lost (for other offices) so many times I can't keep count." Replies Miceli: "Members of the Laurino family and their precinct captains have been indicted so many times that I can't keep count."

Miceli hopes that voters have long memories and that they will recall that Tony Laurino, who died before going on trial, was charged in federal court with bilking Chicago taxpayers out of $1.8 million by putting 36 "ghost payrollers" on his City Council Traffic Committee payroll. Among those "ghosts" were the alderman's wife, stepdaughter, daughter and son-in-law. The latter two are D'Amico's parents. "They made a mistake, and they paid the price," D'Amico said. "They are not and should not be an issue in this campaign."

But Miceli, an administrator at the Chicago Public Schools central office, lost a 2002 race for state representative (getting 31.9 percent of the vote), as well as past contests for state senator and county school superintendent. He said that he is running against the "culture of corruption" which permeates the area. Miceli accused D'Amico of being "a chip off the old Laurino block," noting "Hired Truck" press reports that seven water department workers were suspended when their crew foreman falsified their pay sheets last year. The trucks were not needed at a West Side job site. D'Amico was their supervisor, and he supposedly should have known that the trucks weren't needed, but he said that he was on a different job site. He was not disciplined.

Beyond the charges of chronic "corruption" or chronic candidacies, clear differences exist between the candidates. Miceli is pro-life, while D'Amico is pro-choice, even on the issue of partial-birth abortions. "He is violating his Catholic faith," Miceli said.

Miceli supports the right to carry concealed weapons under the Second Amendment; D'Amico, who says he is a sportsman, opposes any right to carry a handgun. Miceli is opposed to "any state tax increase," while D'Amico said he is "very interested" in the possibilities of a plan to "swap" tax burdens by increasing the state income tax and concomitantly reducing property taxes. That idea was proposed by Democrat Dawn Clark Netsch in 1994 and entertained by Governor Jim Edgar in 1997, but it went nowhere. "We're taxing out senior citizens out of their homes," D'Amico said. "It's time to explore new remedies." However, D'Amico stopped short of endorsing a state tax hike.

And, on the issue of double dipping -- the practice of holding two public jobs simultaneously -- D'Amico has not yet made a decision. "I could keep my job (with the city) and still serve in Springfield," he said. "But I don't know if that's feasible."

Bill Laurino was a district superintendent for the city Department of Streets and Sanitation for most of his 26-year tenure in the House (1971-96). That tradition continues on the Northwest Side: In the 19th House District, Democrat Joe Lyons is director of manpower and training for the Cook County Board, in the 40th House District, Democrat Rich Bradley is an assistant general superintendent at Streets and Sanitation, and in the 15th House District, Democrat Ralph Capparelli, who is running for re-election in the 20th District, was a longtime aide at the former Board of Tax Appeals (now the Board of Review). State legislators do not get paid for their city or county job when they are in Springfield.

"What about Miceli?" Barnette asked. "Is he going to quit his job?" Retorts Miceli: "Absolutely not."

D'Amico said that he has been endorsed by the Chicago Teachers Union and that he wants to increase funding for education. "Their union wouldn't even endorse one of their own," he said.

D'Amico supports the importation of pharmaceutical drugs from Canada, and he backs an expansion of O'Hare Airport's flight capacity, including runway reconfiguration. "That (airport expansion) could create up to 185,000 jobs in the area," he said. He opposes the issuance of any additional casino licenses, and he said that Illinois "cannot base its budget on gambling revenue."

Miceli promises to be independent of Mike Madigan's. "(D'Amico) will vote as he's told (by Madigan)," he said. "I will vote for what's best for the district."

But the biggest difference is simply political. The 15th District is a Democratic-leaning district, and D'Amico is a Democrat. The Republican base vote is somewhere around 40 percent, which means that a credible, well funded Republican could conceivably beat a flawed, under-funded Democrat. That, however, won't happen in 2004, as Miceli lacks the funding to transform D'Amico into a flawed candidate.

As part of an intricate political arrangement, Capparelli, the House's deputy majority leader and the 41st Ward Democratic committeeman, opted to run in the newly created 15th District in 2002, even though his home was in the 20th District. Capparelli, who was first elected to the House in 1970, the same year as Bill Laurino, decided not to run in the 20th District in order to clear the way for his political ally and buddy, Bob Bugielski, to move into the district. Bugielski, however, ran an inept campaign and was defeated by Republican incumbent Mike McAuliffe. Subsequently, Capparelli refused to move from Edison Park into the 15th District, so to keep his job he must run against McAuliffe this year, leaving the 15th District seat open.

The 15th District extends from Glenview Road and Shermer in the north to Addison and Kostner in the south. It takes in most of the 39th Ward (40 of 47 precincts), parts of the 40th (10 precincts), 45th (seven precincts) and 50th (three precincts) wards, plus a couple of precincts in the 41st and 38th wards. It also includes 25 precincts in Niles Township (Morton Grove, Niles, Skokie and Lincolnwood) and 15 precincts in Maine Township (Niles and Glenview).

In the 2004 primary, D'Amico faced credible competition from attorney Dennis Fleming, winning 12,663-8,531 and getting 59.7 percent of the vote. D'Amico's 3,725-1,653 margin (69.3 percent) in his 39th Ward base was critical. D'Amico also carried all the suburban precincts. How did he win? Like McAuliffe when he defeated Bugielski, D'Amico is a campaigning animal, spending hours walking precincts. He also, with the aid of Barnette, raised and spent more than $100,000.

In 2002 Capparelli trounced Miceli 19,718-9,249 (with 68.1 percent of the vote), but, as D'Amico demonstrated in this year's primary, he is no Capparelli. The D'Amico name is largely unknown, and he does have his family's baggage. However, back in 2001, Madigan and his aides drew the Illinois House districts so as to be anchored by specific geographic areas. For example, Joe Lyons' 19th District is anchored by his 45th Ward base, the 20th District is anchored by both the 41st and 36th wards, and the 15th District is anchored by the 39th Ward. That means D'Amico will win the election if he comfortably carries the 39th Ward.

"We will win (the 39th Ward) by over 60 percent," predicted Barnette, who expects that Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Barack Obama will win overwhelmingly but that the Bush-Kerry presidential race will be close. D'Amico's election budget is $50,000, and Miceli, who doesn't have the capacity to run a self-funded campaign, will be lucky to raise $10,000.

My prediction: Miceli will do better in 2004 than he did in 2002, and he will break 40 percent. But Republicans in Springfield long ago wrote off the 15th District as unwinnable, and Miceli's candidacy has been ignored. An infusion of $75,000 for anti-D'Amico mailings stressing his parents' problems or the "imperial birthright" issue could have been effective. But that's just speculation, and D'Amico will win with 57 percent of the vote -- and likely will serve as many years as his uncle Bill. Primogeniture is alive and functional in the 39th ward and the 15th House District.

19th House District: Joe Lyons, first elected in 1996, replacing Bill Laurino in the old 15th District, was supposed to face a well funded 2004 onslaught by Roman Wiewiora, a wealthy Polish-born businessman. The 19th District extends from Devon-Nagle to Roscoe-Kostner, and it contains a sizable Polish immigrant population. Wiewiora's game plan was to launch an intensive registration program to get those Poles on the voter rolls and to appeal to ethnic pride in his campaign against Lyons. But Wiewiora has been invisible since the primary.

My prediction: Lyons was unopposed in 2002, and he will win easily in 2004. But the size of Wiewiora's vote will be closely scrutinized. If it's under 30 percent, then the district's ethnic population is politically somnolent and not about to awaken any time soon, but if it's close to 40 percent, even after Wiewiora's non-campaign, then a credible Polish-American candidate will challenge Lyons in 2006, in both the primary and election.