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player ready...Gov. James Thompson was greeted on an airport runway here Monday by gubernatorial challenger Adlai Stevenson as their 11th-hour fly-around tours of the state competed for media attention and voters` hearts.
Thompson, Stevenson and hundreds of other campaign-weary candidates throughout Illinois made their final pitches for support in an election that many voters say has failed to capture their interest.
Arriving at the Quad City Airport in Moline, Thompson found Stevenson waiting to greet him at a doorway. ”Welcome Jim, welcome to Rock Island,”
said Stevenson. Rock Island is immediately west of Moline.
”While you`re here, be sure to tell the people how much you`re going to increase their taxes,” Stevenson said as they shook hands.
Thompson replied, ”I won`t forget,” then added as Stevenson walked away, ”Not 33 times, Adlai.”
Stevenson has frequently predicted that Thompson plans to propose an after-election tax hike if he is re-elected, similar to a tax proposal made by Thompson after their 1982 campaign. Thompson has responded that Stevenson voted 33 times for tax increases during his two years in the Illinois House in the 1960s.
Thompson kicked off his fly-around with a press conference at Midway Airport, where he predicted a victory.
Later, Thompson landed in Rockford but had to wait for local news reporters to arrive because Stevenson was already holding a press conference nearby.
Stevenson appeared at Gates Rubber Co., outside Rockford, where he attacked Thompson for a planned $2 million loan and additional subsidies for a Japanese firm that plans to construct a factory in Ottawa.
Gates, a primary supplier of auto belts and hoses to Chrysler and other manufacturers, will lose a chunk of its sales to the company as a result of
”Thompson`s unfair subsidy,” Stevenson said.
”The way to go is to keep taxes down for everybody and create a great economic environment,” Stevenson said.
Stevenson predicted he will upset Thompson on Tuesday, citing a poll conducted by the Washington Post that put him 2 percentage points ahead of Thompson.
Thompson was joined briefly in Rockford by State Rep. Judy Koehler (R., Henry,) the Republican candidate for U.S. Senate.
Koehler kicked off her own state fly-around by predicting at a press conference at Meigs Field that she would score a ”stunning upset” in her race against Sen. Alan Dixon (D., Ill.) despite public opinion polls that show her a heavy underdog.
Koehler vowed that she would ”stand for integrity,” not vote for tax increases, work to balance the budget deficit, seek a seat on the Senate Agriculture Committee to help Illinois farmers and support a strong national defense.
Koehler reiterated a major theme of her uphill bid–that control of the Senate and President Reagan`s policies are hinging on her fate.
Dixon, at a Midway Airport news conference, insisted Monday he is only
”cautiously optimistic,” despite polls that show him leading Koehler by 30 to 40 percentage points.
”I always have some doubt about the election results,” said a grinning Dixon. ”That`s one of the exciting things about American politics. You never know.”
Dixon predicted Democrats would gain five or six seats in the U.S. Senate, switching party control from the current 53-47 Republican edge to a Democratic margin of 52-48 or 53-47. He said he believed President Reagan`s campaign blitz on behalf of Republican Senate candidates will be only marginally helpful because ”I don`t think popularity is transferable.”
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In the heated race for Cook County sheriff, incumbent Democrat Richard Elrod mined for votes at several North Side senior citizen homes while Republican challenger James O`Grady stumped in the western suburbs with State Rep. Judy Baar Topinka (R., Riverside) and on the Southwest Side with State Senate hopeful Robert Raica. Raica is considered to have a good chance of unseating State Sen. LeRoy Lemke (D., Chicago).
Elrod has predicted that he will win a fifth term in office by at least 100,000 votes, despite polls that show the race to be a dead heat.