Kathleen ”Kay” Wojcik`s progression to political success is a textbook case of climbing the party ladder. Her first rung was joining the teenage Republicans, and the highest rung so far is her current position: state representative for several northwest and west suburbs.
But Wojcik`s first primary opponent since she was elected 10 years ago is not going by the book.
He is Bloomingdale resident Tom Brewer, a contractor who reads classical philosophy, has no political experience and admits he hasn`t voted in five years.
They will meet in the March 17 Republican primary for the 45th House District, a middle-class area with pockets of affluence that stretches from Higgins Road to North Avenue in Glendale Heights. Illinois Highway 53 is the eastern border of the district, and the western border follows Bloomingdale Road in the south and then bends west to include much of Schaumburg, where Wojcik lives, and Roselle.
Wojcik, 55, is seeking to represent the district for a sixth term. While her opponent`s background is somewhat unconventional, Wojcik said she ”really came up through the rank and file.”
She started as a volunteer teenage Republican in Chicago: ”I owe my interest in politics to my civics teacher,” Wojcik said.
After moving to Schaumburg Township and getting active in party politics there, she became township clerk in 1968. She held the post until 1983, when she was elected to the General Assembly.
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Wojcik points to family-oriented bills she passed last summer as evidence that she is in touch with her constituency.
One bill she sponsored requires insuraners to pay for up to four procedures of in-vitro fertilization.
”I had an outcry from women in my district; they were telling me how costly it was to get pregnant,” she said.
Wojcik`s status as a 10-year incumbent makes her a daunting opponent, but Brewer hopes that anti-incumbent sentiment might work in his favor.
A campaign in such times would normally call for some jibes at the incumbent. Brewer, however, refuses to criticize Wojcik.
So why is he running? ”I have a few ideas and I just thought I would try,” he said.
He focuses his campaign almost exclusively on improving education, for which he draws inspiration from his status as a self-described ”addicted student.”
Brewer, 41, takes courses part-time at Northeastern Illinois University in Chicago, where he has studied Latin and Greek and is now concentrating on business and economics. He hasn`t yet received a bachelor`s degree; he just keeps taking classes.
”Education is going to win the world,” he said.
The property tax should be abolished as the funding source for public schools and be replaced with a more equitable tax, such as an income tax, he said. In addition, Illinois should establish fiscal guidelines so that poorly managed school districts are forced to be responsible, Brewer said.
Wojcik dismisses those ideas, saying that she believes in local schools staying in local control.
While his campaign may be a longshot, Brewer has met with a surprisingly positive reception so far, he said. When he gathered nominating petitions, ”I thought I`d get doors slammed in my face all the time.” Instead, he said,
”Most of them said, `Are you an incumbent? Are you a lawyer? No? OK, I`ll sign.` ”
Democrat Vera Stuhlbarg, of Roselle, is waiting in the wings to meet the primary victor in the November election. Stuhlbarg, a retired state worker, is running again after losing to Wojcik two years ago.