U.S. Rep. Philip Crane’s fiercely conservative views were once so influential in Republican circles that he was encouraged to make a brief run at the GOP nomination for president.
But that was more than a decade ago. And even though Crane’s 8th Congressional District remains one of the most heavily Republican regions in the state, opponents charge that some of his conservative values-anti-abortion and anti-gun laws-are out of step with many of today’s voters.
As a result, Crane, 63, faces the most formidable political challenge of his 13-term career, with opponents claiming he has been in Congress too long and is no longer effective.
Crane has responded that his opponents don’t understand how Washington works or how the voters in the district think. He stresses his experience and influence as the second-ranking Republican on the House Ways and Means Committee, and he touts his decades-long string of votes against tax bills.
Crane’s three challengers have attacked on several issues. Gary Skoien, the Palatine businessman who collected 45 percent of the vote against Crane in 1992, offers a moderate Republican agenda that supports a woman’s right to an abortion and favors gun-control measures such as a ban on assault weapons.
State Sen. Peter Fitzgerald, 33, a former conservative ally of Crane’s, is spending an estimated $700,000-more than his opponents combined-arguing that Crane has stayed too long and lost “the fire in his belly” to fight for conservative causes.
A fourth candidate, Barrington lawyer Judy McCracken Svenson, 57, is running a low-budget campaign she hopes will attract support from women and other voters looking for a political newcomer.
Democrats Michael Strelka of Roselle and Robert Walberg of Palatine are vying for their party’s nomination in the district.
While the Crane contest has attracted wide attention, northwest suburban voters also will cast ballots Tuesday in a variety of races, from congressional and state offices, to county board seats to judical positions.
School funding referendums dominate the ballot in communities such as Carpentersville, Crystal Lake, Elgin, Huntley, Mt. Prospect and Spring Grove.
In the 6th Congressional District, which covers parts of Cook and DuPage Counties, U.S. Rep. Henry J. Hyde faces his first challenger in the Republican primary since he was elected in 1974.
Political neophyte David Czech, a 37-year-old from Glendale Heights, is breaking Hyde’s streak. Czech, a technician at Ameritech, says he’s running because “with the amount of government control and bureaucracy going on up there, as an average citizen, I’m fed up with it.”
But Czech has an uphill battle. Hyde has beaten his Democratic opponents by a two-thirds margin or better since 1978. The 6th District is mainly white-collar and overwhelmingly Republican, and after 20 years in office, Hyde has a firm hold on that constituency.
In the Democratic primary, Keith “Jekyll’ Petropoulos, 30, of Lombard, who works for an export freight company, is running against Tom Berry of Lombard, a railroad conductor for Metra.
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Most primary races for the Illinois House are uncontested in the northwest suburbs, but there are four Republican battles pitting moderate incumbents against conservative challengers:
– In House District 56, which covers parts of Mt. Prospect, Arlington Heights, Prospect Heights, Des Plaines, Wheeling and Buffalo Grove, state Rep. Carolyn Krause (R-Mt. Prospect) is being challenged by Arlington Heights gun shop owner William Klicka in a race that is focusing on gun control. There is no candidate in the Democratic primary.
– In District 63, which covers the northern half of McHenry County, state Rep. Ann Hughes (R-Woodstock) is facing challengers Virginia Peschke, a McHenry County board member from Bull Valley, and Steven Verr, an attorney from McHenry, in a campaign targeting taxes and education funding.
Democrat Lee Carpenter, of Harvard, is running unopposed in his party’s 63rd District primary.
– In District 65, which covers much of Kane County and a portion of DeKalb County, state Rep. Patricia Reid Lindner (R-Aurora) is being challenged by Thomas Hartwell, an Elgin attorney, both of whom are championing crime. There is no Democratic primary candidate.
– In District 66, which covers parts of Hanover and Elgin Townships, state Rep. Douglas Hoeft (R-Elgin) is facing challenger Donald Bothwell, a professional clown from Elgin who is focusing his campaign on taxes, education and abortion. There is no Democratic candidate.
In McHenry County, the key contest is the four-way race for sheriff in the Republican primary, where incumbent William Mullen is being challenged by Sheriff’s Sgt. Thomas Sanders, Sheriff’s Officer Frank Sexton and James Wales, the Lake In The Hills police chief.