Will County State’s Atty. James Glasgow and his Republican challenger, Jeff Tomczak, are unlikely to become buddies after Election Day.
The race between the second-term Democrat and the Republican former prosecutor, who resigned from the office on the night Glasgow was elected in 1992, has been acrimonious from the beginning. And it did not tone down at all this week before a roomful of lawyers at a Will County Bar Association luncheon. The question-and-answer period after their speeches Thursday began to sound as though both of their attack ads on local radio stations were being played at the same time.
Glasgow has been campaigning against Tomczak on the argument that electing the Republican would create a morass of conflicts of interest because the Joliet lawyer’s wife is a Circuit Court judge. Citing a handful of cases that have been challenged over Tomczak’s involvement and marriage to Judge Amy Bertani-Tomczak, Glasgow said, “The defendants will own the system.”
And he criticized Tomczak’s wife for actively supporting her husband’s candidacy with a bumper sticker on her car and appearances at campaign events.
Tomczak responded that attacking his family was a low blow, even in this campaign, and that the mudslinging should be restricted to the candidates.
“I would think he would direct his attacks at me,” Tomczak said. “Don’t bring my wife into it, and don’t bring my Dad into it.”
Tomczak’s father, Donald Tomczak, is a high-ranking official in Chicago Mayor Richard M. Daley’s administration. The elder Tomczak’s support for his son has led to allegations of platoons of Chicago political machine workers invading Will County to stump for the challenger.
Both candidates did have a few positive things to say about themselves.
Tomczak said he has gained valuable experience in eight years of private practice, and he said he had suggestions for streamlining the court system. Addressing a crowd of lawyers, he spoke mostly of ideas for making their jobs easier. Tomczak said he wanted to reduce the number of court appearances necessary in the typical misdemeanor case.
Glasgow made more general remarks, pointing to a declining crime rate in Will County during his tenure compared with rising rates in other collar counties. He also underscored his support for stricter policing of violent video games and violence against women.
Glasgow touched on his failure to receive several police endorsements, saying he lost them because of a willingness to prosecute cops for misconduct.
“I’m not the police officers’ state’s attorney,” he said. “I’ve suffered because of it. I lost some police endorsements.”
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