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Race for Congress
 After New Lenox Mayor Tim Baldermann's campaign to replace retiring GOP congressman Jerry Weller in the 11th district went "kerplunk", local GOP officials were left scrambling.Not that panic-stricken scrambling is all that unfamiliar to the local GOP. Facing well-funded Democrat State Senator Debbie Halvorson in November will be concrete magnate Martin "Marty" Ozinga III. Ozinga will officially kick-off his candidacy today, but this has been in the works for about a month now. Ozinga is facing a steep up-hill climb. Undoubtedly first on the docket for Ozinga will be channeling now ILGOP chair Andy McKenna, Jr. from his 2004 US Senate campaign. Just as McKenna had to differentiate between the political donations of his father and himself, Ozinga too will be pressed to explain the numerous donations given in both the Ozinga family and company name to a slew of local Democrats, including Gov. Rod Blagojevich. Most of the donations to Democrats were given by Ozinga's father, which we've previously parsed out here in the wake of much media misreporting. Next up for Ozinga will be battling the fundraising beast. One of the original attractions to Ozinga by the GOP powers-that-be was his vast personal wealth and the subsequent ability to self-fund the race. But, if GOP officials had hope for Ozinga dumping in millions as we've seen in the 14th district race between Jim Oberweis and Bill Foster, they have another thing coming: Millionaire concrete company owner Marty Ozinga doesn't plan to dig too deep into his own pocket to win a seat in Congress. He's counting on "robust financial backing from the community"? Remember that it was in part fundraising struggles - admittedly significantly contributed to by Baldermann's own lazy attitude towards fundraising - that led to Baldermann's exit from the race: "I have done very little fundraising. It makes me sick to my stomach. My campaign people gave me a list of people who gave money to [Weller]. I told them, 'If you think I'm going to call somebody who's never heard of me and ask for $2,300, that's insane.' I fight with them every single day over it," Baldermann told the Southtown Star newspaper in January. Nevertheless, the GOP should hope that Ozinga turns out to be a fundraising dynamo. If he's not investing his own cash and the "robust financial backing from the community" well turns out to be as dry as we expect it to be, Ozinga may find his bid on quite the shoestring budget. With the NRCC strapped for cash and on their heels, no help will be coming from on high. Finally, Ozinga faces the prospect of challenging a popular, well-funded Democrat in a Democrat year and in a state that is turning an ever darker shade of blue. While numerous pundits and pols tried to stretch Jim Oberweis' failure (Oberweis' personal baggage notwithstanding) to retain Dennis Hastert's seat into a harbinger of national things-to-come, it does hold a good deal of local relevance. The territory isn't getting any more friendly for local Republicans. Nor have his fellow Republicans been all that helpful. Remember also that it was GOP State Sens. Kirk Dillard, John Miller and Dan Cronin's votes in favor of the tax-hiking CTA bailout plan that provided political cover for Halvorson. Those three GOP votes allowed the bill to pass with Halvorson inexplicably nowhere near the floor on the Senate chamber. The bill passed and Halvorson didn't have to go on the record supporting a tax increase while running for Congress. It's rough territory out there. Ozinga, however, is undeterred: "Obviously, I wouldn't get into this unless I expected to win," he said. You can hear more from Ozinga's on this race when he appears tomorrow morning at 7:40am on WLS 890-AM's Don Wade & Roma Morning Show. Filed Under: Race for Congress E-mail this article to a friend | Printer friendly format |
Countdown to Election Day
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