ORLAND PARK - State Rep. Kevin McCarthy is resigning from the Illinois House's 37th seat, effective immediately. The 15-year incumbent didn't file for re-election, and chose not to face a run-off with Republican State Rep. Renee Kosel whose newly-drawn district takes in a significant amount of McCarthy's old district.
McCarthy's always been a cooperative water carrier for House Speaker Mike Madigan, so expect to learn that McCarthy's got a lucrative appointment of some sort in the works. He'll be rewarded for cooperating, don't worry about McCarthy.
But few know Orland Park politics better than OrlandParker writer Ray Hanania, and it shows as he writes about McCarthy's resignation. Ray's a character. He took over the job of being Cicero Mayor Larry Dominick's spokesman after WLS-AM's and former ILGOP gubernatorial candidate Dan Proft stepped out of the role about a year ago. Chicago Tea Party spokesman Eric Kohn -once with Proft's Uruqhart Media - now works for Hanania in Cicero public relations. While he's Cicero's official spokesman, Hanania writes columns for local papers and hosts his own BlogTalk radio show.
It gets even more complicated - and it ties back to McCarthy.
Hanania's also really good friends with Orland Township Committeeman and Cook County Commissioner Liz Gorman. When your IR editor scheduled a one-on-one interview with Ms. Gorman a couple of years ago, we were met at Ms. Gorman's Commissioner's office by not only Ms. Gorman, but a surprise guest - Ray Hanania. Ms. Gorman decided she'd save time and have both of us in to interview her.
Mr. Hanania scoffed at your IR editor's questions and argued that "everyone knows" the Gorman's financial woes and that it was "old news." Mr. Hanania led the discussion as a Gorman advocate rather than a reporter. See IR's "Gorman Lists Accomplishments" to hear part of Gorman-Hanania exchange.
Just a little of that background will give insight into Hanania's column about McCarthy's resignation in the OrlandParker. Especially note how he handles his paragraph about Republican Jeff Junkas' near defeat of McCarthy in 2010. Orland Township GOP Committeeman Gorman ran a woman against Junkas in the GOP primary, and Gorman's Republican candidate's petitions were circulated by known Democrat Mike Madigan thugs. Junkas' race was ignored by the House GOP, but he lost to McCarthy by less than 120 votes.
It was impossible to get a hold of Liz's candidate for an interview, although on several occasions Gorman promised to provide contact information. Local reporter Kristin McQueary went to the candidate's house, knocked on the door, phoned and was unable to get any response. The mysterious Molly Flynn forced Junkas to spend $14,000 in a completely unnecessary and pesky GOP primary. Many in the area were convinced a deal had alledgedly been brokered to make McCarthy's House seat and Gorman's county board seat non-competitive bids. There sure was indication.
All of this is inside southwest suburban political baseball, but it gives outsiders a taste of how complicated and incestuous party politics are at the local level. Read Ray Hanania's piece with this in mind, and you'll understand.
The question is why did McCarthy quit? And what will he get for cooperating with Madigan yet once again?
Ray Hanania's OrlandParker column on McCarthy is HERE.
