IL-03 Roundup

if media was all that mattered, the race against rep. lipinski would be lopsided. lipinski has generated a lot of negative publicity in his run-up to re-election, and you'd expect someone to take advantage of it. the incumbent faces a mini-scandal, one that doesn't particularly help his image as he tries to separate himself from his father (who handed him the seat in 2004). kristen mcqueary lays out the reasons for the lipinski scandal, and rich miller, of the capitol fax blog, summarizes:

Bill Lipinski games the system to get his kid elected to Congress. The son keeps his dad’s cronies on the payroll, and two of them (includng one who remains on the payroll) are getting payments from his father’s childrens’ charity fund, which doesn’t appear to be doing a lot of charitable work except for Dan Lipinski’s benefit. Dan shares an office with his daddy’s lobbying firm and even pays that firm for advice, but he insists he never talked with daddy about a project that the elder Lipinski is working on.

mark pera has emerged as the early netroots favorite. he's demonstrated that he's serious about this race, lining up pat botterman as his campaign manager and julie sweet as his deputy. pera has gotten the dfa endorsement and convinced the local dfa groups (all outside the 3rd) to send in the troops. pera just announced the endorsement of citizen action, which has been a bellweather endorsement in past races.

pera has two videos up on his youtube page, "Mark Pera on the issues" and his first television ad, "It's Time". it's no surprise that pera is generating support from the netroots, given his efforts to appeal to them in the language we understand.

but pera is also following the traditional campaign plan, having commissioned a benchmark poll by penn, schoen and berland [PDF]. archpundit breaks it down:

401 Likely Democratic Primary voters +/- 5%

Lipinski Re-elect 35 percent
Wrong Track: 81 percent

Generic Congressional Approval: 37 percent

our own maven notes that mark pera won the ballot lottery.

also jumping into the race has been former prosecutor and army reserves lt. colonel jim capparelli. capparelli's main justification for entering this race appears to be that pera and the baby lipinski both live in western springs (does lipinski *really* live in illinois???). but unlike the pera campaign (to this point), the capparelli presence has just been catching up. he talks on his website talks about campaigning at the metra stations, and there seems to be a sparse nature (so far) to the website. as yet, no one seems to have seen him (although you'd expect that to change).

capparelli also generated some publicity, has a youtube page, where you can find this introductory video. his website now hosts a blog, although it appears to be only for the purpose of answering questions (or taking testimonials) rather than actively engaging the netroots or incorporating them into his campaign.

one capparelli supporter says, in the capital fax blog, that "the unions are playing a huge role in city elections and Capparelli has been lining up their support." that certainly remains to be seen, although the citizen action endorsement for pera (who's board and members who vote on endorsements is full of union representatives) may forebode otherwise. it's been reported that capparelli has the endorsements of local 399 of the operating engineers and teamsters local 786. that comment may be indicative of the strategy and expectations around the capparelli campaign and it will be interesting to see whether union support favors one candidate or is dispersed across the field.

one of the big disputes in this campaign is the presence of machine plants, or shills, expected to divide the anti-incumbent vote (for the incumbent's benefit). jim capparelli has taken great exception to being called a shill for the machine [PDF] even though it is said that "Many of his positions — on the war and abortion, for example — appear to mirror Lipinski’s." palos hills mayor jerry bennett also faces the accusation that he is the machine plant. kos has examined bennett's past and identified this continuing connection between bennett and lipinski:

Palos Hills mayor Jerry Bennet -- a Lipinski ally -- is supposedly running a legit race. Yet he endorsed Lipinski two years ago -- an endorsement that has been reposted on Lipinski's new and updated campaign site:

Gerald Bennett, the Mayor of Palos Hills and a health care executive, said Congressman Lipinski's proposals were an "excellent approach to helping American families become better health care consumers."

"The Congressman should be lauded for working with colleagues in both parties to craft initiatives that will not only improve health care availability and delivery, but also have a great chance of being enacted," Mayor Bennett said.

and yet, appearances can be deceiving. unlike john kelly, who was regarded as the shill in lipinski's first democratic primary in 2006, bennett has come to play. he's put together a well-regarded campaign team, with alex behrend, mia phifer, vasyl markus and lake research partners (celinda lake's polling firm). bennett garnered the endorsement of the other challenger in 2006, john sullivan.

bennett's reason for running can be found here:

A life-long Democrat and South Sider, Jerry Bennett is the only person running in Illinois 3rd Congressional District with the background and broad-based appeal in both the City of Chicago and the Cook County suburbs to win the February 5th Democratic Primary. Voters previously supportive of Dan Lipinski are fed up with the Congressman's support of George W. Bush and Jerry Bennett offers both realistic Democratic change voters seek and experience required.

the real problem is that lipinski seems to have alienated every single democratic constituency there is. given that democrats don't always agree on their priorities, it should be no surprise that there are different people running against a vulnerable democrat for seemingly different reasons. if only he wasn't mired in scandal and the machine wasn't under serious strain, he might have a better chance of weathering the storm. the presence of three serious challengers (at this point, i'm taking their word for it) certainly increases lipinski's chances at re-election.

what will be interesting to see is whether voters coalesce around one single candidate. if this is going to happen, it will begin before the television commercials get aired or perhaps even the billboards and lawn signs go up. voter contact is the only reliable means for generating such a consensus. as such, it's interesting to look at the ground activity of these campaigns.

the capparelli campaign reports that they've been making a big push going door-to-door for at least the last three weeks "with a big mailing." they've been hitting different wards in the city and get started at 8am every saturday morning. while they have a campaign headquarters (5602 1/2 w 63rd st), they appear to meet at different locations each saturday (so call the office if you want to help out). jim capparelli has also been making the veteran's circuit, speaking at a veteran's day rally as well as at local vfw halls in the district. their campaign calendar shows a couple of fundraisers scheduled over the next few weeks.

the pera campaign has been out in the field a little while longer. the campaign reports that mark pera has been going to train stations every (weekday) morning and walking with volunteers in the afternoons. they have also been conducting weekend canvassing with both the northside and oak park dfa groups. they report that they have a major outreach push on for december 1st and 2nd, as well as an id canvass on the 8th. the campaign reports fund-raisers planned for the 10th and 13th. most of their volunteer activities start out of their campaign office, at 7061 s. willow springs rd in countryside, although northside dfa car pools in from the city. i can't seem to find a calendar on the website, but i might have missed something.

the bennett campaign also has a campaign headquarters set up at 7229 w 103rd st in palos hills. the volunteer who answered the phone (they were in the midst of "a big conference call") didn't feel capable of answering any other questions about the campaign.

the lipinski campaign clearly relies on the machine for his re-election. the problem with this strategy this february is that the on-going battle between the governor and the speaker may divert forces from helping lipinski. there isn't a lot of crossover wards where the speaker will be defending incumbent state house members and il-03. and one just doesn't get the impression that lipinski's seat is that important -- at least, not more important than the speaker's forces in the general assembly. it matters how these four campaigns divide the map, where they concentrate on -- and where they have pre-existing support.


all four democrats can be contributed to online through actblue.

A Wee Bit of Snow in South Suburban Area

The Most Important Race You Never Heard Of

in chicago, there are really two classes of alderman: alderman who are merely alderman and alderman who control their wards (and play a role in chicago and cook county politics). those who fall in the latter, more powerful category, serve as their ward committeeman.

being the democratic (or republican or, now, green party) committeeman is a thankless task. it's an unpaid position, with substantial expectations, and probably more (in my mind, useless) meetings than you can imagine. but there's also a lot of power in the position -- although less than there used to be under patronage regimes. committeeman have the power to slate candidates in their wards, they fill partisan positions inside the polls, they are the central organizing point for regular party activists in their wards, and they get to fill elected positions that become vacant before their terms end. as we all know, they also can fill empty positions on their party's ballot if no one runs or they resign their place on the ballot. they get a weighted vote in cook county democratic party decisions (determined by the partisan turnout in the last primary in comparison to the county partisan vote).

on february 5th, 2008, wards in chicago will be electing ward committeemen for their four year terms. township committeemen (outside of chicago) elected their's in march, 2006.

there has been talk of challenging as many ward committeemen as possible, both within progressive circles and union circles. but it's hard to get people, even candidates, excited about something most people never heard of. it has been a long tradition that democratic committeemen, especially, had employment within either the chicago city or cook county government. this is still largely the case. but there looks to be more contested races for ward committeeman than in march 2004.

40% of the committeeman running are incumbent committeemen AND alderman in their wards AND uncontested in 2008. they are:

4th Toni Preckwinkle
5th Leslie A. Hairston
6th Freddrenna M. Lyle
9th Anthony A. Beale
10th John A. Pope
14th Edward M. Burke
21st Howard B. Brookins
23rd Michael R. Zalewski
29th Isaac "Ike" Sims Carothers
33rd Richard F. Mell
34th Carrie M. Austin
35th Ray Colón
36th William J.P. Banks
37th Emma M. Mitts
40th Patrick J. O'Connor
44th Tom Tunney
45th Patrick J. Levar
47th Gene Schulter

two of these are incumbent committeemen AND alderman in their wards who face no opposition candidates BUT have curiously had their filings challenged:

1st Manuel "Manny" Flores
30th Ariel E. Reboyras

there are 12 incumbent committeemen running without opposition but who do not serve as their ward's alderman:

8th Todd H. Stroger (Alderman: Michelle Harris)
11th John P. Daley (Alderman: James Balcer)
12th Antonio "Tony" Munoz (Alderman: George A. Cardenas)
13th Michael J. Madigan (Alderman: Frank Olivo)
19th Matthew J. O'Shea (Alderman: Virginia A. Rugai)
26th Roberto Maldonado (Alderman: Billy Ocasio)
27th Jesse White (Alderman: Walter Burnett, Jr.)
38th Patricia J. Cullerton (Alderman: Thomas R. Allen)
39th Randy J. Barnette (Alderman: Margaret Laurino)
46th Tom Sharpe (Alderman: Helen Shiller)
48th Carol Ronen (Alderman: Mary Ann Smith)
49th David Fagus (Alderman: Joe Moore)

none of these incumbent committeemen were challenged.

in total, that is 32 wards where the incumbent committeeman is running without opposition in 2008.

five incumbent committeemen/alderman are running against challengers (astrisk marks incumbent):

17th Ward
Latasha Thomas *
Yvette Williams

both candidates faces objections to their paperwork.

22nd Ward
Ricardo Munoz *
Jose M Gutierrez

jose gutierrez faces a challenge to his filing.

25th Ward
Daniel S. Solis *
Ambrosio Medrano
Joseph Mario Moreno
Cuahutemoc Morfin
Robert Martinez

danny solis, next runner-up (in the february aldermanic race) temoc morfin and robert martinez all face objections.

28th War
Ed H. Smith *
Carol G. Johnson
Velda Brunner

both challengers, carol johnson and velda brunner were challenged.

50th Ward
Ira I. Silverstein
Bernard L. Stone *

surprisingly, stone did not challenge state senator silverstein's paperwork. he may regret it. you may have noticed that this is the only challenged incumbent who did not win the lottery to get his name first on the ballot.

there were two wards where the incumbent committeemen who are not their ward's aldermen who are running in 2008. both drew challenges:

31st Ward
Reinaldo "Ray" Hernandez
Joseph Berrios *

joseph berrios, cook county democratic chair, drew objections. he also lost the lottery to his challenger.

41st Ward
Ralph C. Capparelli *
Mary O'Connor
Patricia A. Mulligan
Frank Coconate

frank coconate drew a challenge, as one would have expected.

two new aldermen are running for to be their ward committeemen against the incumbent committeemen:

7th Ward
Sandi Jackson
William M. Beavers *

this will probably be the most expensive committeemen's race in the city. sandi's husband, and political partner, congressman jesse jackson has asked the federal election commission for permission to transfer almost a million dollars into a local account for this race. you will remember that sandi jackson handily beat beavers' daughter, darcel, for alderman. darcel had been appointed to complete her father's term when he left the city council to fill john stroger's county commission seat.

24th Ward
Sharon Denise Dixon
Dennis Deer
Larry G. Nelson
Roger Washington
Julius Anderson
Reva Williams
Michael D. Chandler *
Joe Ann Bradley

deer, washington, anderson, Williams, chandler, bradley were all challenged.

there were nine democratic committeemen who decided not to run this time. in two of those wards, new aldermen run unopposed for committeeman:

2nd Bob Fioretti
16th JoAnn Thompson

congressman bobby rush, who is currently the 2nd ward committeeman passed petitions but did not file to run for re-election. rich miller wonders why here.

in five of these retirements, the new aldermen in those wards are running for the committeeman's position, but are opposed by other challengers:

3rd Ward
Pat Dowell (ald.)
Kenneth "Ken" Dunkin

ken dunkin faces objections to his paperwork.

15th Ward
Toni L. Foulkes (ald.)
Emma Tate Higginbottom
Michael Smith
Gerald Frazier
Fred McGee

18th Ward
Lona Lane (ald.)
Joseph C. Ziegler, Jr.

lona lane, originally appointed by mayor daley in 2006, faces a challenge to her filing.

20th Ward
Willie B. Cochran (ald.)
Wardell Lavender

wardell lavender is being challenged.

42nd Ward
John Corrigan
Brendan Reilly (ald.)

in two wards, the incumbent committeeman chose not to run, and the incumbent aldermen choose not to run for committeeman:

32nd Ward
John A. Fritchey
Roger J. Romanelli

roger romanelli is being challenged on his filing. finally:

43rd Ward
Tim Egan
Charles E. Eastwood
Michele Smith


so what to make of all this? i'm going to order these contested races from what i expect to be the most competitive to the least competitive. until we know which challenges are upheld and whether any candidates withdraw, it seems that the top two most competitive races will be on the northside, in the 43rd and the 50th wards.

in the 43rd, we have former aldermanic candidates tim egan and michele smith running again (a year since they were on the ballot), this time against alderman daley's chief of staff, charles eastwood. many expect this to be a bloodbath, but it's odd that none of the candidates or their forces challenged another candidate(s). michele smith took vi daley into a run-off, so it would seem that she would be favored. eastwood has not been on the ballot before, and will need to raise his name recognition just to be competitive. egan received only 12% of the february vote, where he was relying on his neighborhood. his last financial disclosure report showed $8,214.00 COH. smith was still reporting a debt of $7,598.80 in her last filing. eastwood has to marshall the machine forces, perhaps bringing in people from other wards, in order to fend off the challenge from the two former aldermanic candidates. he certainly benefits from having two opponents instead of one -- which may be why there's been no challenges. this race starts with all the hallmarks for a close race. only time will tell if it turns out that way.

in the 50th, we have state senator ira silverstein running against incumbent alderman/committeeman bernard stone. silverstein is said to be a reluctant candidate for the spot, and apparently has gotten the mayor's pledge to stay out of the race. jan schakowsky and former aldermanic challengers naisy dolar and greg brewer are supporting silverstein, and it appears that some of the major jewish organizers in the ward are, as well. this should make it a tight race, if silverstein is motivated enough to take an anti-stone message into the east side of the ward where independent voters are predominant. the mythical power of winston towers, five hi-rise buildings with about 1000 voters each, will be negated by a solid showing in the rest of the jewish neighborhoods.

the race in the 3rd ward has all the makings of a tight race. there are a couple of reasons for this. pat dowell, who beat the hat, dorothy tillman, with a tremendous amount of union money and help, has become fairly close to the mayor and his machine. ken dunkin has been on the ballot, too, serving as state representative from the ward. dunkin ended the last report with $78,367.49 COH while dowell found herself with a debt of $5,333.82.

in the 24th ward, alderman sharon denise dixon sets up a rematch with the man she beat (michael chandler) in the april run-off. this west side ward tends to be decided more by who gets out on the streets than how much money is spent. dixon spent a measely $42,399.49 to win her aldermanic seat, and ended the last reporting period with $24,432.75 COH. chandler spent $143,398.26 in the attempt to fend off dixon's challenge, and ended up with $2,493.26 COH. whether or not he can compete against dixon and a beavy of other challengers depends on whether he retained his ward organization having lost the ability to keep people in jobs. it also depends on whether chandler can convince ike carothers or perhaps jesse white to help him out. dixon has proven to be an effective organizer; the question now is, how good a politician is she? i suspect that one or more of the other opponents will not survive the challenges made to their paperwork.

this is the first political test for alderman toni foulkes in the 15th ward, who's running to replace the man she beat (ted thomas) in april as committeeman. her main opponent is emma tate higginbottom, who runs the major food pantry in the ward. higginbottom expects substantial support from the daley machine. foulkes, who had major support from the unions (she was a member of the ufcw union), will need to re-energize her support base if she wants to take thomas' other seat. foulkes ended the reporting period with $4,207.25, having spent $176,977.74 to defeat the incumbent alderman last spring.

in the 41st Ward, ralph capparelli faces another tough race, four years after he lost his long held state representative seat to fellow incumbent michael mcauliffe (a republican). his main challenger appears to be edison park chamber president and local business owner mary o'connor, who may benefit from the alliances she has with mcauliffe, cook county commissioner peter silvestri and alderman brian doherty, all republicans. if she can combine their organizations with her business alliances, she will be formidible. russ stewart calls capparelli's organization decrepit. the 41st has become a haven for chicago police and firemen, who may prefer an o'conner to a capparelli. if capparelli can only mobilize a dozen precinct workers, he can only rely on about $6,055.06 in his ward organization and another $3,180.78 in his person account.

there's a lot of expectation that the 7th Ward race between alderman sandi jackson and democratic committeeman (county commissioner and former alderman) william beavers will be competitive. i don't buy it. the jackson/beavers feud seems to be long-standing, and the jackson's have figured out how to take the beavers' to school. this race may be getting national exposure, but all the more reason for jackson to wipe the floor with beavers. jackson is seeking permission from the fec to spend up to $827,869 in his congressional campaign account on this race. he is supposed to hear back sometime in december. this race might be competitive -- it is beavers' last gasp -- but i'm extremely sceptical. he doesn't have the energy, nor the power in the ward anymore, to motivate his once loyal followers in what is increasingly seen as nothing more than a family feud.


in races less likely to be truly competitive, lona lane faces an aldermanic rematch in joseph ziegler. lane got 49% in february, against ziegler's 11%, 6458 votes to 1495. lane ended the last reporting period with $39,792.56; ziegler had $5,774.04.

there is another aldermanic rematch in the 17th Ward. latasha thomas, protege of terry peterson, faces challenger yvette williams for the committeeman seat that thomas holds. thomas got 66.55% of the february 2007 vote, with 5948 votes. williams was third, with 1196 votes and 13.38%. thomas has $28,549.95 COH left over from her aldermanic race, williams raised so little (<$5000) that she filed on paper.

in the 20th Ward, new alderman willie cochran faces wardell lavender. i just don't know enough about this race to know if lavender can be competitive. cochran ended the last reporting period with $5,671.24.

in the 25th Ward, we again find an aldermanic rematch for the committeeman's seat. alderman/committeeman danny solis faces former alderman ambrosio medrano (who solis had kicked off the aldermanic ballot) and former aldermanic candidate temoc morfin, who would have forced a run-off with solis if votes for medrano would have been counted. temoc has kept his insurgent group of supporters together since the aldermanic election, and it remains to be seen if morfin and medrano can get solis into a shoot-out. solis had $63,347.25 COH at the end of the last period.

in the 22nd Ward, ricky munoz faces nominal competition in an aldermanic rematch with jose gutierrez. gutierrez got 1079 votes in february 2007, or 24.87%, against munoz's 2466 votes and 56.83%. gutierrez spent $80,521.92, with $3,473.55 left over to get his thousand votes. munoz had $33,405.82 COH at the end of the last reporting period.

races i expect won't be very competitive (or candidates will withdraw) at all: it hard to see how local economic development organization director roger romanelli competes against progressive state representative john fritchey in the 32nd ward. i question whether john corrigan will stay in the race against his friend, brendan reilly in the 42nd ward. in the 31st ward, ray hernandez gets far against joseph berrios (who will be on the ballot above this slot). and the same factor applies to the 28th ward, where ed smith will be on the ballot for recorder of deeds...

Cook County Races

in all the hubbub about the presidential and congressional candidates in this february's primary, we may have forgotten that there are other races here in cook county that will be on the ballot.

one incumbent gets to elect herself (when she votes), in kind of a surprise. dorothy brown, our circuit court clerk, drew not a single challenger. it may be a thankless task, so that explains the lack of a republican or green party challenger, but dorothy, you may remember, ran against da mayor last february. some speculated, because she announced before jesse decided if he'd get into the race, that she was a plant, drawn into the race to dilute the black vote. well, she didn't exactly make the mayor mad. the fact that she draws no opponent will not dampen that speculation.

the local race everyone is likely to watch is the open seat for state's attorney. tom allen, alderman from the 38th ward, has already posted here. assistant state’s attorney anita alvarez offers perhaps the best credentials out of that office: she "oversees the day-to-day operations of more than 900 assistant state’s attorneys in eight different divisions handling felony prosecutions and civil actions." howard brookins, alderman of the 21st ward, is seen by many as the front runner, having hired mike noonan to run his campaign and gotten perhaps the earliest start. cook county commissioner larry suffredin has forrest claypool's endorsement and looks to be running a similar kind of reform campaign. assistant state’s attorney bob milan was in line by 9, but got the last spot out of the lottery. tommy brewer, also a evanston resident, completes the ballot for state's attorney.

candidates in the state's attorney's race have already been making the rounds. carl's proviso probe points to this video of the candidate forum at the proviso township democratic organization. anita alvarez and tommy brewer both drew challenges to their paperwork, and will be forced to deal with that before concentrating on their campaigns. brewer appears to be most likely to get thrown off the ballot (speculation based on other people's comments). alvarez claims that someone who works for howard brookins is the person who challenged her petitions "at the last minute." this story appeared on the local abc station as i write this.

the county democratic party could not agree on a candidate to slate in this race, since neither brookins, allen nor suffredin could manage a clear majority:

Among the committeemen, Brookins got 107,904 in weighted votes, Allen 90,861, and Cook County Commissioner Larry Suffredin 66,522. Anita Alvarez, the third-in-command at the state's attorney's office, got one committeeman's vote for 4,875. Her boss, First Assistant State's Attorney Bob Milan, got none, as did lawyer Tommy Brewer and state Transportation Department Chief of Staff Clayton Harris III.

Seven committeemen rose to speak for Allen, and six spoke on Suffredin's behalf.

Allen has locked up support from many of Chicago's unions, and Suffredin said he was the best candidate to face Republican Tony Peraica in the fall. Brookins said he's not afraid of stepping on toes.

this was probably the biggest blow to brookins, who thought he had the votes to win. at this point, there seems to be a concensus that this race will come down to brookins and alvarez, if she can raise enough money to be competitive. that speculation assumes that suffredin and allen will cancel each other out. this will definitely be one of our primary races to watch in february. what i will be paying attention to is which of these candidates plant their flag in the other competitive races (such as IL-03) -- areas likely to see higher turnout than the rest of the county.

on the republican side, tony peraica drew an opponent in edward barron. both republicans have seen objections to the paperwork they filed with david orr's office.

another race that has the potential for getting competitive will be that for cook county recorder of deeds. as carl knows, karen yarborough has been chasing eugene moore out of office, and there was some speculation that she would challenge moore for this one. when i asked her about that, she laughed. "too much work," she said. "i already have one (unpaid) position that is like that." instead, she is backing ed smith, alderman of the 28th ward, who is the last of the independents elected with harold washington in 1983. smith probably made the most ernest run at an incumbent during the slating meeting, but fell short. our favorite machine plant, john t. kelly, has also jumped into this race. both kelly and smith have received objections to their filing.

an even lesser known race, if that's possible, is the cook county board of review. two seats (the 2nd and 3rd districts) are up in 2008, and both incumbents are running for re-election. but only cook county democratic chair, joseph berrios, drew a challenger. i don't think it will surprise anyone that challenger jay paul deratany has objections filed against him, in the hopes of knocking him off the ballot. welcome to chicago!

finally, we are in for a lively race for the metropolitan water reclamation district. after deb shore brought interest to this race from progressives in cook county, i think people look at this as a real office worth running for. as such, we got a lot of candidates running for the three seats open in 2008.

there are eleven democrats who filed to run for the mwrd commission this february. starting of the ballot will be diane jones, who ran for chicago city clerk this last february. a mwrd employee (at least, she was), diane had the singular distinction of winning "a third of the votes and beat[ing Miguel] del Valle in every African-American ward by margins of 200 to 2,000 votes.” next on the primary ballot will be the democratic slate of incumbents kathleen meany [pdf] and frank avila and perennial candidate dean maragos. next comes kathleen o’reilley, who benefits from the irish-sounding (could be irish -- what do *i* know!) name -- a plus in the chicago area. then we'll see the other incumbent, cynthia santos [pdf]. cynthia apparently lost the party's endorsement because she "went on vacation during slating." lacking an independent power base, this may be a fatal blow to santos' re-election hopes. finishing out those who submitted their petitions during the opening minute is mariyana spyropoulos, who has already blogged here. completing the democratic primary is ronald oliver of chicago, marlon rush of lansing, matthew podgorski of park ridge, and derrick stinson of chicago.

every single candidate for the mwrd has been challenged. i'm unfamiliar with more than half of these candidates, so i'll let someone else create the odds: "The outlook: Jones, Meany and O'Reilley are the early favorites, primarily because of their gender and surnames."

finally, the green party has put together a full slate of candidates for the mwrd: nadine bopp, rita bogolub and john ailey. these candidates have also had their filings challenged.

Petitions Challenges Update

180 objections have been filed before the state board of elections, the overwhelming number of them coming today (tuesday, november 11). 76 of the challenges were directed towards (mostly) court candidates. the rest were distributed among the races most likely to be in the public eye leading up to february 5.

there were 12 challenges, one each for all the presidential candidates -- obama, though, got 2 challenges. all these challenges came from one person: richard mayers of berwyn, the controversial green candidate in the third congressional district.

there have been 5 challenges (one withdrawn) in the u.s. senate race. republican candidate norm hill was challenged by three different objectors (including mayers). mike psak was also challenged. mayers' challenge of dick durbin was withdrawn.

there have been 14 challenges in the congressional races, 6 against democratic candidates, 3 against republican candidates, 4 against green party candidates and the moderate party in the 8th congressional district was challenged. the two democrats in the 1st congressional race, doc walls and bobby rush, were each challenged. in the third congressional district, mayers challenged the incumbent and his green party primary opponent (pohlen), while himself getting challenged by green party members. one republican, wardingley, was also challenged, which may have been the deciding factor in his withdrawal.

jagla, democrat in the 6th, was challenged. democrat randi scheurer, who has called herself a progressive, challenged a fellow democrat, farnick. the candidate representing the party of randi's husband bill (the moderate party) was also challenged. the green party candidate in the 10th was challenged. baldermann, republican in the 11th, dilger, republican in the 14th, the green party candidate in the 16th, and roney, democrat in the 19th, all got challenged.

there have been 14 challenges in illinois senate races, 13 in democratic races. 5 of these have come in the three-way race in the 5th legislative district. the incumbent (ricky hendon) has objected to paperwork filed by his two opponents, and amy sue mertens filed objections against hendron and bedi. another objector challenged mertens paperwork. there were three challenges in the 3rd legislative district, one each against each candidate. the two candidates in the 30th legislative district each got challenged. these three races could very well be the races to watch among illinois senate races. the races in the 3rd and the 5th seem most interesting.

there was one challenge each in the 2nd (the incumbent), 20th (the challenger), 45th (open) and 51st (democratic challenger) legislative (senate) districts.

there have been 59 challenges among candidates for the illinois house. 48 of these challenges have come against democratic candidates, 6 against republicans and 5 against green party candidates in races for 23 house seats. the largest amount of challenges (16) have come in the race for the 32nd house seat where milton patterson is retiring. all six democratic candidates for this southside seat have been challenged. 6 objections were filed in the 33rd district, 5 against the incumbent (marlow colvin), one against his challenger. 5 challenges have been filed in the 28th district, one each against the challengers of incumbent robert rita. the race for the 32nd promises to be very interesting. the 33rd race looks exciting at this point. the race for the 28th probably not so much.

the complete list of challenges in congressional and illinois general assembly races follow:

Congress:
POSEY V WALLS, III IL-01 D
WALLS, III & COWARD V RUSH IL-01 D
JONES V WARDINGLEY IL-03 R
BOGOLUB & O'CONNOR V MAYERS IL-03 G
MAYERS V POHLEN IL-03 G
MAYERS V LIPINSKI IL-03 D
FLYNN V JAGLA IL-06 D
SCHEURER V FARNICK IL-08 D
FERRITTO V ABERNATHY IL-08 M
COUVALL V KALBFLEISCH IL-10 G
WONG LOI SING V BALDERMANN IL-11 R
ZAHM & DAVIS V DILGER IL-14 R
COLOSIA V SUMMERS IL-16 G
COADY, O'HARE V RONEY IL-19 D

Illinois Senate:
MORENO V DELGADO ILSEN-02 D
McCULLOUGH V HUNTER ILSEN-03 D
COPELAND & REID V MCNEAL ILSEN-03 D
COPELAND & REID V MCCULLOUGH ILSEN-03 D
HENDON & BARNES V MERTENS ILSEN-05 D
HENDON & BARNES V BEDI ILSEN-05 D
MERTENS V BEDI ILSEN-05 D
MERTENS V HENDON ILSEN-05 D
DORAN V MERTENS ILSEN-05 D
WELCH & ABREGO V JARAMILLO ILSEN-20 D
JOHNSON V LINK ILSEN-30 D
ARON ETAL V JOHNSON ILSEN-30 D
HARTMAN V BLUM ILSEN-45 R
KASSON V HURST ILSEN-51 D

Illinois House:
GRZYWACZ V RODRIGUEZ ILGA-02 D
GRZYWACZ V FITZGERALD ILGA-02 D
NORIEGA V CALDERON ILGA-03 D
LUNA V CALDERON ILGA-03 D
LOPEZ V CALDERON ILGA-03 D
CRUMPTON V SAWYER ILGA-05 D
WASHINGTON V SMITH ILGA-06 D
ROBERTS & JALIL V COX ILGA-09 G
BARNETT V COX ILGA-09 G
ERVIN V WINTERS ILGA-10 D
ERVIN V COLLINS ILGA-10 D
AGUILA V GILHOOLY ILGA-15 G
NOVA V MANIOTIS ILGA-21 G
MAYERS V MANIOTIS ILGA-21 G
STEARNS V LATIKER ILGA-25 D
AUSTIN, ET. AL. V WILLIAMS ILGA-26 D
AUSTIN, ET. AL. V TATUM ILGA-26 D
EDMONDS & KNOX V McCORKLE ILGA-27 D
HARRISON V MOORE ILGA-27 D
HARRISON V McCORKLE ILGA-27 D
GARNER & OSBORNE SR V ELEM ILGA-28 D
GARNER & OSBORNE SR V CASTON ILGA-28 D
GARNER & OSBORNE SR. V TAYLOR ILGA-28 D
GARNER & OSBORNE SR. V MAYDEN ILGA-28 D
McDANIEL V RAYBURN ILGA-28 D
COATNEY & BYRD V FORTE ILGA-30 D
COATNEY & BYRD V HEADLEY ILGA-30 D
THAPEDI V WILLIAMS ILGA-32 D
THAPEDI V SEALS, JR. ILGA-32 D
THAPEDI V SMITH ILGA-32 D
THAPEDI V JOHNSON ILGA-32 D
THAPEDI V SMITH ILGA-32 D
KIRK V JOHNSON ILGA-32 D
KIRK V SMITH ILGA-32 D
KIRK V THAPEDI ILGA-32 D
KIRK V SMITH ILGA-32 D
KIRK V WILLIAMS ILGA-32 D
SMITH V SMITH ILGA-32 D
WILLIAMS & JONES V JOHNSON ILGA-32 D
WILLIAMS & JONES V SEALS, JR. ILGA-32 D
WILLIAMS & JONES V SMITH ILGA-32 D
WILLIAMS & JONES V THAPEDI ILGA-32 D
WILLIAMS & JONES V SMITH ILGA-32 D
SIMAS V COLVIN ILGA-33 D
PRINCE V COLVIN ILGA-33 D
PRINCE V COLVIN ILGA-33 D
COBB V COLVIN ILGA-33 D
PRINCE V COLVIN ILGA-33 D
ANDERSON V PRINCE ILGA-33 D
LINKENHELD, JR. V KEGARISE ILGA-56 R
CARSTENS V ELAM ILGA-60 D
GONZALES V LOGAN ILGA-78 D
CAROTHERS V LOGAN ILGA-78 D
BYRD V PORTER ILGA-79 D
SENDEJAS V SHABO ILGA-80 R
DULLI V BOWLER ILGA-96 R
DULLI V WISNIEWSKI ILGA-96 R
ACTON V BALDWIN ILGA-104 R
THOMPSON V TOMLINSON ILGA-105 R

On This Veterans Day

i'm a "rocket kid." that's what we called ourselves, those of us who grew up in brevard county, home of kennedy space center, during the height of our commitment to space exploration. on the upside, we were blessed with the best that the government could provide -- brand new schools, public school teachers with phd's -- to go along with our brand new homes, new roads and new courthouses. on the downside, we were told that there was the highest concentration of spies in the country, that there were soviet ships off shore, that we were on the priority target list in the event of a nuclear attack. it's no wonder we never learned "duck and cover."

so it was no surprise, or not much of one, when my gifted classmate wayne joined the marines after college. it was a surprise when he returned in a box. wayne died in the beirut barracks bombing, almost 20 years before george w. bush ever thought about terrorism, or recognized it as a threat to the country.

today marks the official celebration of veterans day. in the past, i would have celebrated veterans day by remembering my friend wayne, his wife susan, and their (then young) daughter, as well as the other veterans who died for our country. since we invaded iraq, though, i mark each each veterans day with a countdown -- it's one less year that they can call my wife back to active duty.

my wife, for those who don't know, is a retired navy senior chief. she still has a few years left on the individual ready reserve (irr), and so far has not been one of the hundreds called back to service because they had a desired skillset. my wife denies it, but i know that she has one of those skillsets. periodically, my wife gets official communication from the department of defense. less so now, but these scare me. i always make mrs. bored open them up right away. i insist upon it.

our president may not understand this, but war effects the entire nation. he may have asked that we "return to normal" after 9/11, but he's made that more difficult for millions of american families. this president has never explained his thinking, or given us a set of goals that he intended to achieve, or an exit strategy that would allow us to judge for ourselves the success or failure of his military moves. nor can one believe our admirals and generals about the length of tours -- or time at home -- because of the erratic decision-making of this president.

thousands of americans have died -- and more americans have died as the result of this president's military decisions than died as a result of terrorists' -- and tens of thousands have been wounded. thousands more come home with emotional wounds, wounds that may never heal. millions of american families are in worse shape than ours -- they are on edge, hoping that their fathers, husbands, sons and brothers, mothers, wives, daughters and sisters, grandchildren or neices or nephews will come home -- or not be returned to the battlefield.

president bush may not realize this. other americans may never think about it. but i remember. on this day (actually, yesterday), i hope you will, too...

Lots of Challenges, Lots of Games

rich miller, in his capital fax, has been talking about prospective battle between michael madigan, the speak of the house, and rod blagojevich, the governor, in the upcoming democratic primaries on february 5th. now that the filing deadline has passed, we get a better idea of whether -- and where -- this battle will be fought.

it does seem like there are more contested primaries against sitting democrats in the illinois house this time. 20 democratic incumbents have drawn challengers, some of them rather credible challengers. 60% (no. = 12) of these seats are based in chicago, close to the center of both madigan and blagojevich. this is significant because even though chicago provides the largest plurality of the democratic majority in the illinois house, the speaker has been extremely protective of his democratic incumbents downstate.

in contrast, only two republican incumbents face a primary. looking at these republicans, though, offers an interesting contrast between the way that madigan runs his side and cross runs his. all of madigan's incumbents had their paperwork ready to be filed on "opening day" and were in line to be counted as 8am on october 29. this puts them into the lottery to be first on the ballot. but one of the two contested republicans (shane cultra) had to withdraw his initial paperwork and resubmit his petitions in order to get on the ballot. this may be because rep. cultra was unaware that he would be challenged -- which is more likely in the bigger rural house districts.

the battle between the governor's allies and the speaker's allies is not the only influence in what has driven these contested races. other factors are at play, as well, some local and some personality driven. and a lot of these races are rematches from 2006. but the governor-speaker divide is the most dominant one, and the one that will undoubtedly come into play in the races that end up being truly competitive. these contested races will winnow themselves down -- one rematch, robert shaw vs. david miller in the south suburbs, has already seen the non-incumbent (shaw) drop out. challenges will be made, in fewer cases, opponents will withdraw, and the invisible primary (the money race) will be the biggest challenge.

some of these incumbents appear, on paper at least, vulnerable. many have not kept up with their fund raising. rep. elga jefferies reported only $193.26 cash on hand in her last semi-annual report. her former opponent, paul chadha had more COH that she did: $4,710.50. esther golar only had $3,429.69 COH, certainly not enough to ward off potential challengers (she drew two).

DEMOCRATS:
1.) ILGA-02 (Democratic; Chicago):
Edward J. Acevedo * 10/29/2007 $13,766.01
Daniel I. Fitzgerald 10/29/2007 none
Francisco Rodriguez 11/5/2007 $40.00

2.) ILGA-03 (Democratic; Chicago):
Luis Arroyo * 10/29/2007 $26,910.66
Wayne A. Strnad 10/29/2007 $328.30
Ruben Calderon 11/5/2007 none

3.) ILGA-05 (Democratic; Chicago):
Kenneth "Ken" Dunkin * 10/29/2007 $78,367.49
Kenneth Sawyer 11/5/2007 none

4.) ILGA-06 (Democratic; Chicago):
Esther Golar * 10/29/2007 $3,429.69
Jerry Washington 11/5/2007 none
Darryl Smith 11/5/2007 none

5.) ILGA-09 (Democratic; Chicago):
Arthur L. Turner * 10/29/2007 $20,238.57
Dorothy L. Walton 10/29/2007 none

6.) ILGA-10 (Democratic; Chicago):
Annazette R. Collins * 10/29/2007 $33,962.16
Chenika Collins 11/5/2007 none
Eddie Winters 11/5/2007 none

7.) ILGA-25 (Democratic; Chicago):
Barbara Flynn Currie * 10/29/2007 $212,125.72
Sharon Latiker 11/2/2007 none

8.) ILGA-26 (Democratic; Chicago):
William D. Burns 10/29/2007 none
Paul Chadha 10/29/2007 $4,710.50
Phillip Jackson 10/29/2007 none
Elga L. Jefferies * 10/29/2007 $193.26
Ranoule Tatum 11/2/2007 $19.83
Julian C. Williams 11/5/2007 none
Kenny Johnson 11/5/2007 none

9.) ILGA-27 (Democratic; Chicago):
Monique D. Davis * 10/29/2007 $29,529.73
Stanley S. Moore 10/29/2007 none
James L. McCorkle 11/5/2007 none

10.) ILGA-28 (Democratic; Chicago):
Robert "Bob" Rita * 10/29/2007 $9,405.51
Michael E. Mayden 10/31/2007 none
Earick D. Rayburn 11/5/2007
Marquez D. Elem 11/5/2007 none
Pamela Caston 11/5/2007 none
James J. Taylor 11/5/2007 none

11.) ILGA-29 (Democratic; South Suburbs):
David E. Miller * 10/29/2007 $62,711.34
Robert Shaw 11/5/2007 WITHDRAWN $6,700.00

12.) ILGA-30 (Democratic; South Suburbs):
William "Will" Davis * 10/29/2007 $48,969.74
Maureen Forte 11/5/2007 none
Mark S. Headley 11/5/2007 none

13.) ILGA-33 (Democratic; Chicago):
Marlow H. Colvin * 10/29/2007 $39,845.57
Derrick Prince 11/5/2007 none

14.) ILGA-38 (Democratic; South Suburbs):
Al Riley * 10/29/2007 none
Toni T. Ashmore 11/2/2007 none

15.) ILGA-56 (Democratic; Western Suburbs):
Paul Froehlich * 10/29/2007 $24,783.17
John W. Moynihan 10/29/2007 none
Anita Forte-Scott 10/29/2007 none
Charlotte Kegarise 11/5/2007 none

16.) ILGA-60 (Democratic; Waukegan):
Tony Elam 10/29/2007 none
Angelo D. Kyle 10/29/2007 $1,749.68
Eddie Washington * 10/29/2007 $56,373.71

17.) ILGA-71 (Democratic; Quad Cities):
Mike Boland * 10/29/2007 $66,064.11
Jerry Lack 10/29/2007 none

18.) ILGA-78 (Democratic; Chicago):
Deborah L. Graham * 10/29/2007 $13,767.63
Phyllis M. Logan 10/29/2007 none

19.) ILGA-79 (Democratic; Downstate):
Lisa M. Dugan * 10/29/2007 $37,412.40
Jarman Myron Porter 11/5/2007 none

20.) ILGA-91 (Democratic; Downstate):
Michael K. Smith * 10/29/2007 $18,827.90
Marvin Bainter 11/2/2007 none


1.) ILGA-32 (Democratic Primary - Open Seat; Chicago):
Lawrence A. "Anton" Seals, Jr. 10/29/2007 none
Andre Thapedi 10/29/2007 none
Bobby Joe Johnson 11/2/2007 none
Syron M. Smith 11/2/2007 none
Yvette Williams 11/2/2007 none
Sean J. Smith 11/5/2007 none

2.) ILGA-92 (Democratic Primary - Open Seat; Downstate):
G. Allen Mayer 10/29/2007 none
Jehan Gordon 11/2/2007 none

3.) ILGA-107 (Democratic Primary - Open Seat; Downstate):
Patti J. Hahn 10/29/2007 none
Travis G. Loyd 10/29/2007 none


REPUBLICANS:
1.) ILGA-49 (Republican; Western Suburbs):
James (Jim) Krenz 10/29/2007
Timothy L. Schmitz * 10/29/2007

2.) ILGA-105 (Republican; Downstate):
David W. Tomlinson 10/29/2007
Shane Cultra * 11/5/2007


1.) ILGA-48 (Republican Primary - Open Seat; Western Suburbs):
Dave Carlin 10/29/2007
Michael G. Connelly 10/29/2007
Douglas P. Krause 10/29/2007

2.) ILGA-50 (Republican Primary - Open Seat; Western Suburbs):
Anton L. Graff 10/29/2007
Kay Hatcher 10/29/2007
David Richmond 10/29/2007
Terry Hunt 11/5/2007

3.) ILGA-66 (Republican Primary - Open Seat; Western Suburbs):
Laura Bartell 10/29/2007
Christine K. Prochno 10/29/2007

4.) ILGA-96 (Republican Primary - Open Seat; Western Suburbs):
Darlene J. Senger 10/29/2007
Michael G. Bowler 11/5/2007
Michael F. Wisniewski 11/5/2007

5.) ILGA-104 (Republican Primary - Open Seat; Downstate):
Terry Baldwin 10/31/2007
Scott Eisenhauer 11/5/2007

* incumbent
websites come from candidates at the board of elections.
COH figures from from illinois board of elections.

Cubs Rally...

i like chicago. it's a great sports town. sure, people here don't seem to appreciate the miami dolphins (for some reason), but when they are playing the way they've played this season, who can blame you?


my wife and i watch lots of sports. we were both disappointed at the end of the wnba season, and enjoyed more than a few sky games. so it's not much of a surprise that we went to the cubs raley on monday, even though we are southsiders (and sox fans -- for me, they are not mutually exclusive). there is actually political content, if you look for it:


go cubs go!

Jerry Weller (IL-11) Not Running?

the respected capitol fax blog reports "Congressman Jerry Weller is not yet circulating his nominating petitions." for those who don't know, candidates have to collect signatures to get their names on the ballot in illinois, collecting an equivalent of .5% of the number of partisan voters in the last primary election. the daily southtown, a local paper of sorts for the northern end of the 11th congressional district in illinois, also notes:

Rumors are circulating that Weller may decide against another term, particularly in light of the bad press he is receiving over his Guatemalan financial interests. Phone calls, I'm told, have been made to his top donors indicating he may be preparing to "hang it up." His family, after all, lives in Guatemala. That's a long commute.

not to mention weller's recent naming as one of the "22 most corrupt" in congress, in an annual report by citizens for responsibility and ethics in washington.

weller feeds the "republicans are corrupt" meme, and his getting subpoenaed recently in the duke cunningham investigation/brent wilkes trial reinforces that.

the good news is that emily's list and local democrats have been talking to illinois senate majority leader debbie halvorson about running for this seat, regardless of what weller decides. the daily southtown reports that "Halvorson is meeting with Emily’s List recruiters this month to discuss a possible congressional bid." recent comments might indicate a desire to get out of the current environment in springfield. but, as the southtown notes, she could run without having to give up her senate seat -- a choice preferred by most incumbents.

halvorson would be an incredibly strong challenger -- and would probably clear the democratic field if she gets in the race. her entry, especially with the support of national groups like emily's list, would instantly pull this seat into the competitive column (doesn't hurt that weller has many ethical problems). and if it became an open seat, halvorson's candidacy could put this into the leans democrat column fairly quickly.

Impressions from the Clinton Speech

this is the seventh presidential cycle in which i've spent time in iowa and/or new hampshire. the first couple of times were fun. now it's just familiar. but this was the first time i was *invited.*

so you'll forgive me if i preface this diary with observations about corn fields (saw one field where the field corn was being harvested, and two others where it had just been harvested), driving by the mississippi river and a plethora of small towns. it's how i know that i'm in iowa. by the time we got to clinton, we were half a million strong and everywhere there was song and celebration -- wait, that's not right. but the arrival around ashford university did make me think of joni mitchell's song. the roads were blocked off, lanes reserved for parking, and the long line of cars let you know that someone special was in town. images from the movie rocked around my brain.

the speech itself was in the school gymnasium. everybody else seemed to know where they were going -- i appeared to be the only lost soul out of place -- so i just followed the line of people. at the door of the building, they asked for the essentials, and, if you were an obama supporter, had you filled out their commitment card? it was all students manning the stations, and probably there were more volunteers then they actually needed. everybody, including the local press, seem excited.

i arrived before obama did. the secret service-like personnel (you know, the guys in dark suits with ear pieces looking like they were in 24 or something) were standing up two parked police cars clearly making a space for the obama entourage. i asked at the front door how many people they expected. no idea. well, how many chairs have been set up (usually someone knows *that* answer). i asked a couple of times before i was told that they had set up 400 chairs. took up about half the space. basically, they filled up the area in front of the cameras. there were approximately a dozen or so television cameras there, and to their right, there were six rows of tables set up for print media.

the doors were supposed to open at 1pm. i got there about twenty before 1 -- and the gynasium was pretty full. before one o'clock, there were definitely more than 400 people there. got to say that in the walk in, i looked for bumber stickers and other identifying items of support of a presidential candidate. i only saw one bumper sticker (besides the two on my car; my wife and i support different candidates), that was for john edwards. but by about ten after, they were already putting up more seats. by the time barack took the podium, there were people in the bleachers, perhaps a hundred or so people standing up, and the room was basically packed.

the crowd was definitely all ages. i'd guess that it was half students and half local iowans. as you see in all these crowds with presidential candidates, there was a large portion of senior citizens, and some of them strained to find seats. there was a smattering of illinois plates parked along the side of the road, but none with obama stickers. they could easily have been students from illinois. but at least one national media source found an illinois obama backer.

the first person to come out was a local soldier, john malcolm, who supports barack. he gave a spirited talk about his experience in iraq (fallujah), how he would return if called back. but he made it very clear that he supported pulling the troops out now. what i didn't realize, though, is that he was there to introduce zbigniew brzezinski. zbig started out with a gracious thanks for john's service to our country. then he gave a very eloquent speech about why our presence in iraq was counterproductive, "it has discredited america as a whole." even without the benefit of intelligence briefings, zbig observed, barack made the right choice, the moral choice.

if you read my diary from tuesday (9-11), you know that i strongly believe in a fresh approach to u.s. foreign policy, especially as it relates to our national security policy. brzezinski is thinking in the same direction -- and so is barack -- noting that this election has the possibility of shaping a new international system. zbig observed that with the emergence of the united states as the sole superpower in the world, we had an opportunity to reshape the international system, but that opportunity was "squandered by the self-destructive war in iraq," a war that "has discredited america worldwide." he ended with an observation of the stakes, "the war in iraq is nothing less than the central test of good political judgment, of real political leadership," that one political leader has shown just that.

for zbigniew brzezinski, that political leader is barack obama.

you could hear clinton's agreement by their rousing reception they gave barack. barack began the speech by thanking the young iowan who introduced him, a candidate in the making -- and making a joke. no doubt, it was a high moment in malcolm's life. barack's speech began with his normal (at least, in my experience) tempered style that one could almost call professorish. after a few jokes, the audience took the seriousness of the subject to heart. but, as barack always does, he won over the audience to his view, that the u.s. must withdraw from iraq if it is to regain the initiative against the distributed network of terrorists that continues to threaten us and hold the next american century hostage.

president bush and the republicans have given us a false choice: their failed strategy or complete withdrawal to america's shores. a president obama offers us an alternative, re-engagement in the war on the terrorists, re-emergence of american leadership in the world, and re-energizing the promise that america has stood for for the 226 years before we recklessly and wrongly invaded iraq.

it begins with our withdrawal from iraq. and barack obama is the leader who can take us there. if the democrats are "on trial on television," barack gives us not only the opportunity, but the moral imperative, to win...

We are stardust
We are golden
And we've got to get ourselves
Back to the garden