Frustrated by the lack of interest either gubernatorial candidate has in winning conservative votes, one independent political action committee has turned its efforts to winning back one of the Illinois General Assembly chambers in November.
Three seats away from the majority in the Senate and six short in the House, the United Republican Fund is placing its fundraising efforts into winning four Senate and two House races in its "Six in '06" campaign.
One of the toughest races the URF picked to engage in this cycle is the south suburban Cook County 19th District, where incumbent State Senator Maggie Crotty (D-Oak Forest) now wears two crowns -- one of being state senator and the other as Bremen Township Supervisor.
Crotty is being challenged by 47 year old Matteson college professor and minister Eric Wallace, an African-American conservative Republican.
If Eric Wallace were to be elected as senator, he would be the first African-American Republican to serve in the Illinois General Assembly in seventy years, and one of the only PhDs.
A founder of the African-American Republican Council, Wallace has been promoting Republican principles in the south suburbs for the past couple of years. That’s why, he says, he’s running for the Illinois Senate. The answers for his district will not be found in government programs. It will be in encouraging competition and self-reliance.
Coming from a home with two college professors, Eric naturally has a deep concern for the children of the south suburbs who are being denied an optimistic future because their schools under-perform.
The father of two sons attending college, Eric is committed to changing the current public school system by encouraging parental involvement and school choice.
He believes parents should be involved in making decisions concerning any medical and surgical procedures their children face, including abortion. He opposes embryonic experimentation. He believes marriage should be defined as between a man and a woman.
His opponent opposed a ban on partial birth abortion a few years ago when the vote faced the Illinois House and has received campaign funds from the state's largest pro-abortion political action committee, Personal PAC.
The 19th Senate District is one of the most diverse in the state. On the east side of the Cook County district, economically-depressed Harvey is a stark contrast to the district’s thriving Orland Park and Tinley Park on the western boundary. Demographically, Reagan Democrats populate the 19th District.
Democrats remain unchallenged in the district as a whole. Few Republicans devote time and funds into the district, and although dominated by Democrats, the south suburban region has been ignored by the Democratic majority as businesses and industries evacuate the area and leave a growing tax burden in the hands of retired home owners and soon-to-retire baby boomers.
With the work Wallace has been doing knocking on doors, hearing the discontentment of 19th District voters, the brewing upset by candidate for Cook County Board President Tony Peraica, the URF sees the Wallace race as a possible pickup for the Republicans.
This Friday evening, the URF and Citizens for Eric Wallace will be hosting nationally-renowned commentator Armstrong Williams who is coming to Chicago to boost the Wallace campaign. Tickets are still available.
The 19th District includes the southwest suburban towns of Orland Park, Tinley Park, Oak Forest and the southern suburbs of Country Club Hills, Matteson, Olympia Fields and Homewood.
Check out www.wallace2006.com for more information.
