Primary Results A Clean Sweep
For Illinois' Environment
From the race for U.S. Senate to hotly contested collar county races, Illinois Democratic and Republican voters chose candidates who demonstrated support for environmental protection in Tuesday's primary elections.
"Clearly voters in both parties are looking for candidates who share their commitment to clean air, clean water, and conservation," said Jack Darin, Director of the Sierra Club, Illinois Chapter. "Illinois voters who are unhappy with the environmental policies of the Bush Administration rewarded candidates who represent their interest in a clean and healthy environment."
Sierra Club backed State Senator Barack Obama in the Democratic Primary for U.S. Senate, based on his strong record of support for clean air, wetlands protection, and clean energy. Obama recently received a 100% rating from the Illinois Environmental Council for his votes on environmental issues, and is currently sponsoring legislation to protect Illinois from attempts by the Bush Administration to weaken key protections in the federal Clean Air Act. Sierra Club used repeated e-mail, phone, and mail contacts with its 26,000 Illinois members to spread the word about their endorsement and Obama's record.
"Environmental voters see Obama as an antidote to Bush's pollution policies, and a chance to send someone to Washington who will fight attempts to weaken our clean air and water laws," said Darin.
In General Assembly races, Sierra Club focused its efforts on three pro-environment members of the Illinois General Assembly who faced primary challengers - State Representatives Lou Lang (D-Skokie), Robin Kelly, (D-Matteson), and David Miller (D-Calumet City)
Environmental issues also played a key role in several county-level races in DuPage and Lake counties.
In DuPage County, Paul Fichtner (R-District 1) won a hard-fought contest in County Board District 1. Sierra Club endorsed Fichtner in part due to his strong support for cleaning up water pollution in Salt Creek and the DuPage River system. Also in DuPage, Carl Schultz (R-District 5) won his race for DuPage County Forest Preserve District, despite a strong challenge from developer Kevin Gallagher. In both races, volunteers from Sierra Club's River Prairie Group worked hard to educate voters about the environmental records of candidates by walking precincts, phonebanking, and direct mail.
In Lake County, three incumbent Republicans on the Lake County Board survived strong primary challenges. Judy Martini (R- District 1), Sandy Cole (R- District 11), and Bob Powers (R- District 16) have all been strong voices for smart growth, open space preservation, and wetland protection in Lake County, and volunteers with Sierra Club's Woods and Wetlands Group were an active part of their campaign efforts.
Many more endorsements will be forthcoming for the November general election.
Contact: |