one interesting race...

Now that immigration is dead in the Senate, I thought the year was going to be boring and uneventful. I was actually afraid that I'd have nothing valuable to post in this blog but little did I know that Illinois is home to some of the strangest politics in this country. Not only do we have a love affair with nepotism (see previous posts), but now we've got inter-family politics in the mix as well.

Apparently Representative Melissa Bean (D-8) in the northern suburbs is in danger of losing her seat, AGAIN. Bill Scheurer ran last time as an Independent but lost (obviously). Now, his wife Randi is running on the Independent ticket while Bill is planning on running on the Moderate Party's ticket.

This will be one interesting race.

Wife, husband might be rivals in U.S. House race

By Susan Kuczka
Tribune staff reporter

July 2, 2007

When Bill Scheurer ran as an independent in last year's race for the northwest suburban 8th Congressional District seat held by Barrington Democrat Melissa Bean, his wife, Randi, backed him every step of the way.

But now it will be Randi Scheurer taking the lead when she makes a run at unseating Bean, the two-term incumbent, in the 2008 Democratic primary.

"I'm running because I want to bring our troops home from Iraq now," said Scheurer, whose 29-year-old son recently returned from a tour of duty in Iraq with the National Guard. "I consider this an illegal war, an immoral war and a war of aggression."

Although she has never run for office, Randi Scheurer got a firsthand look at how campaigns work when her husband ran under the Moderate Party banner.

Bill Scheurer said he's likely to run again as the Moderate Party candidate in next year's election. He garnered more than 5 percent of the vote in 2006, guaranteeing the party a spot on the ballot.

Married 35 years, the Scheurers said they do not expect their competing candidacies to drive a wedge between them because they both will be campaigning for an immediate troop withdrawal from the Middle East.

"We'd be happy if either one of us got in because the issue is so pressing," said Randi Scheurer, an artist and mother of four who is a member of Military Families Speak Out.

"I believe our representative isn't listening to the voices of our community," said Scheurer, who criticized Bean for supporting funding for the Iraq war.

Brian Herman, a spokesman for Bean, said her voting record shows consistent support of the troops.

"She continues to reach out and respond to her constituents, and looks forward to running on her record," Herman said.

Long Grove businessman Steve Greenberg announced plans to seek the GOP nomination.

Both Randi and Bill Scheurer said they would rely on donations to fund their individual campaigns. Most important, they said, will be taking their campaign directly to residents of their Lindenhurst neighborhood and other 8th District towns.

"I know how to walk the streets and go door to door, which I think will be the real key," Randi Scheurer said.

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skuczka@tribune.com

Copyright © 2007, Chicago Tribune