The "Right" Choice...for Democrats

Impress upon children the truth that the exercise of the elective franchise is a social duty of as solemn a nature as man can be called to perform - Daniel Webster

Republican Senate candidate Patrick Hughes attaches a great deal of importance to voting in his essay “The ‘Right’ Choice”.  He contends that fellow Senate candidate, US Representative Mark Kirk, has disqualified himself as a candidate for the Republican nomination through his votes in Congress for stem cell research, stronger hate crimes legislation, and the recent “cap and trade” bill. 

But what of Patrick Hughes’ votes?  Hughes has never held elective office, so there is no record of votes on legislation to examine.   But what about his record of exercising of the most basic right of every American citizen; what is Pat Hughes’ record of voting in local, state and national elections?  The short answer is, he doesn’t have much of one.

One would think that a man who pens an essay disputing the “Republican” identity of a five-term Republican Congressman would have impeccable “Republican” credentials himself.  In Patrick Hughes’ case, you would be wrong. 

According to publicly available election records, records easily available to anyone to takes the time to call the Cook and DuPage County Clerks, Patrick Hughes, a 40 year old man who’s had the right to vote for 22 years, has voted in only one Republican primary.  February 5th, 2008 was the first time Patrick Hughes identified himself as a Republican to state election officials and voted in a Republican primary.

His record in voting in General elections is little better.  Hughes first registered to vote in 2003.  He voted in the 2004 General election, and four years later voted in the 2008 General election.

The 2004 General election, 2008 Republican Primary, and 2008 General election – that is the extent of Patrick Hughes’ voting record according to the State of Illinois. 

Hughes references former Senator Peter Fitzgerald and 1996 Republican Senate candidate Al Salvi in his essay as proof that “suitable, endorsed, supported and funded conservative[s]” can run competitively in Illinois.  But Hughes did not vote for either of these men in their respective General elections in 1998 and 1996, nor did he vote for them over their moderate opponents in the Republican primaries. 

The Fitzgerald and Salvi contests were not the only important Illinois elections that Hughes skipped.  He missed the 1988 Presidential election between George H.W. Bush and Michael Dukakis, the last time a Republican Presidential candidate has carried Illinois.  He was absent when Rod Blagojevich was elected Governor in 2002.  He stayed home when Blagojevich was reelected in 2006, and when Alexi Giannoulias, the man Hughes hopes to face in the 2010 Senate General election, was elected Illinois Treasurer.

The 2010 Illinois Senate election is the best opportunity Illinois Republicans have had since Peter Fitzgerald’s defeat of Carol Moseley Braun in 1998.  Should we nominate a man who evidently cares so little about his right to vote that he’s exercised it less than many people who are half his age?  The only people who win in that scenario are the Democrats, the same Democrats that Patrick Hughes has tacitly aided over the last 22 years through his inaction.

I titled this website “Rod Blagojevich’s Kind of Republican” because that what Patrick Hughes is.  Rod Blagojevich, and politicians like him, depend on people like Patrick Hughes, who have the right to vote but don’t exercise it, in order to remain in power.  To select such a man, who could not even bestir himself in 2006 to vote against the most corrupt Governor in Illinois history, is unthinkable.

Below you will find brief summaries of important Illinois elections that Patrick Hughes skipped.  Consider his voting record and ask yourself, why should I vote for Patrick Hughes, when he wouldn’t even bother vote for all of these other Republicans?

2006 - Gubernatorial Election

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The 2006 Illinois Governor race was between incumbent Governor Rod Blagojevich and State Treasurer Judy Baar Topinka.

Blagojevich’s first term was marked by near-constant federal investigations into his administration.  Blagojevich’s own father-in-law, Dick Mell, accused him of selling state board appointments in return for campaign contributions.  The Topinka campaign called Blagojevich the most investigated governor in Illinois history.  Attorney General Lisa Madigan, a fellow Democrat, refused to endorse Blagojevich for reelection.  However, Blagojevich spent $27 million on his campaign, compared to $6 million from the Topinka campaign.

Blagojevich’s massive money advantage was enough to buy him victory.  He defeated Topinka 49% to 39%.  Two years and one month later, he was arrested at his home for corruption on a massive scale.  If enough voters had taken a firm stance against Blagojevich in 2006, Illinois could have been spared his farcical second term, and the national embarrassment of his arrest.  Patrick Hughes was among those voters who refused to take a firm stand against Blagojevich; he DID NOT vote in the 2006 election. 

SPECIAL NOTE:  There is a subset of Illinois Republicans who insisted at the time that Topinka was no better than Rod Blagojevich, so what was the point of even voting?  I do not count myself among them, and I do not know Patrick Hughes’ thinking on the matter.  However, even if Patrick Hughes did feel that Topinka was no improvement on Blagojevich, that does not excuse him for skipping the 2006 Republican primary, where he could have voted for a candidate more to his liking.

1998 - Senate Election

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Patrick Hughes references Peter Fitzgerald’s 1998 Senate race against incumbent Senator Carole Moseley Braun in his essay “The ‘Right’ choice” as an example of the “right” kind of Republican Senate candidate.  As opposed to Mark Kirk, the presumed “wrong” choice.  And while Fitzgerald’s defeat of Moseley Braun was important and affects Illinois politics even today, he didn’t win through any help from Pat Hughes.

By the end of her first term, Braun was an embarrassment to Illinois.  She had been investigated for diverting nearly $300,000 in campaign funds for her personal use.  Her fiancé was a lobbyist for the government of Nigerian dictator General Sani Abacha.  Braun herself travelled to Nigeria, despite ongoing US sanctions, and defended Abacha from the floor of the Senate.  When conservative columnist George Will criticized her for these actions, Braun claimed Will was racist, saying “I think because he couldn't say nigger, he said corrupt.”

Fitzgerald pulled off a narrow win against Braun, defeating her by less than 3%.  It was an historic triumph for Illinois Republicans.  Fitzgerald was the first Republican to win an Illinois Senate seat in 20 years, and he was the only Republican to defeat an incumbent Democratic Senator in 1998.  Fitzgerald’s win was an historic triumph that Patrick Hughes does not share in, because Patrick Hughes DID NOT vote in 1998.

2006 - Treasurer Election

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With Judy Baar Topinka running for Governor, the office of Treasurer was wide open.  The Democrats nominated Alexi Giannoulias, while the Republicans nominated Christine Radogno. 

The Treasurer race was the closest election in Illinois in 2006.  While Giannoulias had the advantage of a public endorsement from Barack Obama, and a nationwide Democratic wave, he was dogged by press reports that he had made loans to mob figures while working at his family’s Broadway Bank.  Radogno was endorsed by a number of major newspapers, but faced an electorate hostile to Republicans and an opponent with a massive fundraising advantage.

Ultimately Giannoulias won with 54% of the vote.  Patrick Hughes DID NOT vote against the man he will most likely face in the General election if he is elected as the Republican Senate nominee.

2002 - Gubernatorial Election

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The 2002 Illinois gubernatorial race was between Illinois Attorney General Jim Ryan, and Congressman Rod Blagojevich.

Jim Ryan had served three terms as DuPage County State’s attorney.  He elected Illinois Attorney General in 1994 and reelected in 1998 with the endorsement of every major newspaper in the state.  By contrast, Blagojevich was completing his third term in Congress, an office he gained largely thanks to the influence of his father-in-law, Dick Mell.  Despite owing his career to Chicago machine politics, and Jim Ryan’s long career as a respected prosecutor, Blagojevich claimed that he was running to “end business as usual” in Springfield. 

Unfortunately, enough Republicans like Patrick Hughes either bought Blagojevich’s spin, or stayed home.  Patrick Hughes DID NOT vote in the 2002 gubernatorial election, and Illinois got the most corrupt Governor in state history.

2002 - Attorney General Election

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In 2002 DuPage County State’s Attorney Joe Birkett faced off against then-State Senator Lisa Madigan, daughter of Illinois House Speaker and State Democratic Chairman Mike Madigan.

Despite the vast difference in their experience as attorneys - Birkett had served in the DuPage state’s attorney’s office for over 20 years while Madigan had served a few years in a Chicago law firm - Madigan’s fundraising advantage and her father’s influence eventually won out.

Madigan defeated Birkett by a narrow margin, 50% to 47%.  Patrick Hughes DID NOT vote in this close election.

1996 - 5th Congressional District Election

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Michael Flanagan’s opponent when he ran for reelection as the 5th district’s Congressman in 1996 was none other than Rod Blagojevich. 

Flanagan earned the endorsements of both the Chicago Tribune and the Chicago Sun Times, with the Tribune stressing the importance of Flanagan as the sole Republican advocate in Congress for Chicago.  But the papers’ support wasn’t enough to overcome Blagojevich and his father-in-law, Alderman Dick Mell. 

Amid record-low voter turnout for a Presidential election year (below 50%), Blagojevich defeated Flanagan.  Patrick Hughes DID NOT vote to reelect Chicago’s only Republican Congressman in 40 years.

SPECIAL NOTE:  When Hughes first registered to vote in 2003, the address he gave was located in the 5th Congressional district.  I have been unable to locate any previous addresses for Hughes prior to 2003, so I am assuming he lived at the same address during this election.  If anyone can show me that Hughes did not live in the 5th Congressional district at the time, I will remove this entry.

1996 - Senate Election

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The 1996 Illinois Senate race between Dick Durbin and Al Salvi is the second race that Pat Hughes references in his essay on why he should be the Republican candidate for Senate instead of Mark Kirk.  He says “In 1996, conservative lawyer Al Salvi won the Republican nomination and nearly won the general election even though popular Democratic incumbent President Bill Clinton was on the ballot,” again making the case for a more “conservative” Senate candidate.

However facts do not agree with Hughes’ version of history.  While Salvi did defeat the moderate lieutenant Governor Bob Kustra (not through any support from Hughes, who DID NOT vote in the 1996 Republican Primary), Salvi did not “nearly win” the general election.  He lost to Dick Durbin by 15%.  Salvi’s poor performance was not helped by the fact that Patrick Hughes himself DID NOT vote in the General election either.

1996 - Presidential Election

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The 1996 Presidential election was between incumbent President Bill Clinton and Senator Bob Dole. 

Throughout much of the campaign, Clinton’s camp faced embarrassing questions about its fundraising tactics.  The People’s Republic of China was found to have been funneling funds to the Democratic National Committee ahead of the 1996 election in an attempt to influence US policy.  Clinton was also dogged by other scandals from his first term (Whitewater, Travelgate etc…).  Despite these weaknesses, Dole was never able to overtake Clinton in the polls.

Bill Clinton was reelected, the first Democrat to manage the feat since FDR.  Clinton again carried Illinois in 1996.  Patrick Hughes DID NOT vote in the election.

1994 - 5th Congressional District Election

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The 1994 election in Illinois’ 5th Congressional District between incumbent Congressman Dan Rostenkowski (left) and Michael Flanagan (right) was one of the great upsets in Illinois election history.

Illinois’ 5th Congressional district was, and remains, heavily Democratic, and Rostenkowski was the powerful Chairman of the House Ways and Means committee.  However, Rostenkowski was weakened by ongoing federal investigations into his conduct, and 1994 was the year of the “Republican Revolution” that swept Republicans into power in the House and the Senate.

Flanagan narrowly defeated Rostenkowski, making him the first Republican to represent a significant portion of Chicago since 1967.  Rostenkowski would later plead guilty to mail fraud in 1996 and serve 15 months in federal prison.  Patrick Hughes lived in the 5th Congressional district, but DID NOT vote in this historic election.

SPECIAL NOTE:  When Hughes first registered to vote in 2003, the address he gave was located in the 5th Congressional district.  I have been unable to locate any previous addresses for Hughes prior to 2003, so I am assuming he lived at the same address during this election.  If anyone can show me that Hughes did not live in the 5th Congressional district at the time, I will remove this post.

1992 - Presidential Election

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In the 1992 Presidential election, incumbent President George H.W. Bush faced Arkansas Governor Bill Clinton. 

Despite successfully leading the first Gulf War, Bush was hurt by a weak economy and breaking his promise to oppose any new taxes.  He was defeated by Clinton, though Clinton did not win a majority of the vote, only a plurality.

Clinton carried 32 states, including Illinois.  It was the first time since 1964 that the Republican Presidential candidate did not carry Illinois.  Patrick Hughes DID NOT vote in the election.

1988 - Presidential Election

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In the 1988 Presidential election, then-Vice President George H.W. Bush faced off against Massachusetts Governor Michael Dukakis. 

Dukakis, who had opposed requiring school children to recite the pledge of allegiance and described himself as a “card-carrying member of the ACLU” was seen as too liberal by most Americans.  Bush, by contrast, benefited from his service as Ronald Reagan’s Vice President and general satisfaction around the country with the way things were going.

Bush handily defeated Dukakis, winning 40 states, including Illinois.  While Bush only won Illinois by 2%, he was the last Republican presidential candidate to carry the state.  Patrick Hughes DID NOT vote in the election.