It’s a secret ballot, and while we’re pro-secret ballot, there are times when secrets should be revealed. This is one such time. We rail a lot against the small-mindedness of our legislators, and there are few better examples of their limited and selfish thinking than when it comes time for them to vote for their own caucus leadership.
We suspect a lot of the problems in our Republican Party in the General Assembly begin behind closed doors. We’ve haven’t hesitated, for example, to discuss the issue of “Springfield Wives” (see article here).
Below is our best estimation of what took place behind closed doors, based on sources we consider credible. Also, thrown in for good measure, we posit a couple of made up (italicized) quotes and other explanations in parenthesis.
We ask our readers who are represented by one of these men or women to contact their senator to inquire as to who they voted for – Christine Radogno or Kirk Dillard.
Pam Althoff FOR Radogno
(“I told Kirk I was with him but I love secret ballots and women in politics.”)
Tim Bivins FOR Dillard
Larry Bomke FOR Dillard
(Our guess here is that at least one downstater did the right thing.)
Bill Brady ABSTAIN
(Evidently Obama’s many “present” votes while a state senator were an inspiration to Bill.)
Brad Burzynski FOR Radogno
(Brad received his assistant leadership post and pay promised in advance.)
Dan Cronin FOR Dillard
Gary Dahl FOR Radogno
(Gary is rumored to have worked closely with Senate staff and Dale Righter.)
Kirk Dillard FOR Dillard
Randy Hultgren FOR Dillard
John Jones FOR Radogno
(Jones was also reportedly promised assistant leadership pay, and we hear that he’s still very angry that Dillard filed an ad for Obama.)
Chris Lauzen FOR Dillard
Dave Luechtefeld FOR Radogno
(Frank Watson told him to support Radogno, but he also admitted to being troubled by Dillard’s support for Obama.)
John Millner FOR Dillard
Matt Murphy FOR Radogno
(Voted to support Radogno in order to protect the staff job of his friend Ryan Cudney.)
Carole Pankau FOR Radogno
(The votes had to come from somewhere, and our guess is that after promising a vote for Kirk, she became a traitor.)
Dan Duffy FOR Radogno
Christine Radogno FOR Radogno
Dale Righter FOR Radogno
(We hear that Righter and Radogno work very closely together so his backing her would be in keeping with their relationship.)
Dale Risinger FOR Dillard
Dan Rutherford FOR Radogno
(“I would be more publicly outed by the gay leader Rick Garcia if I did not vote for the pro-gay Radogno.”)
Dave Syverson ABSTAIN
(Rumor is that poor Dave was torn between establishment loyalty and conscience. So much for all those years in the state legislature and on the GOP State Central Committee to help him learn the right way.)
Frank Watson FOR Radogno
Again, we wonder why someone else didn’t step up and make this a three-way or four-way race – as Dillard was hardly a solid alternative. The sad reality is that Radogno, who should be a Democrat, received the votes of a few of her conservative colleagues and who those votes came from should be brought to light.
To repeat our request – we ask rank and file Republicans who are represented by one of the above men or women to phone them and inquire about their vote and let us know what they say. They owe all of us an answer.
