Lawyer who helped scuttle Rutherford wants elections post
Christine Svenson, a lawyer who helped derail the gubernatorial campaign of then-Illinois Treasurer Dan Rutherford with a lawsuit on behalf of a male state employee accusing him of sexual harassment, is one of eight finalists for a Republican opening on the Chicago Board of Election Commissioners.
Svenson’s candidacy is supported by Illinois Comptroller Leslie Munger, U.S. Rep. Peter Roskam and Cook County GOP Chairman Aaron Del Mar, who each wrote reference letters on her behalf.
Notable Republicans backing other various applicants include former Gov. Jim Edgar, Illinois House Republican Leader Jim Durkin, state Sen. Jim Oberweis and Elmwood Park Mayor Angelo “Skip” Saviano.
Even attorney Michael J. Kasper, the lawyer for the Illinois Democratic Party, and former Chicago Police Supt. Terry Hillard made endorsements.
Cook County Circuit Chief Judge Timothy Evans has the responsibility of weeding through the applicants and nominating one individual for an up-or-down vote by the county’s judges. This is normally a very behind-the-scenes process, but Evans decided to advertise the job online and post the names of the applicants on the court’s website. He even allowed me to take a look Wednesday at their applications.
Svenson’s name jumped out first because of her key role in torpedoing Rutherford, which worked out very well for Bruce Rauner, who went on to win the GOP nomination and become governor.
Rutherford pointed out at the time that Svenson had been paid some small amount by the Rauner campaign, which Rauner aides attributed to legal work she had performed reviewing an office lease for him.
Svenson, general counsel to the Cook County Republican Party, told Evans she possesses “an intimate understanding of the political arena and its high-stakes, pressurefilled nature.” I’ll say.
Roskam said Svenson “works effectively across party lines and has built strong relationships with members of both parties.” Yes, but which ones? Another applicant with big-name backing is Lee Roupas, an assistant DuPage County state’s attorney who lives in Lincoln Park.
Roupas is supported by Edgar, who said in his reference letter that he has known Roupas since 1990, when the then-7-year-old worked on Edgar’s first campaign for governor.
Also writing reference letters for Roupas were Durkin, former Cook County Commissioner Liz Doody Gorman and Cook County Associate Judge Peggy Chiampas.
Lori Yokoyama, 60, of Kenwood, submitted reference letters from Oberweis, Cook County Board of Review Commissioner Dan Patlak and former Chicago Board of Education President David Vitale.
Yokoyama, the 4th Ward Republican committeeman, also asserted her application has the support of the election board’s current chairman, Langdon Neal.
Thomas Battista held state government positions under three Republican governors and described himself as a former member of the 36th Ward Republican organization that his father and brother ran for 30 years.
Saviano, state Rep. Michael McAuliffe and Cook County Commissioner Peter Silvestri endorsed Battista for the post.
In a bit of a twist, lawyers William J. Kresse and Joseph A. Morris wrote reference letters for each other, while former election board member Chris Robling wrote letters backing them both.
Kresse is a Governor’s State University instructor with the nickname of “Professor Fraud” for his work in fraud prevention and detection. Morris is a former member of Ronald Reagan’s administration who was the GOP nominee for Cook County Board president in 1994.
Both Kresse and Morris have worked part time as hearing officers for the election board.
Morris was the hearing officer on the residency challenge to Rahm Emanuel in his first campaign for mayor. Democratic stalwart Kasper was one of the lawyers who convinced Morris to keep Emanuel on the ballot.
“Joe is a gentleman in the truest sense of the word. The practice of law needs more people like him,” Kasper wrote in his reference letter.
Hillard, the city’s former top cop, wrote a letter on behalf of Mary Jo Strusz, a parttime administrative law judge for the city.
I could get used to this open government stuff.