Money talks, as they say, and what it said in last month's general election carried Republicans to victory in the state's two highest-profile races.
U.S. Sen.-elect Peter Fitzgerald essentially bought the seat now held by U.S. Sen. Carol Moseley-Braun, tapping into his own personal fortune to blitz the state with TV ads and directmail pieces telling Illinoisans why they should be ashamed of the Democratic incumbent. In all, Fitzgerald outspent Moseley-Braun $12.5 million to $6 million, according to figures compiled by the Illinois Campaign for Political Reform.
Similarly, Gov.-elect George Ryan used a $15.2 million war chest, compared to U.S. Rep. Glenn Poshard's $5.9 million, to underwrite a media campaign largely aimed at alienating liberal Democrats from their party's more conservative nominee.
In both contests, financial superiority let the Republicans wage the campaigns on their own terms, picking the defining issues and determining how they would be framed. While vote returns in the two races were quite similar — 1.7 million for each Republican, 1.6 million for each Democrat, roughly a 51 -47 GOP edge — the statewide totals mask stark contrasts in where and how the winners put together their majorities. (See tables on page 11 of this issue.)
In the Senate contest, Fitzgerald's strategy was simple: Make the election a referendum on whether Moseley-Braun lived up to voters' expectations after her history-making election in 1992 as the first African- American woman senator.
And the regional results crushed Democratic hopes that diversity at the top of the ticket might create a synergetic effect.
By keeping the spotlight on Moseley-Braun's miscues, Fitzgerald was able to mute discussion of the candidates' differences on substantive issues like abortion rights and the right to carry concealed weapons, two areas in which his views are more extreme, polls suggest, than most Illinoisans'.
More than most candidates, Fitzgerald also shunned reporters to avoid having to answer pesky questions about such policy matters. He even turned down an offer of free broadcast time to respond to canned questions because, his spokesman said, "We prefer to fashion our own message."
The single-minded attack worked.
Moseley-Braun never was able to focus
attention on public policy, and in the
end, election results suggest, found herself abandoned by many voters
who helped propel her into office six
years ago. The falloff was particularly
notable outside the six-county Chicago
region; in the other 96 counties,
Moseley-Braun garnered only 38
percent of the vote, losing downstate
to Fitzgerald by more than 327, 000
votes, compared to her 51 percent,
95, 000-vote plurality there in 1992
In the governor's race, Ryan used his
financial muscle to paint Poshard as a
dangerous extremist on issues like gun
control and environmental protection.
In particular, the ad campaign targeted
the Chicago area, where the southern
Illinois congressman was relatively
unknown.
Poshard's self-imposed limits on
contributions hampered his efforts to
fight back, and by the time the state
Democratic Party and organized labor
began a concerted media effort on his
behalf, the damage was irreparable.
Indeed, GOP tracking polls indicated
that one of the Democratic ads —
blaming Ryan for the deaths of six
children in a Milwaukee traffic
accident, and tying the tragedy to a
licensing-bribery scandal in the
secretary of state's office — actually
backfired, enhancing the negative
image many voters already held of the
congressman.
The GOP strategy worked perfectly,
election returns suggest, helping Ryan
to win almost a third of the vote in
Chicago, holding Poshard to a city
plurality of about 220, 000 votes. In
liberal-leaning lakefront areas, Ryan
outpolled Poshard by thousands of
votes, even while those same areas gave
huge margins to Moseley-Braun. Ryan
lost southern Illinois, and wound up
beating Poshard by only about 9, 000
votes downstate, but piled up a suburban margin of almost 350, 000 votes to
win.
The regional results crushed Democratic hopes that diversity at the top of
the ticket might create a synergetic
effect boosting both candidates.
Indeed, had Moseley-Braun run as
well in southern Illinois as Poshard,
she would have won re-election; like-
42 / December 1998 Illinois Issues.
wise, had Poshard pulled her percentages in Cook County, he now would
be putting together a transition team.
But neither had hometown coattails
strong enough to pull the other along.
So Democrats found consolation in
two other candidates who ended the
party's four-year drought in state
office: Jesse White, who beat Al Salvi
for secretary of state, and Daniel W.
Hynes, who bested state Sen. Chris
Lauzen for comptroller. The other
statewide contests were easy wins for
GOP incumbents. Attorney General
Jim Ryan and Treasurer Judy Baar
Topinka.
The ins fared equally well in other
races; in fact, Moseley-Braun was the
only elected incumbent to lose at the
federal or state level. Voters returned
17 sitting congressmen and replaced
three retiring incumbents with two
women — state Reps. Janice D. Schakowsky, an Evanston Democrat,
and Judy Biggert, a Hinsdale Republican—and a man, Democratic state
Rep. David D. Phelps of Eldorado.
In legislative races, key targets survived, including three south suburban
House Democrats Republicans hoped
to defeat and a trio of downstate
Republicans in Democrats' sights.
In the legislative races, key
targets survived, including
three south suburban House
Democrats Republicans
hoped to defeat and a trio
of downstate Republicans
in Democrats' sights.
Voters did dump two lawmakers who
had been named by party leaders to
fill vacancies. Sen. Kevin Kehoe, a
Decatur Democrat, lost to Rep.
Duane Noland, a Blue Mound
Republican, and Rep. Michael J.
Brown, a Crystal Lake Republican,
was upset by Jack D. Franks, a Wood-
stock attorney. Lake Forest business-
woman Susan Garrett also claimed
for Democrats the seat being vacated
by Lt. Gov.-elect Corinne G. Wood.
As a result, going into the 91st General Assembly, Republicans will have a
32-27 Senate margin, a one-seat gain,
while Democrats will hold a 62-56
House edge, up from 60-58.
All in all, it was a good day for
incumbents and well-heeled
wannabes.
Charles N. Wheeler III is director of the
Public Affairs Reporting program at the
University of Illinois at Springfield.
Illinois Issues December 1998 / 43