District 2 News

Welcome to the first posting of John's Blog.  Your District 2 Chair is an avowed news junkie, so I thought is was about time I shared my musing, thought and insights on the overlooked news of the day.  I will try to target my posts with a relevancy toward the citizens of District 2, but reserve the right to wander into State and National politics. 

The League of Women Voters hosted a candidate forum at McHenry County College Monday night for candidates running in the 6th and 14th Congressional Districts.  Both incumbent Congressman Roskam and Congressman Hultgren were no shows.  Congressman Hultgren declined the request to attend and Congressman Roskam did not have the courtesy to respond. 

Sean Casten, Democrat candidate 6th Congressional District and Lauren Underwood, candidate 14th Congressional District provided detailed and insightful answers to questions ranging from the environment, health care, tax reform, school violence and returning civility to the political arena.  

Voters in District 2 were not given the opportunity to hear an exchange of ides and policies between incumbant and challenger; too bad.

At the June 14th Committee of the Whole meeting the County Board tabled a Resolution o Authorize Precincts Boundary Adjustments.  The Resolution would have added 117 new voting precincts effective December 1, 2018.  The Resolution never went through a County Board Committee or had any input from the Democratic Party.  The new boundaries would have made precinct work, especially canvassing, more difficult.  It was apparent from discussion that Board Members were completely blindsided by this Resolution, and in the spirit of bipartisanship, Republican Board Members, Democratic Board Member Paula Yensen, and Democratic Party leadership who spoke during public comments, concluded that this Resolution was not properly vented to merit consideration.  County Clerk Mary McClellan, who made the recommendation for boundary changes, was not present to answer the many questions County Board Members had regarding her proposed boundary changes.

However, this issue is not over!  The County will still need to consider the size of precincts to comply with State guidelines.  Toward that end, County Board Chairman Jack Franks proposed a committee consisting of non-elected citizens to make recommendations on precinct boundaries.  The question now is whether this should be accomplished after the Nov. 6th election or whether it should be considered as part of a larger package including information from the 2020 Census, redistricting, and the future size of the County Board.  Stay tuned!

Do you know your voting location?  Republican Clerk Mary McClellan, without any consultation or notice to the Democratic Party of McHenry County, has changed 15 Polling Locations in District 2.  The following Precincts are changing Polling Locations for the General Primary Election to be held on March 20th.