Story posted Thursday, February 4, 2010
Thompson Ponders Next Move After Losses
By TODD WESSELL Journal & Topics Editor
Late delivery of approximately 2,000 sample ballots and solid name recognition of State Rep. Rosemary Mulligan are major reasons why incumbent Maine Township Republican committeeman Mark Thompson lost in his attempt to win a third term as leader of the local party organization.
That's the assessment of Des Plaines resident Thompson who not only lost to Mulligan but to Elizabeth Gorman in their primary battle for the Cook County Board's 17th district. Based on unofficial totals, Gorman defeated Thompson, 11,930 to 9,291 for the right to run in the November general election against Democrat Patrick Maher and Green Party contender Matthew Ogean. In the race for committeeman, Mulligan defeated Thompson by only 605 votes, 3,945 to 3,340. With the exception of an eight-month stint in 2001-2002 when Thompson was forcibly ousted by fellow Maine Township Republicans during the candidate slating process, his twin defeats will mark the first time in 28 years that he has not held an elective office. Mulligan will be given the keys to the political organization shortly after the Cook County Clerk's office certifies election results, which will occur in two to three weeks.
"I probably won't remain involved in the Maine Republican organization," said Thompson yesterday (Thursday). "I've not made any decisions yet. To some extent I'm a free man. I'm sure my wife has a lot of things for me to do around the house and my daughter Christine will be getting married in a few months."
Mulligan, a longtime local state representative, said she decided to challenge Thompson for control of the Maine Republican Party because she believed Thompson was doing a poor job of managing the organization. For decades, the two of them had been close political allies. Thompson said he challenged Gorman because he felt he would better represent suburban Republican interests on the Democratic controlled county board. He said Gorman was too cozy with Democrats.
At the heart of the rivalries, however, was Thompson's belief that he was double-crossed by some Maine Republicans who a year ago agreed with him to end their strained relationship over control of the party and of Maine Township government. But not long after Mulligan filed papers to battle Thompson, he filed papers to take on Gorman.
Meanwhile, Thompson said that on Wednesday, he received numerous telephone calls from Republicans in Niles who said that they received in the mail that day sample ballots from the Thompson-controlled Maine GOP that said that he was the endorsed candidate of the organization. The Wednesday delivery, Thompson said, was too late to have any affect on the election---something that he said happened four years ago in Niles that prompted a postal investigation that Thompson said was "inconclusive." With the sample ballots being delivered late, Thompson wondered out loud if political mailings sent to Niles residents a few weeks earlier were also received late.
"They were mailed on Jan. 22 and suppose to be delivered Jan. 25," said Thompson. "I got mine in Des Plaines that was mailed the same day. For some reason, Niles was held out."
"The committeeman's job is the most thankless and toughest job in politics," added Thompson. "Most people involved in local politics will agree with that. I'll miss being involved with candidates and working to elect Republicans through the organization, but there's an incredible amount of backstabbing, personal agendas and egos. All kinds of garbage goes on. I'm a nice person. I try to get along with everybody and get caught in the crossfire. That part I won't miss at all. Political organizations tend to attract people who like to fight with each other. I don't know what you do about that. Obviously there are a lot of good people, too, but a lot of other people get involved for perhaps the wrong reasons. There's a constant amount of infighting and backstabbing that a committeeman has to deal with all the time."
Speak Out!
Comments are edited first by Journal staff before running in print and appearing online.