Welcome to theWindy City Times Primary Election Guide. With the goings-on in the presidential primaries, this election year is intriguing, to say the least.
The three main candidates on the Democratic side are Sen. Barack Obama, Sen. Hillary Clinton and former Sen. John Edwards, while those battling it out in the Republican primary include former Gov. Mitt Romney, Sen. John McCain, former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani and former Gov. Mike Huckabee. The cover article details where all of these candidates stand on various LGBT-related issues.
There are also interesting developments locally. Deb Mell is unopposed in her race for state representative, ensuring that the Illinois General Assembly will soon have its first open lesbian. In addition, openly gay State Rep. Greg Harris, the main sponsor of the proposed civil-union bill, is also without an opponent.
Windy City Times does not endorse in political races. Rather, we send out questionnaires to candidates and rate their responses based on the total number of questions for that race. All candidates were sent the questionnaire. We also list the endorsements of various gay and progressive groups, and area bar associations. See the charts on pages 12-14.
Ask some people what a committeeman does, and blank stares and shrugged shoulders may result. In a feature on this page, Windy City Times talked with Alderman Tom Tunney about the little-known role of a committeeman. This year, Tunney is running for re-election as committeeman of his ward.
Opinions are like noses—everybody's got one and, in this issue, several figures from various backgrounds let Windy City Times know who they are supporting in the presidential and local races. See 'Support System' on page 10.
There are several LGBT candidates running for office, including Democratic judicial candidates Aaron Weiss and Tom Doran as well as Jerome Pohlen, a Green Party candidate for the U.S. House of Representatives. Certain local races bear watching, such as the Cook County State's Attorney's race; we talk with five of the candidates on pages 14-15. There is also a rather eye-opening interview with Board of Review incumbent commissioner Joseph Berrios—who is running against openly gay candidate Jay Paul Deratany—on page 16. ( Deratany's interview, which ran in a past issue, can be found at www.windycitymediagroup.com/lgbt/Deratany-Seeks-Judicial-Post/116.html .)
See past editions for interviews and articles on those candidates as well as other non-gay pols running for office www.windycitymediagroup.com . Follow the links below the bar at the bottom of this article. In this issue, you can find a few final stories plus our ratings and downloadable and printable endorsements grids at www.windycitymediagroup.com/lgbt/2008-Primary-Election-downloadable-and-printable-charts/17357.html . You can take this guide into the polls with you next Tuesday.
