Two Republicans have filed to run in the March 20 primary for the chance to challenge incumbent 9th District U.S. Rep Jan Schakowsky in the newly-redrawn district next fall.
The Republicans who have filed so far are Susanne Atanus of Des Plaines, who lost in the 2010 GOP primary to Joel Pollak, and Timothy C. Wolfe, of 440 S. Rammer Ave. in Arlington Heights, who’s making his first run for elective office.
Susanne Atanus
Atanus, who’s about 55 years old, says on her campaign website that she holds a master’s of business administration degree from DeVry University and a bachelor’s degree in political science from Northwestern University.
She claims on her website that “There was never a stock market crash” in 1929 and urges legislation that she claims could assure investors continuing profits without any “down” days on the market.
She reportedly neither raised nor spent any money on her 2010 campaign.
Timothy Wolfe
Wolfe’s campaign website says he is 58 years old and was born in Bloomington, Ill.
He’s a self-employed certified public accountant with an office in Mount Prospect.
He holds a master’s degree in taxation from Northern Illinois Univeristy and a bachelor’s degree from Illinois Wesleyan University.
Wolfe, who says he holds “conservative free-market positions,” is married and has two children.
Pollak has said he doesn’t plan to run for any elective office in 2012. No candidate has filed to challenge Schakowsky in the Democratic primary.
The filing deadline for congressional races is Tuesday.
The new 9th Congressional District boundaries
The newly redrawn 9th District contains more Republican-leaning northwest suburban neighborhoods and may offer the winner of the GOP primary a stronger chance of defeating the long-term incumbent, who lives in Evanston.
The old 9th District map.
Trouble for Jan
Winnetka, Kenilworth, Northfield, Glenview and Park Ridge? I think Schakowsky is in trouble. Her radical left-wing views are not at all in line with the fine folks in these towns. Wolfe has my vote. Atanus, at least from this brief post, seems questionable.
Jan in trouble
Jan will win because the people who live in the 9th do not care about qualified candidates. Joel was far more qualified than Jan but she still carried almost 70% of the vote (a personal low for Jan).
Really?
I dont agree with Jan or her redical left wing views. Ive wished her out of office for years, but I agree, these two are all the republicans can muster up?
Moderates and centerists have zero representation, It sucks that you are forced to be way to the left or way to the right. I would love to see someone who can take the good from both sides and represent the majority of Americans.
If you didnt need a billion dollars to "buy" , er, I mean run for a seat, you would have more realistic candidates.
susan atanus candidacy
hi, all: if i am not mistaken, wasn't this the candidate who posted several hand-lettered signs around evanston during the last election? as i recall, when i removed the sign from my front yard(!), the sign was full of information that no one could read while driving by. perhaps not the best candidate to take on our forever congresswoman jan.
mary brugliera
Signs
I think I remember those signs but I believe I only saw 2 or 3 of them. I have no idea who placed thm on the parkways, and they were on the public parkway. I guess that you removed the sign from the public parkway in front of your house. That is technically illegal and would make you a criminal but no big deal but I agree with you. Nobody should be able to put a sign in front of your house whether it is your property or not. I would not allow a Jan sign on my parkway either.
Now the question is was the sign placed in front of your house by one of the candidates that are running for a spot to replace Jan. If the information was not on the sign you removed from the parkway, it was an illegal sign. If that's the case you have no idea who put the sign there and you should have reported it.
If the sign had the information required by election law, then you would know who placed it there. But then why would you be asking the question since you should already know the answer. Is it possible that you just wanted to start a rumor?
Now a candidate that says that the stock market did not crash in 1929 is probably on the same level as somebody who says, "America is the greatest country in history, help me change it.". I would not vote for either one of them.
It is too bad that we have had such unqualified congressperson in the 9th for the last 40 years. You would think that there are smarter people living in this district.
Opposition candidates
Has anybody actually interviewed Atanus or spoken with her? Is that a real campaign web site? Based on her claims, I can't believe any voter would consider her mentally competent to serve in Congress. And the best the Republicans can offer is Wolfe? Seriously? I'd like to see a challenge to Schakowsky but come on – where are the serious candidates? So Schakowsky will earn 70% of the vote in the newly re-drawn district rather than the historical 80-90% in the previous district — she will still win by a landslide. I'm not saying she should lose but it would be constructive for all citizens of the district if there was a legitimate choice either within the Democratic Party or from Republicans. Awful.
Losers…
… and deservedly so.
Lady Losers
I agree with you both women appear to be losers but for some reason they continue to reelect Jan. If she didn't get her daily talking points from the DNC she probably wouldn't know what to say that day.