State House District 66: Harris

Democrat Mark Walker, of Arlington Heights, has had a productive first term in the legislature, and his work with Des Plaines Democratic Rep. Elaine Nekritz on reforming the Illinois budget process is both intriguing and laudable.

Nevertheless, his party-funded, brutally negative early campaign against challenger David Harris creates some fundamental questions about how independent of the party he can be, how he wants to work as a politician (especially considering that he himself was the victim of vicious and unfair distortions in his first campaign) and how well he can work with the opposition at a time when cooperative bipartisanship is more needed than ever.

Harris, of Arlington Heights, is no rogue among Republicans, but he certainly has the background, intelligence and personality to be an independent leader in helping both parties achieve the changes in ethics, pension and especially budgeting and spending that he calls for.

A nine-year lawmaker who left the legislature in 1992 for other challenges, eventually including head of the Illinois National Guard and a top position overseeing the reconstruction of Iraq, Harris has what it takes to accomplish big goals and restore pride in government.

He is endorsed.