Endorsement: Pankau over Cullerton in Senate District 23

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Tom Cullerton, the Villa Park village president seeking the state Senate seat from the 23rd District, is an engaging, independent-minded Democrat with some interesting thoughts on public pensions, the budget and other issues of state government. But is that enough to recommend him over an eight-year state senator with legislative roots stretching into the early '90s and local-government and schools leadership experience prior to that? We think not. Republican Carole Pankau of Itasca remains an active, dedicated state senator, and her steadfast commitment to the expiration of the state income tax increase, her approach to broad reform of public-pension policy and her concentration on the critical economic matters facing the state over personal social ideologies all represent the priorities and interests of the 23rd District, which cuts a large swath through DuPage County from Bartlett to Villa Park. She is a solid promoter of efforts to revive the state's flagging business environment, and as a leader on the Senate's Commerce Committee, she's in a position, to the extent any Republican can be in the Democratically controlled legislature, to advance her ideas. There's no denying Cullerton's admirable energy and sincerity, but Pankau remains the right choice for the district.