Polls put Lauzen, Oberweis at even

Separate polls commissioned by the campaigns of Chris Lauzen and Jim Oberweis show the two running neck and neck for the GOP nomination to represent the 14th Congressional District.

Lauzen's poll of 300 likely primary voters, undertaken by Public Opinion Strategies, showed Lauzen and Oberweis each getting 38 percent of the vote. Just 4 percent of voters would cast a ballot for Geneva Mayor Kevin Burns. Oberweis' poll of 333 likely primary voters, undertaken by McLaughlin and Associates, showed Oberweis winning 41 percent to Lauzen's 37 percent, with a 5 percent margin of error. Burns came in with 3 percent.

In a separate poll, McLaughlin and Associates asked 300 likely voters who they favor in the general election, Oberweis or one of the Democrats. Oberweis got 47 percent of the vote and John Laesch came in at 27 percent, according to Oberweis campaign spokesman Bill Pascoe.

The Lauzen poll also showed that 98 percent of those polled recognized Oberweis' moniker while only 73 percent were familiar with Lauzen.

Burns doesn't put much stock in the findings.

"I'd like to see the raw data," he said. "I could conduct a poll tomorrow of 300 people and get a different response."

The poll didn't ask about Michael Dilger, a dark horse who seemingly came out of nowhere to file his election petition.

Out of sight, not out of mind: Kane County Republican Central Committee chairman Denny Wiggins, on a leave of absence after becoming a paid consultant for Lauzen's campaign, managed to stay mostly out of the spotlight this week after raising a ruckus last week. That is, until his deeds were cited among the reasons Rudy Clai bowed out of the Republican primary. In announcing he wouldn't enter the race after all, the political rookie from North Aurora blamed his decision on the state GOP, which is "in a very bad state of disrepair," he stated in a news release. "I say this not only because of the recent events involving Denny Wiggins but also because I feel the party is in a self-destruct mode."

Across the aisle: On the Democrat side of the race, three of the four candidates faced off at Northern Illinois University in DeKalb this week and will meet again Monday at the Old Kendall County Courthouse in Yorkville. Jotham Stein, Bill Foster and Laesch participated in the NIU event; Joe Serra was absent.

And Foster, a former Fermilab physicist, recently announced the endorsement of 19 Nobel Prize winners, including Leon Lederman, founder of the Illinois Math and Science Academy in Aurora.

Back to nature: Some local scenic photography was recognized recently in a photo contest organized by the grassroots group opposing construction of the Prairie Parkway. Citizens Against the Sprawlway solicited photos illustrating "what we'd lose" if the 37-mile highway is built connecting the Reagan Memorial Tollway to I-80. The grand-prize winning photo, shot by Yorkville's Raymond Silva, depicts a foggy cornfield south of Plano. Winning photos were announced in four categories: agriculture, environment, rural life and youth. An honorable mention also was awarded.

See the photographs online at www.sprawlway.org/photocontest.