Winfield candidates say editor asked them to quit campaign

A former Winfield trustee made no secret of who he supports in the four-way race for village president when he endorsed Trustee Deborah Birutis in the free weekly newspaper he publishes.

But incumbent President Rudy Czech and Trustee Angel Oakley say Stan Zegel crossed the line between journalist and participant this week when he encouraged both of them to drop out of the race.

They say Zegel wanted to publicize in a special Friday edition of his newspaper, The Winfield Register, that they support Birutis so she would have a better chance of defeating the fourth candidate, Tony Reyes, on Tuesday.

"He wanted this to be his cover story - that we dropped out and are endorsing Deb," Oakley said. "I was shocked that he would actually call me himself. He's a newspaper editor and he's supposed to be objective."

While Czech and Oakley declined Zegel's offer, Czech said he's concerned he was even asked.

"Where do you draw the line at a newspaper's involvement with an endorsed candidate?" he said. "I don't know if I've ever seen a paper go to such lengths. And should they? No."

It's at least the second time this election season that a suburban journalist's role in a campaign has been called into question. Last month, conflict-of-interest accusations arose when a part-time reporter for the Streamwood Examiner openly supported several candidates, including Streamwood Village President Billie Roth.

In Winfield, Zegel doesn't deny he wants to see a Birutis victory - and a Reyes defeat.

He also says he doesn't think Oakley and Czech have a prayer of winning. The most they could do is play the role of spoilers, he said.

So he called both candidates and asked them "to be statesmenlike" and drop out of the race "so the people could have a clear choice."

"Otherwise, you could end up having somebody who's actually got less than 50 percent of the vote squeaking into office," Zegel said.

"I wasn't trying to generate a story," he said. "But it occurred to me that if they were going to (drop out), this was the last opportunity to make the announcement truly effective."

Zegel stressed he wasn't calling on behalf of any candidate. Instead, he was acting as someone who has kept a hand in the local political scene since serving a term on the village board in the late 1990s.

"I am a citizen here," he said. "I know these people. It's a practical matter. You've got (candidates) who are probably going to get 5 percent of the vote, but that 5 percent each could be the margin of victory. If they're going to be spoilers, then they should realize that and stand aside."

Ultimately, Zegel said, he worries about what could happen if Reyes becomes Winfield's next village president. In his editorial endorsement of Birutis, Zegel accuses Reyes of "pontificating like a barstool general" and "bombastically decreeing his solutions to things he neither understands nor takes the trouble to try to learn about."

Reyes says he's not surprised Zegel is trying to influence the outcome of the election.

"Mr. Zegel has imposed himself on a lot of politicians in the last 15 years, trying to get them to do things," Reyes said. "It's all about having control. He considers the village his personal domain to do a lot of blasting in his newspaper."

Contrary to Zegel's prognostication, Czech and Oakley say they could win the election and want to see the race through to the end.

"I've got just as much a chance to winning as any of my three opponents, so why would I remove myself now?" Czech said. "Are you kidding?"