McPartlin won't seek re-election as Elk Grove Twp. Democratic chief

Brian McPartlin, who once headed the Illinois tollway, will give up a shot at keeping his spot leading the Elk Grove Township Democrats.

McPartlin penned a letter to members of the local organization last weekend, saying his decision to not seek election to the party's committeeman post came after "much thought and deliberation."

The letter provided little elaboration on why he will not run after he took the job in 2007 through an internal election after Joan Brennan resigned.

McPartlin could not be reached for comment, but it appears from the letter that he will serve until a new Democratic committeeman for Elk Grove Township is elected in the February primary.

Meanwhile, it is expected that Christine Cegelis, who ran for Congress twice in the 6th District now represented by Republican Peter Roskam of Wheaton, will file to run for the township Democratic post. The Rolling Meadows resident couldn't be reached for comment Tuesday.

McPartlin has long dabbled in politics, having run for a seat on the Cook County Board and held a seat on his local school district in Mount Prospect. He also was a delegate to the Democratic National Convention last year for Hillary Clinton, having previously worked for President Bill Clinton.

McPartlin's decision to not run for election comes about one year after he resigned from the Illinois State Toll Highway Authority to take a job with a tollway contractor. He was barred from taking the executive position at the engineering firm McDonough Associates, however, under the state's "revolving door" policy.

McPartlin applied for a waiver to the ethics rules, but withdrew under criticism from the state attorney general. The rule prevents managers who oversee state contractors from taking jobs with those companies for one year after resigning. He resigned from the tollway Oct. 24.