Lake County hopefuls line up for prized top spot on primary ballot

It has begun.

Candidates for Lake County political posts made their bids official Monday by filing petitions with the county clerk's office.

Opening-day candidates included Sheriff Mark Curran, who's running as a Republican for the first time since ditching the Democratic Party last year.

Curran doesn't think the political switch will hurt him at the polls in 2010.

"I don't think there are very many people who vote solely on the basis of party affiliation," said Curran, of Libertyville. "I think people look at the job you've done ... and I feel good about the job we've done."

Two Democrats filed to run for sheriff, too.

Douglas R. Roberts, a criminal-defense attorney from Beach Park, said the sheriff's office needs better leadership. It doesn't matter that he's not a sworn officer, he said. Neither was Curran when he ran four years ago.

"The sheriff doesn't arrest people," Robert said. "That's not what the position is. It's an administrative position."

North Chicago resident John Krempotic, a former sheriff's deputy, also is running for sheriff as a Democrat.

Krempotic was the subject of several lawsuits while he was a deputy, including one that accused him of civil rights violations and led to a $180,000 court settlement.

He could not be reached for comment.

The deadline for candidates to file petitions is Nov. 2.

The countywide offices up for election in 2010 are: clerk; regional superintendent of schools; sheriff; and treasurer. The county board seats up for election in 2010 serve the 4th, 7th, 8th, 13th, 15th, 18th, 19th, 21st and 23rd districts.

Two seats on the North Shore Sanitary District board, representing the 1st and 4th districts, also will be on the ballot.

Several state- and federal-level political offices will be up for election in 2010, too. Petitions for those offices will be filed in Springfield over the next week.

Locally, county Treasurer Bob Skidmore, Clerk Willard Helander and Regional Superintendent of Schools Roycealee Wood, all Republicans, filed their petitions Monday.

So did candidates for several county board seats, among them Republican incumbents Craig Taylor of Lake Zurich, who was appointed to serve the 19th District earlier this year, and Ann Maine of Lincolnshire, who serves the 21st District.

Democrat Del Parra of Libertyville is set to run as a challenger for the county board's 15th District post now occupied by veteran Republican Carol Calabresa. Calabresa plans to run for re-election and filed, too.

Waukegan Park District Commissioner Bill Durkin Jr. will run as a Democrat for the county board's 8th District post. That job is now held by Democrat Collin O'Rourke, who was appointed to the board this summer.

O'Rourke, who replaced Democrat Bob Sabonjian after he was elected mayor of Waukegan, said he won't run for election in 2010.

Republican Aaron Lawlor also was appointed to the county board's 18th District post this summer and will run in 2010. A former Cook Memorial Public Library board member, he filed his candidate petition on Monday and said he wasn't nervous about running for the county job for the first time.

"It's a different type of campaign (than a library campaign), but really the process is the same," said Lawlor, of Vernon Hills. "You get out, talk to people, hear what's important to them and try to represent their views on the county board."

The county board races are of particular interest because of the Republican Party's ever-narrowing majority on the panel. The GOP now holds 13 seats, while the Democrats have 10. If Democrats can win just two more seats in 2010, it will seize control of the board for the first time.