A record turnout of suburban voters

Record numbers of Northwest suburban residents voted in the Feb. 5th primary with the biggest increase coming among Democrats.

In Schaumburg Township, for example, there were nearly 17,000 Democratic voters -- almost twice the previous record of 8,600 Democrats in 1992.

I want to thank Democratic voters in the 56th House District for nominating me to run for re-election. I appreciate the vote of confidence from the 57 percent who voted for me and I pledge to continue working hard on behalf of the 43 percent who didn't to earn their support in the future.

I also want to thank John Moynihan for the competition and for running a good race.

Thomas Jefferson, the founder of the Democratic Party, once said, "I know of no safe depository of the ultimate powers of the society but the people themselves."

Since I share that sentiment, I have introduced two bills this year to empower voters: HB 5110 requires a statewide referendum before any major casino expansion, and HJRCA 37 gives voters the power to recall state elected officials in the executive and legislative branches.

Again, thank you to the voters who participated in the election. I look forward to hearing from constituents regardless of party who have ideas about how to improve our district and our state.

State Rep. Paul Froehlich

Schaumburg