Has the sloppy gathering of petition signatures cost state Sen. Terry Link, D-Waukegan, a shot at being president of the Illinois Senate? Time will tell, but odds are Democratic senators don't want anybody with baggage taking over as one of the "four tops."
Link's name has been bandied about as a replace for Senate President Emil Jones who is expected to announce his retirement plans today. The Chicago Democrat, a strong ally of Gov. Rod Blagojevich, has been in the Legislature since 1973 and has been Senate president since 2003.
Apparently, Jones, 72, is tired of Springfield after not getting his way trying to ram a legislative pay hike down taxpayers' throats.
Besides Link, who is one of Jones' floor leaders in the Senate and doubles as Lake County Democratic Party chairman, others mentioned for the Senate president post include John Cullerton and Rickey Hendon, both of Chicago; Jeff Schoenberg of Evanston and James Clayborne of Belleville. Of course, it could be short tenure as Senate president if Democrats fail to hold on to the upper chamber next year.
But back to Link's hiring of two individuals to collect signatures for petitions of candidacy for his and other county Democratic candidates. The two were indicted by a grand jury last week after investigators discovered dead people on the petitions. If Republicans were smart, they'd push for a quick trial for these two to help Link's November opponent, Waukegan businessman Keith Gray of Mettawa.
While Link has some baggage, Jones' financial dealings didn't hurt him in becoming Senate president. Jones, a former city sewer inspector, endured criticism for taking tens of thousands of dollars in interest-free loans from his campaign fund and for multimillion-dollar, no-bid government contracts steered to a technology firm headed by his stepson, John Sterling.
Jones is on the Nov. 4 ballot, making it likely he will turn over his seat to a hand-picked successor. The Hound would expect no less.
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