I had a nice offer from a top designer in Chicago to design a nice new logo for me. So here it is! I am also designing some shirts as well.

I am hosting labor leaders for a breakfast briefing on my campaign for this open seat.

The breakfast will be at the Lake County Building Construction and Trades Council on May 29 at 9:00 am, at the Plumbers Local 93 Hall, 31855 N. US Highway 12 in Volo.

At the breakfast I will present a report on my campaign thus far and solicit union leader input on how I will win this fall.

I believe that our part of Illinois has not kept pace with development and as a result we are losing jobs to Wisconsin - and overseas. As State Senator, I will make passage of regular capital plans my top priority as well as increasing state funding for our schools and junior colleges to ensure our community can continue to grow for many years to come.

The Progressive Action Project which is the State PAC of the Citizen Action for Illinois endorsed me this week! Citizen Action is the state’s largest public interest organization. Building on over a decade of experience, Citizen Action/Illinois is a key player in the fight for social and economic justice at the state and national levels.

Citizen Action/Illinois has led campaigns for lower utility rates, fair taxes, affordable and quality health care, insurance and campaign finance reform, and stronger environmental and food safety protections.

I am quite proud that this organization has recognized my values for providing positive improvements to the lives of people all over the state and in the 26th District.

Some of the things this organization has championed are:

• Electric Rate Relief– Helped lead the effort to win $1 Billion in electric rate relief for Illinois customers of both Ameren and ComEd. The reforms also set up the Illinois Power Agency to make sure that consumers get the best price for electricity.

• Green Cleaning in Schools–Won passage of a new law which requires schools to purchase environmentally sensitive cleaning products – a victory for Illinois children, teachers, school nurses and families.
• Economic Development– new law that makes Illinois the first state to intentionally use economic development subsidies to link jobs with public transit and/or affordable housing.
• Payday Loan Reform– regulate the payday loan industry in Illinois. Key consumer protections in the bill include; a fee cap to reduce the cost of using payday loans, an industry wide cap on borrowing to prevent over borrowing, a recovery period to break the cycle of debt created by back-to-back loans, a repayment plan to help borrowers in over their head made good on their debts, special protections for military personnel, and a statewide consumer reporting service for enforcement.

We have some exciting news to share with you!  Vote for Change, is an unprecedented 50-state voter registration and mobilization drive. The goal is to register millions of new voters by election day.

Recent voter registration drives have registered more than 200,000 new Democrats in Pennsylvania, more than 165,000 new Democrats in North Carolina, and more than 150,000 new Democrats in Indiana. Those numbers just scratch the surface of what’s possible.

Melissa will be leading the kick-off in Round Lake, along with State Senate Candidate Bill Gentes, at his campaign headquarters in Round Lake.

There will be a speaker, a brief training, then we will hit the pavement to register new voters! Help make this a success!

Please sign-up and join us at 10 a.m. on Saturday, May 10th, at:

Bill Gentes for Senate Campaign Headquarters

452 N Cedar Lake Road
Round Lake, IL 60073

Click here to sign up

http://my.barackobama.com/page/event/detail/voterregistrationdriveofficialevent/4cfr

Please contact Ray Suelzer, ray@melissabean.com, if you have any questions.

I attended the McHenry County Democrats annual Jefferson Dinner in Huntley last night. Sat with Alexi Giannoulis the State Treasurer and had a nice chat with old friend’s Secretary of State Jesse White and Congresswomen Melissa Bean.

There was a nice crowd of people there! Lots of candidates as well, it reminds me of Lake County seven years ago when there were we slowly built up our candidate base and then started getting them elected!

Overall a great night! Plus lots of fun to drive home in a snowstorm in April!

Sorry I have been busy recently so not much posting! Walking and knocking on doors. Been getting a good response! Although you get the standard door slams and refusals as always! Its slow and steady work, with a nice result as well, I have lost 7 lbs!

One of the good stories from last fall when I was passing petitions to get on the ballot was a guy in Round Lake who refused to sign and told me to get lost. I continued down the street when I saw him come racing up to me and told me he would be happy to sign and so would his wife if I could just come back to his house, he wanted to show me something in his back yard!

In nearly seven years  as Mayor I can tell you there is only one reason you are invited into someones back yard! Drainage problems! Sure enough that was the problem, seems that Com Ed had left a trench that was diverting the flow onto his property and it was relatively easy to fix.

Got three signatures there as well, since the mother in law also lived in the house!

Over the years I have had an excellent relationship with Congresswoman Melissa Bean. I met her when she ran the first time against Phil Crane a superannuated congressman who had lost touch with the district, and had literally done nothing for the Round Lake Area in decades.

I took one look at her knowledge of the issues and vitality and knew that as a Democrat, and a Mayor of one of the ignored communities in the 8th district I decided to make a stand and endorse her over Crane. The funny thing was instead of the reaction I expected which was indifference, I got a full on reaction from the Crane campaign where they wound up local Round Lake Area Mayors to write an open letter to the editor castigating me, and illustrating the projects Phil Crane was supposedly working on for them. The letter was filled with many inaccuracies. Because it was late October and days before the general election I was unable to respond.

Since I beleive in the old Klingon proverb “revenge is best served cold” I waited two years until Congresswoman Bean ran a second time and I wrote an open letter back to those same mayors in the same newspaper, pointing out that not one of those projects had appeared. Needless to say Round Lake was carried by the Congresswomen and I am quite proud of the fact that I played a small part in her defeat of Phil Crane.

Congresswomen Melissa Bean invites you to a fundraiser/reception for me on April 19 from 4pm to 6pm at the Barn of Barrington (1415 S Barrington Rd Barrington, IL 60010).
I have a prestigious host committee as well:

• Senator Terry Link
• Senator Susan Garrett
• Senator Michael Bond

The cost is $75 for an individual, $300 as a sponsor and $500 to be a host. You can donate easilly online with this link at ActBlue which is my online donation program.

See you there!

I had no idea what the envelope from the State Board of Elections was, but when I opened it it was a nice certificate certifying my win in the primary in the 26th district. Its hard to read in the picture but its got my name, and city on it plus the actual signatures of the state board of elections as well.

Not to many of these are sent out every two years so it’s a wonderful souvenir, I look forward to getting the next one for the general election!

Cynthia Purim Haran who is running for Lake County Circuit Court Clerk is a Round Lake Resident is out campaigning with her top aide Claire who is 3 months old. She stopped by my Campaign Kickoff on Saturday night with Claire and not to be outdone by her baby, I carried out my baby Denise, albeit a fit and toned 17 year old who is an accomplished high school long jumper and triple jumper. The picture was snapped in the approximately 5 seconds I was able to hold my baby aloft!

Last night we had a campaign kickoff for my supporters, about 60 people came by with about 40 people there at one time. I talked for about 25 minutes about the strategy we are currently implementing for victory in November. We had lots of elected officials and candidates dropping by as well, which was kind of fun. It looks like I am am over 100 committed volunteers already.

I sponsor a team in the American Cancer Societies Relay for Life. Last night was the kickoff for the event that will be held this summer and I was there. Its a wonderful and rewarding event, I lost my mom to cancer 13 years ago and when I discovered the event it meant quite a bit to me. Hopefully soon we will discover the cure and lives are no longer taken away from us before our time!

Last years before and after pictures are featured in this photo montage, one was taken at 6pm the other at 6am.

On election night we were all unable to celebrate the win we all worked hard for so I would like to invite all of you come share a glass of champagne with me at 6:30 on Saturday March 15th at 6:30pm.

After we drink a few toasts I want to talk about the upcoming campaign and what we are going to be doing and how you can help me get elected. I promise to have you all out by 8:00 that evening. So please join me at my headquarters for this important occasion.

Note the new sign is up as well!