March 18, 2006
A Stroke Adds to Uncertainty in Illinois Race
By GRETCHEN RUETHLING
CHICAGO, March 17 — A fiercely fought Democratic primary for president of the Cook County Board of Commissioners took a dramatic turn this week when the incumbent suffered a stroke that will keep him hospitalized until after Tuesday's election.

The challenger, a liberal who casts himself as a reformer and patronage-buster, is seeking to unseat a leading figure of the Democratic machine here, and the outcome is expected to speak volumes about the political climate in a city and state where corruption investigations are under way at every level.

A toppling of the incumbent, John H. Stroger Jr., 76, who is backed by Mayor Richard M. Daley, would suggest a desire for change among voters and perhaps that the mayor himself is vulnerable.

"What's at stake here is shifting the balance of power from the regular Democrats," said John P. Pelissero, a political science professor at Loyola University Chicago. "Cook County sort of represents the last bastion of the old guard of Chicago politics and where they've hunkered down."

Mr. Stroger's opponent, Forrest Claypool, 48, a commissioner who served twice as Mayor Daley's chief of staff, has been credited with cleaning up the Chicago Park District when he was its superintendent. But he has come under scathing criticism from labor unions for cutting jobs in the process.

"He worked very hard as chief of staff," Mr. Daley told The Chicago Tribune this month. "He worked very hard at the Park District. I am supporting John Stroger. I am not negative about anyone."

Mr. Stroger, who in 1994 became the first black president of the Board of Commissioners and has held the post ever since, suffered his stroke on Tuesday. Mr. Claypool suspended his campaigning that day and pulled advertisements critical of Mr. Stroger, then returned to the stump on Wednesday. He has promised to change hiring practices, cut bureaucracy and wasteful spending, and not raise taxes.

Mr. Stroger is in serious but stable condition in the intensive care unit at Rush University Medical Center. He is alert and talking, but his speech is slurred, he is unable to walk, and he has suffered some loss of movement on his right side, his doctor, Robert Simon, said in an interview. The long-term effects are unclear, Dr. Simon said.

Since the stroke, many of Mr. Stroger's veteran supporters have rallied around him. They say his illness has energized his base. The campaign spokeswoman, Anne-Marie St. Germaine, said the race was going "full steam ahead," the phone ringing incessantly with calls from people who want to volunteer.

Bobbie L. Steele, who has been a commissioner for almost 20 years, said she thought Mr. Stroger's campaign was actually running better since Tuesday. "I was worried there for a while," Ms. Steele said of the race. "But since his illness, I've seen more posters out, I'm seeing rallies and fund-raisers and just a lot of activity being generated."

Mr. Stroger, born in rural Arkansas, rose through the ranks of the local Democratic Party, starting as a municipal court worker in 1954. He has been a commissioner since 1970.

Supporters commend him for overseeing the construction of a new county hospital, which was named for him, and the creation of a domestic violence court. His critics, though, call him out of touch and ineffective, and accuse him of running a wasteful, patronage-heavy government.



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