Seat now up for grabs in 69th District
By KATE SCHOTT kschott@daily-chronicle.com
At least four people have said they want to become the representative for the state's 69th District – a seat that is being vacated by longtime incumbent Ron Wait.
Wait, a Republican from Belvidere, has been the representative for that district for nearly three decades but announced Tuesday that he intends to run in 2010 for the newly created Boone County resident circuit court judgeship rather than re-election to the House seat.
“As one great experience comes to an end, another opportunity arises,” Wait said in a written statement. “It is with a very heavy heart that I inform you that I will not be seeking re-election to represent the people of the 69th Legislative District. Yet I am excited for the new horizon ahead and I know I can further serve the people by being their next judge.”
Wait said his experiences as a state representative, lawyer, teacher, farmer and accountant will provide him with the knowledge he needs to be an effective judge. Wait, who graduated from Drake University Law School in 1974, did not return phone calls Tuesday seeking additional comment.
Three Republicans and a Democrat say they are interested in filling the seat and plan to be on the Feb. 2, 2010, primary ballot. The district includes Genoa, Kingston and Kirkland in DeKalb County, as well as portions of Boone and Winnebago counties.
Ray Pendzinski, a Democrat from Belvidere, said he is seeking the seat. Pendzinski, 45, has been an alderman for Belvidere for three years. Both he and Eileen Dubin, chairwoman of the DeKalb County Democratic Party, said they are not aware of any other Democrats seeking the party's nomination.
Pendzinski, an electrician, said he believes Wait has not focused on the Belvidere area, and that the Republicans are not focused on middle- and low-income families. As an alderman, Pendzinski said he deals daily with people who struggle financially and would put them first if elected to the 69th District.
"I have always felt I have stuck up for the little guy," he said. "People who are running for this position now, I really don't think their thoughts are with these low-income families right now, the people who are struggling. This district is made up of low- and middle-income families. I'm one of them, I can relate to them."
On the Republican side, Michele Corirossi, Thadd Loffelmacher and Joe Sosnowski, all of Rockford, say they intend to seek their party's nomination.
Corirossi, 48 and a graduate of the NIU Law School, said she would draw on her experience helping with other campaigns – including her husband's, 17th Circuit Judge Ron White – as she embarked on her own. She said she is both pro-labor and pro-business, and said her experience with negotiating and mediating would allow her to help the state to attract and keep businesses.
"I don't see it as a two-sided coin. I see it as a unified coin," she said. "One needs the other to survive. If we don't become business friendly, they will go across the boarders. It costs us money for every business that goes out of business or chooses to go somewhere else."
Loffelmacher, 39, has worked for other politicians and currently is the legislative aide for Wait. He said he would focus on reigning in state spending through a multi-year fiscal plan that would lay out spending priorities for the next four to six years.
"We've got to start preparing and look forward to the future," he said. "One of the things I can bring to the office is I have served quite a bit of my life. We need people in office who will put others before themselves. That is absolutely key. I have a record of serving selflessly."
Sosnowski, 32, is a graduate of Northern Illinois University who also served on the DeKalb City Council from 1999 to 2003, he said. He won a second term to the Rockford City Council last election. His background is in property management and real estate, and he currently works at Rockford Christian Schools doing fund-raising and facility planning work.
"I first became interested in the position because [Ron Wait] indicated he was seeking the judgeship," he said. "Once I found out it was going to be an open seat, that's when I started passing petitions."
Sosnowski said he would focus on creating a regional economic plan that focuses on industries already in the district while attracting new ones to the area.
