[Posted by Barton Lorimor. Most of the videos taken by Dan Weber.]
* Two state legislators and the daughter of a US Senator from downstate Illinois were chosen by seven members of the Democratic State Central Committee in Springfield to go before the full committee next weekend…
State Rep. Mike Boland of East Moline, Sen. David Koehler of Peoria and Sheila Simon of Carbondale were chosen from the 16 people who gave brief presentations to members of the Democratic State Central Committee at the State House Inn downtown.
* In all, 17 applicants were chosen by the DSCC. NBC5 has the full list…
* Rep. Mike Boland
* Thomas Carroll
* Megan Drilling
* Dirk Enger
* James Farrell
* Sen. Susan Garrett
* Sen. David Koehler
* Dean Koldenhoven
* Raja Krishnamoorthi
* Lori Koziana
* Sen. Iris Martinez
* Spiridoula Mavrothalasitis
* Paul Park
* Jay Rehak
* Jasper St. Angel
* Sheila Simon
* Rep. Art Turner
* Rep. Jay Hoffman of Collinsville chaired the Springfield session while other party leaders conducted interviews in northern Illinois. Following the Springfield interviews, Hoffman said those not selected should not allow themselves to fade away…
* Moments after she made a roughly seven-minute presentation on why she should advance, Sheila Simon said there’s nothing she can do about her name…
* Rep. Mike Boland said he mustered the most votes outside of Cook County, which could be useful to Gov. Quinn later on…
* Sen. David Koehler said he has not been lobbying to become his party’s candidate…
* The videos below are fourteen of the sixteen Springfield presentations and central committee interviews…
* Sheila Simon said she actually learned more about how to run a successful campaign by losing to Republican Brad Cole in the 2007 Carbondale mayoral election.
* Sen. David Koehler, whose district is adjacent to GOP gubernatorial contender Bill Brady, has been one of the more recent Springfield regulars to have his name thrown into the pool.
* Rep. Mike Boland was in full campaign mode during his presentation to win over the panel, which included his wife, Mary Boland.
* Environmentalist Robert Nelson talked about how he had created his own design of a bat house and allowing some of his land go unattended for wildlife.
* Springfield radio personality Clarence Davis decided not to lose his mohawk for the interview, but no one on the panel asked him about it.
* Mayor Larry Tish of St. Elmo was working the room and his fellow applicants before and after the interviews. After the finalists were announced, the young Democrat said he still has higher political ambitions.
* Kevin Kious celebrated his birthday by presenting to the Springfield panel. At 51, Kious said compared to Jason Plummer, the GOP lieutenant governor candidate, he’s a grizzled veteran.
* Rayne DeVivo tried the Mom angle on the committee seeing as how Brady has led Quinn in the polls for suburban women support. It didn’t work this time.
* Springfield native Larry Lawrence was one of two presenters to admit he may have some strings attached if chosen to be Quinn’s running mate. In Lawrence’s case, the strings are his son’s run-ins with the law.
* Democrats pick 17 finalists for lieutenant governor
* Eclectic group auditions for Democratic lieutenant governor nomination
Nearly 250 would-be running mates applied online, of which 116 prospective political second bananas— displaying a combination of ego, idealism, activism and some quirkiness–showed up today for judging in Chicago, Hoffman Estates, Schaumburg, Bolingbrook and Springfield to narrow down the field.
Audition day in the Democratic Party brought out a used-car salesman, veteran legislators, an expert on bat houses and a political legend’s daughter - all hoping to become the party’s nominee for lieutenant governor of Illinois.
