* US Senate candidate and former Lake County Sheriff Mark Curran spoke to the Illinois Republican State Central Committee/County Chairman’s Association Breakfast this morning…
My name is Mark Curran and I’m here to take out slick Dick Durbin [applause]. Slick Dick has been in office for over three decades, four terms as a United States Senator. … He’s as partisan a member of the United States Senate as there is. He’s in leadership, but ultimately his god is power.
Today for Catholics is the Feast of the Assumption. The archbishop down the street said that Dick Durbin cannot accept communion in the Roman Catholic Church. It means nothing to Dick Durbin because Dick Durbin is about power, that’s what drives him, that’s all that matters to him… He’s a dangerous guy… I need you to help me kick slick Dick to the curb.
* Curran explained his narrow 2018 reelection loss…
Lake County is not purple, it’s blue, folks. You know, the wrong people moved in, what have you. We need to change that and we will!
* On his switch from the Democratic to Republican parties…
I said they’re heading for evil, I want nothing to do with that, I’m done.
*** UPDATE *** Meanwhile, US Senate candidate Peggy Hubbard claimed she had to literally fight off a forced abortion while serving in the Reagan-era armed forces and said Sen. Durbin has never set foot in East St. Louis (the town of his birth). She also touted her fight to stop the removal of statues honoring the Confederacy. I kid you not.
…Adding… One of those “wrong people”?…
A traffic altercation near Gurnee Wednesday morning led to a felony hate crime charge against a man from unincorporated Gurnee who attacked a motorcyclist with an ice pick while yelling “racial slurs and racial expletives,” according to the Lake County Sheriff’s Office. […]
A 57-year-old man from unincorporated Gurnee called the sheriff’s office around 11:35 a.m. Wednesday after he said he was attacked by a man wielding an ice pick and shouting racial slurs and expletives, according to the news release.
The man, who police said was Hispanic and had a Mexican flag on his motorcycle, had been traveling northbound on North Delany Road near Sunset Avenue in unincorporated Gurnee when a 2009 Hyundai SUV abruptly changed lanes and cut him off, according to the release.
- Ron Burgundy - Thursday, Aug 15, 19 @ 9:19 am:
“The wrong people moved in.” Wow. Seems like the wrong person is running.
- curtis - Thursday, Aug 15, 19 @ 9:19 am:
Between 2000 and 2010, Lake county saw a 77% rise in its Asian population and a 51% rise in its Hispanic population.
During the same time, it saw just a 2% rise in its White population.
That “the wrong people moved in” comment was clear.
https://www.lakecountyil.gov/1963/County-Demographics
- Former Quigley Supporter - Thursday, Aug 15, 19 @ 9:20 am:
Mark Curran, go out and raise $1 million between now and the end of September and prove you are viable and talk tough then. Convince people to put their money where there mouths are in $2800 increments.
And file your FEC paperwork before talking tough so people can send contributions to you!
Put another way, “talk’s cheap”.
- Grandson of Man - Thursday, Aug 15, 19 @ 9:20 am:
“slick Dick Durbin”
Trump is killing Republicans in the collars so…let’s be like Trump. Lol, smart, brains.
“You know, the wrong people moved in”
No need to elaborate. Trump and some or many in the GOP want white people only, from European countries. But again, with Trump dragging down the ILGOP and after getting crushed in 2018, good luck with that.
- Lake County Voter - Thursday, Aug 15, 19 @ 9:20 am:
Which people does this extremely religious man think are the “wrong” people in his community?
Does he want to put us in cages like President Donald J. Fraud & Failure?
- qualified someone nobody sent - Thursday, Aug 15, 19 @ 9:20 am:
Trump light.
- Oswego Willy - Thursday, Aug 15, 19 @ 9:20 am:
The ILGOP allowed a “German National Socialist” to run for Congress because they are clueless, now they are thinking “this is fine”, because anger is the Raunerite brand so saying off-putting remarks is… fine.
Love the Rauner-Trump years.
I never have to guess who people are, and what they are about.
That’s the only good of Rauner and Trump.
- P - Thursday, Aug 15, 19 @ 9:22 am:
How long til Mike Bost campaigns for him. Sadly Curran would fit right in on the right side of the aisle in Congress.
- The Mythical Middle - Thursday, Aug 15, 19 @ 9:23 am:
“He’s in leadership, but ultimately his god is power.”
I guess commas are segues now.
- Lt. Guv - Thursday, Aug 15, 19 @ 9:24 am:
“Wrong people.” Please define Mr. Curran. To some it may appear as you’re blatantly prejudiced.
- Demoralized - Thursday, Aug 15, 19 @ 9:25 am:
==the wrong people moved in==
Well he’s certainly got the talking points of the Republican Party of Trump down pat.
I’m more and more ashamed every day of what we are becoming in this country.
- OneMan - Thursday, Aug 15, 19 @ 9:25 am:
What does he mean by that? I can’t think of anyway of looking at that which results in this being remotely acceptable.
If this guy is even considered a tier three candidate by the GOP in Illinois it is obvious we are in for a long-long-long period of single party rule as well they should be.
Congratulations GOP, the fact this guy wasn’t boo’d off stage when he said that is proof to me that I am never coming back.
- Oswego Willy - Thursday, Aug 15, 19 @ 9:25 am:
===She also touted her fight to stop the removal of statues honoring the Confederacy. I kid you not.===
“Wrong People”
Racism is a calling card now.
Vote accordingly.
- Grandson of Man - Thursday, Aug 15, 19 @ 9:27 am:
“To some it may appear as you’re blatantly prejudiced.”
Trump is making racism safe again. White replacement fear and phony grievances are dangerous.
- Nick Name - Thursday, Aug 15, 19 @ 9:29 am:
If we could get through the next 15 months without anyone saying “slick Dick,” that’d be nice.
To the post
=== He’s as partisan a member of the United States Senate as there is===
More partisan than #Moscowmitch?
===ultimately his god is power===
Eh, careful there. Recreational cannabis isn’t legal until January 1.
==Today for Catholics is the Feast of the Assumption.===
Do not, under any circumstances, drag the Virgin Mary into this. You mock her. You mock our Catholic faith. Sen. Durbin, right or wrong, is following the dictates of his conscience. You’re just a politician who came up with the worse nickname of an opponent ever.
===The archbishop down the street===
If you’re in Springfield, the Thomas Paprocki is just a bishop, not an archbishop. Keep up.
===Durbin is about power, that’s what drives him, that’s all that matters to him… He’s a dangerous guy===
Again, lay off the weed, even after Jan. 1. It clearly does not agree with you.
===I need you to help me kick slick Dick to the curb.===
Just, stop. Campaigning is for grownups, not adolescents.
- Nick Name - Thursday, Aug 15, 19 @ 9:29 am:
===You know, the wrong people moved in, what have you.===
And that is one heck of a dog whistle.
- Rte 40 - Thursday, Aug 15, 19 @ 9:30 am:
What time does the Proft, Halbrook, Miller, Bailey clown car arrive for GOP today?
- The Real Captain - Thursday, Aug 15, 19 @ 9:30 am:
Maybe Peggy will demand his Birth Certificate next?
- Oswego Willy - Thursday, Aug 15, 19 @ 9:32 am:
Let’s be clear.
Crystal. Clear.
No ambiguity.
===…the fact this guy wasn’t boo’d off stage when he said that is proof to me that I am never coming back.===
This is why the Trump party is old, angry, white, rural… and can’t find a foothold in the collars, with women… millennials, minorities…
I greatly respect - OneMan -, even as we battled, because never at ANY point did I feel - OneMan - was willing to compromise what was right or just to be a partisan.
“…the fact this guy wasn’t boo’d off stage when he said that is proof to me that I am never coming back.”
The ILGOP is a party welcoming racist views. They allowed a “German National Socialist” be the party nominee in a congressional race, they have House Caucus members supporting a “51st state”
The ILGOP?
“We’re good”
- Jibba - Thursday, Aug 15, 19 @ 9:33 am:
===She also touted her fight to stop the removal of statues honoring the Confederacy===
She just locked up the North Kentucky vote, although it is baffling as to why they would support Confederate statues.
- OneMan - Thursday, Aug 15, 19 @ 9:33 am:
Congratulations, you are making Alan Keyes seem like a logical and rational choice.
No (word we can’t use here), if I was a county chair I would stand up and say “What is wrong with you (a different word I can’t use here) people”
Someone in that room grow a dang spine and stand up.
- brickle - Thursday, Aug 15, 19 @ 9:34 am:
“wrong people”
white nationalism is the core of the modern GOP
- Ron Burgundy - Thursday, Aug 15, 19 @ 9:34 am:
Are they serving Cocoa Puffs at this breakfast? Because these folks seem kind of cuckoo…
- Steve - Thursday, Aug 15, 19 @ 9:34 am:
Condemning voters is never a winning strategy. Dick Durbin isn’t an easy politician to defeat , for a Republican in a Democratic state. But, the way to do it is: 1) attack his long tenure in the Senate (for those who want a change). Illinois is a loser in money received from the federal government 2) Question his wife’s career as lobbyist/ consultant. It ’s not much but attacking voters isn’t appropriate.
- a drop in - Thursday, Aug 15, 19 @ 9:36 am:
“We are going to build the wall. And Chicago is going to pay for it”
got it.
- Oswego Willy - Thursday, Aug 15, 19 @ 9:38 am:
===Condemning voters===
I’m condemning racist.
Keep up, you’re embarrassing yourself defending racist.
- Oswego Willy - Thursday, Aug 15, 19 @ 9:39 am:
===It ’s not much but attacking voters isn’t appropriate.===
“Isn’t appropriate”?
Wow, that’s a condemnation.
- Not a Superstar - Thursday, Aug 15, 19 @ 9:42 am:
Peggy Hubbard, courting the Diamond and Silk vote.
Seriously, this is all primal scream therapy that would make Howard Dean blush. The ILGOP should follow the example of Joe Walsh.
- Tired Teacher - Thursday, Aug 15, 19 @ 9:42 am:
I recently looked over the comments of Jim Edgar from a recent interview. How in goodness name the ILGOP has moved from that good man to people like this is one of the great disappointments in our state. The party of Lincoln now tolerates hate and bigotry. Incredible and sad.
- Publius - Thursday, Aug 15, 19 @ 9:43 am:
Could his statement give every person of color that was arrested or fined by the lake county sheriff’s department an opportunity to appeal their convictions?
- Oswego Willy - Thursday, Aug 15, 19 @ 9:44 am:
===No (word we can’t use here), if I was a county chair I would stand up and say “What is wrong with you (a different word I can’t use here) people”
Someone in that room grow a dang spine and stand up.===
If you forget that not one person stood up to at the minimum to condemn this talk… that’s all you really need to remind folks.
Also…
Hours after this, y’all wanna try to say “the right thing”
No. That’s not how it works in “instant twitter” world
You sat there. You did nothing. You applauded.
That’s who you are.
- Steve - Thursday, Aug 15, 19 @ 9:48 am:
OW
I’m not defending anyone here. Especially candidates I’ve never heard of until this morning.
- Nagidam - Thursday, Aug 15, 19 @ 9:49 am:
There is really no semblance of the Republican Party I used to know in todays “Republican” Candidates. Where is the direction? All I see is a pathetic pandering to a declining racist base. The more sane people that leave the party leaves a more racist base that the “Republican” candidates pander to. A vicious downward death cycle.
- Langhorne - Thursday, Aug 15, 19 @ 9:49 am:
Maybe Peggy can get Steve King to speak at her fundraiser. Have Confederate Railroad warm up the crowd. And then she can roll in on her Harley.
- Oswego Willy - Thursday, Aug 15, 19 @ 9:51 am:
- Steve -
===…but attacking voters isn’t appropriate.===
That’s the best you can do?
Noted.
- theCardinal - Thursday, Aug 15, 19 @ 9:52 am:
Waste of energy, the guy is goofy, he won’t get traction… move along nothing to see here folks.
- Dance Band on the Titanic - Thursday, Aug 15, 19 @ 9:52 am:
Looks like Peggy Hubbard debuted her campaign slogan this morning:
“Are we gladiators or are we (word for female dogs)?”
- Da Big Bad Wolf - Thursday, Aug 15, 19 @ 9:54 am:
Dear Mark Curran, 1. You want power too, don’t you? Why else would you run to be a US Senator?
2.”The archbishop down the street said that Dick Durbin cannot accept communion in the Roman Catholic Church.” Does this archbishop have a name? It’s not a sin to refuse to punish people who have sinned. Jesus stopped people were going to throw rocks at the woman who had commuted adultery. That doesn’t mean Jesus was pro-adultery.
3. “The wrong people moved in.” So what? As the potential sheriff it would have been your job to represent the people in your area. Wrong people, right people, so/so people. As a senate candidate it’s your job to persuade who ever will be your constituents that you will do a good job for them. “Wrong people” or not.
4. “I said they’re heading for evil.” Blah blah blah. Make your case why you would serve the people better than Durbin and I’ll listen.
- lake county democrat - Thursday, Aug 15, 19 @ 9:54 am:
“It will bring in the [n-word]. I’m against that.” - Pate Philip (speaking about a bill to expand transit to DuPage County, quoted by the late Steve Neal in the Sun-Times.
“The wrong people moved in” - Mark Curran. Maybe he’ll get Pate’s endorsement.
- NIU Grad - Thursday, Aug 15, 19 @ 9:56 am:
As the name at the top of the ticket, he’ll be the de-facto standard-bearer/public-facing leader of the party heading into the general election. The party is too late to save…
- efudd - Thursday, Aug 15, 19 @ 10:00 am:
It does make me wonder how long before a prominent elected official or serious candidate for office intentionally lets loose with a racial slur in a public forum thinking it will get them votes.
- Rte40 - Thursday, Aug 15, 19 @ 10:01 am:
You forgot Wilhower. Easy to do.
- Honeybear - Thursday, Aug 15, 19 @ 10:02 am:
I learned from this very site
Once you get the boot on the neck
You never take it off
No matter what these folks say
No matter what whistles these folks blow
No matter what they do
Organized Labor
Must Focus
Like never before
to secure the votes to keep
these folks
Out of Power
- Oswego Willy - Thursday, Aug 15, 19 @ 10:03 am:
To confederate monuments.
I spent some time in the “South” recently.
Not the tourist places, but in some towns, in actual neighborhoods, off the path places.
I drove down Jefferson Davis Highway.
I went past the statue of Nathan Bedford Forrest
I read plaques in out of the way places describing union soldiers as the enemy, I read others that touted the heroism of confederates holding off the invaders.
I stood… in a market now of goods and trinkets… where slaves stood, and were held, and were auctioned…
I ate… in houses where slaves served their masters… I was in a room where Robert E. Lee slept.
I’m NO different than ANY person.
But, me, you open your eyes and read words, and see the reminders in everyday lives… in neighborhoods… and local’s everyday lives… and you still feel this need to celebrate the confederacy…
It is a wake up call to who you are.
- TheInvisibleMan - Thursday, Aug 15, 19 @ 10:03 am:
This guy is a great example of why law enforcement should never be listened to when passing legislation.
- efudd - Thursday, Aug 15, 19 @ 10:05 am:
Tired Teacher-
My opinion is the election of Trump gave a lot of people the feeling that they can now openly voice what they have always truly felt.
Sadly, we’ll never see another Thompson, Bush Sr. or Dole running for executive office on the GOP ticket.
- Lt. Guv - Thursday, Aug 15, 19 @ 10:07 am:
efudd - exhibit “A” would be the President.
- OneMan - Thursday, Aug 15, 19 @ 10:11 am:
== The ILGOP should follow the example of Joe Walsh.==
The fact this sentence makes any sort of sense is a sign of
A) Where we are at this point
B) How nothing is implausable anymore
- Jocko - Thursday, Aug 15, 19 @ 10:13 am:
==she had to literally fight off a forced abortion while serving in the Reagan-era armed forces==
Huh? Was she wearing a Burqa while stationed in Afghanistan?
- Gohawks123 - Thursday, Aug 15, 19 @ 10:26 am:
Oh today shall be fun? I can only imagine what shall be said today
- Norseman - Thursday, Aug 15, 19 @ 10:28 am:
OneMan +1
The rot of the GOP continues.
- Conservative Veteran - Thursday, Aug 15, 19 @ 10:37 am:
When Curran said, “wrong people,” he probably meant Democrats. However, I hope he’ll lose the primary to Dr. Robert Marshall.
- anon2 - Thursday, Aug 15, 19 @ 10:37 am:
=== This is why the Trump party is old, angry, white, rural… and can’t find a foothold in the collars, with women… millennials, minorities… ===
Lake County is getting more diverse every day.
- JS Mill - Thursday, Aug 15, 19 @ 10:38 am:
=What does he mean by that?=
The Irish? Probably not.
=She also touted her fight to stop the removal of statues honoring the Confederacy. I kid you not.=
That is an Illinois thing? I did not know that.
- PaperTiger - Thursday, Aug 15, 19 @ 10:39 am:
Mark Curran was a hare-brained assistant state’s attorney passed over many times for promotion. He’s a Christian zealot who wanted to impose Bible study on inmates at the Lake County Jail. His views do not reflect Lake County, Illinois or the US Constitution.
- JoanP - Thursday, Aug 15, 19 @ 10:41 am:
Curran makes me happy that I moved OUT of Lake County.
- 4th - Thursday, Aug 15, 19 @ 10:46 am:
Party of Lincoln? More like the Party of George Lincoln Rockwell.
- Honeybear - Thursday, Aug 15, 19 @ 10:48 am:
Is “slick dick” really the name you want to use?
As a frontline canvasser I’m not seeing this play with the older folks.
But maybe I’m wrong
Maybe the way of the shock jock works now with the
old and angry.
Maybe they’ve secretly longed to say
slick Dick
I don’t know
Pandering to the lowest
sure doesn’t seem a good strategy
At least not without GRU assistance with social media.
- RNUG - Thursday, Aug 15, 19 @ 10:54 am:
I don’t like Durbin, personally or politically, and will be rooting for whoever the GOP candidate is … but I don’t see these guys taking him out.
- Rudy’s teeth - Thursday, Aug 15, 19 @ 11:01 am:
Curran should be aware of his rhetoric regarding the Catholic Church and communion. For many, it brings to mind the pedophiles in the church…particularly Dan McCormack. It makes me sick that I attended mass and received communion from that pedophile when I worked at St. Agatha in Chicago. At least, McCormack remains behind bars.
- Hamlet's Ghost - Thursday, Aug 15, 19 @ 11:03 am:
===She also touted her fight to stop the removal of statues honoring the Confederacy===
There’s a blogger at Lawyers Guns & Money who routinely refers to the Confederacy as “treason in defense of slavery”
That’s today’s Party of Lincoln
- Hamlet's Ghost - Thursday, Aug 15, 19 @ 11:05 am:
== The ILGOP should follow the example of Joe Walsh.==
I saw a post somewhere that the Onion decided to shut down. Apparently it’s impossible to make up stuff more crazy than what’s actually happening.
- Excitable Boy - Thursday, Aug 15, 19 @ 11:51 am:
- that is one heck of a dog whistle -
I’d say that’s just up front racism.
- 47th Ward - Thursday, Aug 15, 19 @ 11:56 am:
Somebody should tell Hubbard that Curran is a long time supporter of amnesty for “illegals.”
- Hottot - Thursday, Aug 15, 19 @ 12:26 pm:
When does Durbin’a victory party start?
- Hottot - Thursday, Aug 15, 19 @ 12:27 pm:
*Durbin’s
- Dotnonymous - Thursday, Aug 15, 19 @ 12:40 pm:
Fascism is contagious?
- Dotnonymous - Thursday, Aug 15, 19 @ 12:42 pm:
I’m telling you…they’re gonna put their hats on in a minute…in Public…with pride?
- Blue Dog Dem - Thursday, Aug 15, 19 @ 12:52 pm:
Durbin by 11%.
- Flapdoodle - Thursday, Aug 15, 19 @ 12:55 pm:
@ OW 10:03 ==It is a wake up call to who you are.==
Amen. I lived in two southern states for a total of thirteen years (not including military service). On my daily walk to work, I passed buildings named for Confederate generals and statues memorializing the Confederate cause. Such things were in almost every town, large or small.
From this I learned two lessons. First, it’s not over, it’s still being fought in people’s minds and spirits. When you hear intelligent people seriously refer to “The War of Northern Aggression,” you have to wonder if it will ever be over.
Second, when in Richmond, VA, do not publicly refer to “Monument Alley” as “Losers Lane.” But at least the restaurant I was thrown out of did not make me pay for my uneaten meal.
(Reposted because of inadvertent banned punctuation mark in first try.)
- Oswego Willy - Thursday, Aug 15, 19 @ 12:59 pm:
(Tips cap to - Flapdoodle -)
- Kane County Frank - Thursday, Aug 15, 19 @ 1:03 pm:
“The wrong kind of people moved in” They’re not even trying anymore.
- Nick Name - Thursday, Aug 15, 19 @ 2:00 pm:
===Second, when in Richmond, VA, do not publicly refer to “Monument Alley” as “Losers Lane.” But at least the restaurant I was thrown out of did not make me pay for my uneaten meal.===
Not all heroes wear capes.
- Flapdoodle - Thursday, Aug 15, 19 @ 3:13 pm:
Thanks -Nick Name-
- 312 - Thursday, Aug 15, 19 @ 3:17 pm:
And as a Lake County native, born and raised, I’m proud to be one of the ‘wrong people that moved out’ if Mark Curran the kind of person that’s passing for leadership in Lake County. I better not get caught DWF (Driving While Female) up there…
- Oswego Willy - Thursday, Aug 15, 19 @ 3:18 pm:
===Not all heroes wear capes.===
To…
===do not publicly refer to “Monument Alley” as “Losers Lane.” But at least the restaurant I was thrown out of did not make me pay for my uneaten meal.===
#Hero
No quarter for racism
- btowntruthfromforgottonia - Thursday, Aug 15, 19 @ 3:46 pm:
“I’m not defending anyone here.”
Yes you are.
- Nick Name - Thursday, Aug 15, 19 @ 3:51 pm:
===No quarter for racism===
Amen
- Tom Gooch - Thursday, Aug 15, 19 @ 4:23 pm:
If you wonder about Mark Curran’s brain function ask those of us who have lived with him and his strange way of doing things for years.
Better yet, read a copy of the Article he wrote for the July Lake County Bar Journal magazine. In that Article he spent 4 pages expressing his opinions of Police Officers. He stressed 2 points: Most if not all police officers when testifying dont tell the truth under oath and all Police Officers will conceal the wrong doings of other police officers. If Durbin’s campaign doesn’t have a copy they should get one. Every current of former cop should be out campaigning against this guy and his far out wacky outlook on life and religion. If they see the article or know about it they will be. Need a copy? email me at gooch@goochfirm.com
- Dotnonymous - Thursday, Aug 15, 19 @ 4:35 pm:
Curran sounds like another politician suffering from arrested development…too.
- Norseman - Thursday, Aug 15, 19 @ 4:42 pm:
=== Curran sounds like another politician suffering from arrested development…too. ===
It’s a disease that has afflicted the GOP. The cure is to throw the GOP out of office.
- Nearly Normal - Thursday, Aug 15, 19 @ 4:49 pm:
Wow. That is some tainted red meat thrown around by Curran. The more I read about him the scarier he seems by his own words.
- Dotnonymous - Thursday, Aug 15, 19 @ 5:33 pm:
The cure is to throw the GOP out of office. - Norseman
I totally agree.
- RDB - Thursday, Aug 15, 19 @ 11:12 pm:
ILGOP has become the California GOP now. It will just get worse from here on.