* There’s been a lot of grumbling out there that maybe the Democrats lining up to run against Republican Bob Dold in the northern suburbs might not be First Tier types. They’ve raised cash, and they’ve been working hard, but they haven’t generated a ton of buzz and local leaders have not rushed to support them.
John Tree, a businessman and Air Force reservist who has worked in Israel with the Israeli Air Force, is jumping in the 10th District Democratic primary, joining the two other major contenders who want to defeat freshman Rep. Bob Dold (R-Ill.).
Tree’s late entry in the race comes as Democrats Ilya Sheyman and Brad Schneider have been campaigning for months in the north suburban and North Shore communities–but neither has solidified Democratic support.
“Democrats are hungry for a win and ready to work for it,” said Lauren Beth Gash, Democratic state central committeewoman for the 10th District. “…They are looking for a candidate they can get strongly behind.”
Gash said Tree was an “incredibly impressive candidate which is not to say the other candidates in the race aren’t.”
Tree makes his candidacy official on Thursday. He already has mustered a team of political professionals with experience in Illinois campaigns.
“No one has really consolidated Democratic support” in the tenth said Peter Giangreco, a Tree advisor who will also handle his direct mail. “There have been a few endorsements but there is nobody who can really talk about jobs and deliver a critique of Bob Dold in the way John Tree can.”
* The Jewish vote is extremely important in the 10th CD, and Tree’s campaign is emphasizing his work with the Israeli Air Force…
In 1995, Tree served as Chief of West Mediterranean Logistics for the 16th Air Force, responsible for logistics support for Tunisia, Morocco and Israel. John was on the ground in Israel on twelve different occasions collaborating with the Israeli Air Force on military security. His security clearance allowed him to see realities that most Americans don’t see, fueling his strong support for the State of Israel.
Tree is currently a colonel in the Air Force Reserve. He’s also and MBA who worked for Procter & Gamble and Kellogg as well as run a small business.
Greene County State’s Attorney Matt Goetten announced today he’s decided to take the plunge and seek the Democratic nomination for the U.S. House seat in the new 13th Congressional District.
“I am running to serve middle class families by creating jobs and stopping the erosion of our future coming out of Congress today,” Goetten said in a statement.
“Whether it was serving our country overseas or standing up for victims of Greene County, I have risen to the call of duty throughout my life. I can no longer stand by and watch as a passive observer while teaching my children to stand by their convictions. We owe our kids a sound future, but Congress isn’t giving them a chance to get ahead.”
Goetten, 39, who was first elected as state’s attorney in 2004, a member of the Illinois Air National Guard, was deployed to Afghanistan in 2009 as a judge advocate general with the Illinois Army National Guard.
* Goetten started out as the backup in case former state Rep. Jay Hoffman decided not to run. A month ago, after Hoffman announced for Johnson’s seat, he predictably dropped out…
“I can still see Afghanistan in my rear view mirror, and that was nine months that I can’t get back with my kids. And so, looking forward at the potential of a fifteen-month congressional race and the time away from home, it was just the determination that I made that my family is more important to me at the current time than seeking higher office in Congress,” he explains.
* But then when Hoffman announced a bid for the Illinois House and dropped out of the congressional race, Goetten decided he’d made his decision and was going to stick with it…
At a recent Champaign County Democratic Party dinner, Goetten repeated that family considerations would keep him from running for Congress in 2012.
* Not long after Goetten’s reiteration, some district politicos announced their support for Dr. David Gill, who has run against Johnson three times before. From a November 2nd press release…
David Gill announced [Nov. 2] that he has been endorsed by State Representative Naomi Jakobsson and Illinois Senator (retired) Deanna Demuzio, as well as by Champaign County Board Chairman C Pius Weibel, Urbana Alderman Eric Jakobsson, former 13th District candidate James Gray and the Jersey County Democratic Party and its chairman, Mark Pohlman. Madison County’s Southern Illinois People for Progress and its chairman, former 19th District state central committee candidate Pam Gronemeyer, also have endorsed and are supporting Gill.
