Peterson Retires

Senator Bill Peterson a senior Illinois State Senator will not seek reelection. Peterson has been a great friend to the Illinois Association of REALTORS. Several people are already interested in running for the seat including RANWC's Director of Operations and Mayor of Round Lake Bill Gentes.

Find the story from the Daily Herald below.

By Eric Krol
Daily Herald Political Writer
ekrol@dailyherald.com
Posted Wednesday, July 18, 2007
Longtime Long Grove state lawmaker William Peterson won’t seek re-election, and there’s no shortage of candidates vying to succeed him in the Senate.
Peterson, 71, said Tuesday “it’s time for young blood to take up the cause.” He served 10 years in the House and the last 15 in the Senate.
A quiet politician who sometimes tried to reach across the aisle to work with Democrats, Peterson is the lawmaker who pushed through the 1983 change that allowed voters to cast absentee ballots at village and township halls instead of by mail or at county buildings.
“I think it opened up the voting process. It got more people involved, regardless of their affiliation,” he said.
Two Republicans and two Democrats already are gearing up to run for Peterson’s 26th District seat in the Feb. 5 primary.
On the GOP side, 41-year-old Lake Barrington data management executive Dan Duffy has a campaign team in place. Active with the suburban chapter of the National Federation of Independent Businesses, Duffy said he would focus on job retention and opposing Democratic schemes to raise taxes and sell the lottery.
Bow tie-wearing Lake County Board member Michael Talbett of Lake Zurich also is said to be mulling a run. Talbett, who holds a law degree and doctorate in geography, could not be reached Tuesday. Given Peterson’s lengthy tenure, the list on the Republican side is likely to grow.
On the Democratic side, Round Lake Mayor Bill Gentes planned to announce his campaign Monday but acknowledged Tuesday to the Daily Herald that he’s in the 26th District race.
Gentes, 47, has been mayor of the fast-growing suburb for six years and is a real estate trade group executive. “As Democrats, we control the governor and the General Assembly. It’s nuts that we can’t get along, and I think we need to bring some sanity, find common ground,” Gentes said.
Democrat Richard Hammes, a 66-year-old North Barrington business management consultant and psychologist, originally thought about running for Congress in 2003 but bowed to Melissa Bean, who went on to defeat Republican Phil Crane.
For more on Peterson’s accomplishments and his potential replacements, see the Animal Farm political notebook at dailyherald.com.