My view on Debbie Halvorson in the 2nd is that in that liberal of a district, she’s not a good fit. I’ve defended Halvorson before and supported her when she was in the old 11th. I’d rather get a more progressive candidate in the 2nd given the kind of district it is. That said, I’ve been a bit baffled about how Toi Hutchinson is a progressive alternative to Halvorson and even more oddly, Robin Kelly. Hutchinson was the handpicked successor to Halvorson when Halvorson went to DC
Chicago Argus
January 6, 2009 Tuesday 1:01 AM EST
Its replacement season in Illinois
BYLINE: GregoryT1965@gmail.com (Gregory Tejeda
LENGTH: 1101 words
Democratic officials from south suburban Cook and Will counties, along with rural Kankakee and Iroquois counties, picked a replacement for Rep.-elect Debbie D. Halvorson, D-Ill., who gave up her seat in the Illinois Senate in Springfield to move up to Washington.It would appear that the party officials decided to go along with the wishes of Halvorson, as they chose her former chief of staff, Toi Hutchinson, to be the new Democratic state senator.THE KANKAKEE DAILY Journal newspaper reported that Hutchinson got a unanimous vote of support over two other officials “ one of whom is a member of the Will County Board. Officials claim that Hutchinsons knowledge of the Statehouse Scene is what gave her the edge.In one respect, the suburban and rural folks are a notch ahead of their city-based political counterparts. Halvorson formally resigned her state Senate seat on Monday, and a replacement was picked promptly.Hutchinson literally took the oath that made her state Sen. Toi Hutchinson, D-Olympia Fields, by noon of the same day.Approving a replacement so quickly provides a sense of confidence for the residents of that legislative district, in that they know there was no gap in political representation and that the local officials who pick the replacement had a sense of what they were doing.
Hutchinson was Halvorson’s Chief-of-Staff and then her handpicked replacement for the Illinois Senate seat. If you have a problem with Halvorson, it’s hard to see how you don’t have a problem with Hutchinson. The only difference is Hutchinson’s recent move to flip on gun safety. Welcome, but a bit late.