June 27, 2007
Challengers emerge on Bean's right, left
After dispatching Barrington Hills millionaire David McSweeney in the 2006 general election, it looks like U.S. Rep. Melissa Bean, D-8th, will have some new competition in 2008 from both sides of the political spectrum.
On the Republican side, wealthy businessman Steve Greenberg of Long Grove has begun laying the groundwork for a challenge, indicating he will soon make official his bid for Bean's seat.
Lindenhurst resident Randi Scheurer, wife of former independent congressional candidate Bill Scheurer, plans to run in the Democratic primary.
Greenberg, 36, had previously been mentioned as a potential challenger to U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., but changed course and has now set his sights on the House instead.
He called Bean's first vote -- the one that ultimately helped give U.S. Rep. Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., the House speaker job -- her worst vote.
"She's run as a moderate, but moderates don't put people like Pelosi in positions of power," he said.
Unlike when McSweeney ran, Greenberg said voters will have the benefit of watching a dysfunctional, Democratic-controlled Congress for two years before they make up their minds whether or not to vote for him.
"[McSweeney] had to try to articulate what the Democrats would stand for, but I'm coming in at a time, fortunately, where the Democrats are actually in power," he said. "With Pelosi running things, they're weak on national defense and they're raising taxes. They're trying to bring back the [President Jimmy] Carter years."
Greenberg, who studied to be an educator before dropping out of Lake Forest College to be part of the family business, is also a former minor league hockey player in the National Hockey League's Washington Capitals organization. His pro hockey career was cut short by injury.
He grew up in Glenview and attended Deerfield High School and Lake Forest Academy. In his current career in the business world, Greenberg runs a company that invests in distressed businesses and turns them around financially.
A Long Grove resident of almost 14 years, Greenberg is married and a father of three children ages 12, 11, and 8.
Greenberg, like McSweeney, enters the race with a great deal of personal wealth -- his family owns the Ben Franklin chain of retail stores -- and his ability to self-fund a portion of his campaign makes him an appealing candidate for national and state Republicans.
The Greenberg family's Racine, Wis.-based company -- Roosevelt Capital LLC -- acquired the Ben Franklin name, trademark and operations in 1997 as the retailer headed into Chapter 7 bankruptcy.
According to its Web site, Roosevelt Capital LLC operates under the name Promotions Unlimited, which provides advertising and promotional programs for approximately 5,500 retail stores across the U.S.
Greenberg's father, Ira, started the Roosevelt Capital in Rosemont in 1973. It currently employs more than 350 people.
In terms of money, Greenberg is going to need buckets of it. The 2006 campaign cost both party-affiliated candidates a total of more than $12 million. McSweeney, a investment banker, alone spent nearly $5 million of his own money during the primary and general election.
At this point, it is unclear whether Greenberg will face competition in the primary. According to published reports, Kathy Salvi, a Republican candidate who spent more than $1 million and finished second in the six-way primary in 2006, has indicated she will not run.
The GOP and National Republican Campaign Committee made the 8th District a top-tier target in the 2006 elections, providing broad support to McSweeney's camp. Despite the high-profile nature of the race, McSweeney netted only 44 percent of the vote compared with 51 percent for Bean. Independent candidate Bill Scheurer won 5 percent of the vote.
In terms of fund-raising for 2008, Bean has already collected more than $475,000 in the first quarter this year, according to the Federal Election Commission.
Standing by record
Brian Herman, a Bean spokesman, said the congressman intends to stand behind her record in her bid for a third term in office.
"[Bean] is concentrating on representing the people of the 8th District with the same moderate mainstream approach she has maintained since taking office. She continues to reach out and remain responsive to her constituents, and she looks forward to running on her record," Herman said via E-mail.
Bean, 45, of Barrington, was elected to office in 2004, narrowly defeated longtime incumbent Republican Phil Crane.
During her first and second terms, Bean has positioned herself as a moderate Democrat, earning praise from a wide variety of influential issue-oriented groups such as EMILY's List and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.
A Blue Dog Democrat with an independent streak, Bean is a strong supporter of small- and medium-sized businesses. During her first term she was one of only 15 Democrats who voted in favor of the Central American Free Trade Agreement, much to the chagrin of several labor groups.
The 8th U.S. Congressional District includes all or portions of Antioch, Arlington Heights, Barrington, Deer Park, Elk Grove Village, Elgin, Fox River Grove, Gurnee, Hawthorn Woods, Hoffman Estates, Inverness, Island Lake, Lake Zurich, Lindenhurst, Long Grove, Mundelein, Palatine, Rolling Meadows, Schaumburg, Wauconda and other communities in Lake, McHenry and northwest Cook counties.
Family affair
For Bill and Randi Scheurer, the biannual congressional contest is becoming something of a family affair.
While Bill Scheurer was the candidate and his wife the campaign press person during the last go round in 2006, Randi Scheurer plans to be a candidate in the 2008 Democratic primary.
Running on an anti-Iraq war platform, Bill Scheurer struggled to get on the ballot and was outspent by millions of dollars by both Bean and McSweeney.
(http://www.pioneerlocal.com/buffalogrove/news/446237,bg-new8thcand-062807-s1.article)