Samuels receives Trib endorsement again; holding out hope for Huckelberry endorsement

Green Party candidate Julie Samuels of Oak Park once again received the Chicago Tribune's endorsement for state representative from the 8th district. Here's the text of the Oct. 13 Tribune endorsement: Rep. Calvin Giles recently was in hot water because he failed for more than a year to meet the requirements that he disclose his campaign contributions. He did finally comply--but after he had safely fended off a challenge in the Democratic primary. He has gone to court to challenge a State Board of Elections demand that he pay more than $80,000 in fines. It's impossible to justify Giles' disregard for the law. Green Party candidate Julie Samuels, an environmentalist from Oak Park, is endorsed. GOP ward committeeman Glenn Harris is also on the ballot. Samuels also received the Trib's endorsement for the same race in 2002 but didn't win. That endorsement, I've heard it said, was the first time a Green was ever endorsed by a major U.S. newspaper. I couldn't find an endorsement from the Pantagraph in the 88th state rep district, which covers Bloomington-Normal, where Phil Huckelberry, a central figure in the state's Green Party, is the lone challenger against Republican Dan Brady. Huckelberry seems to have the support of 11th district Democratic congressional candidate Tari Renner, who I've heard asked the local Dems not to slate a token candidate in the 88th in order to give Huckelberry a clean shot at Brady. Renner, a political science professor, was Huckelberry's advisor at Illinois Wesleyan University.