Il-04 Gutiérrez (D) With His Hand in the Cookie Jar?

[Lunar]

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/chi-zoning29oct29,0,2204141.story

U.S. Rep. Luis Gutierrez personally lobbied Mayor Richard Daley to back a controversial multimillion-dollar development for a campaign contributor who had just lent the congressman $200,000 in a real estate deal, a Tribune investigation has found.

Now the congressman's unusual gesture of support is under federal scrutiny as authorities investigate how developers overcame city planners' objections to convert the West Side industrial site into a more profitable residential and commercial development.

[I spent the winter writing songs about getting better]

Safe D seat. This'll just affect whether he runs for reelection in 2010.

[Bacon King]

He does have a challenger this year, but I doubt this abomination would ever vote for a Republican:

[Meeker]

A Google search yields no information about his opponent, so I can't figure out how much of a joke he is.

[Sam Spade]

Hmmm...  Another Cook County politician scandal.  I wonder what that means long-term.

Btw, Bacon King - the abomination is drawn to separate the Hispanic areas from the black/white areas.

[Lunar]

(takes partisan hat off)

Idle thought:

Real-estate deals to buy influence among Chicago politicians?

(puts it back on)

[I spent the winter writing songs about getting better]

That district was shown in my Legislative Process class as an example of gerrymandering. You should've seen the class reaction.

[Torie]

I yes Cicero, the home of Al Capone, that kept blacks out when I lived in Chicago, but the Bohunks finally threw in the towel, and let the Mexicans in, and then they died.

The story I remember is a black family moving into a home on the west side of the street that divided Cicero from Chicago. A mob formed as the news spread, and the precinct captain moved the family out that night. A Republican machine of all things ran that town, along with equally dumpy Berwyn back in those days.