All politics is local, they say, and you don’t get much more local than a City Council race. That race in the second district is heating up. Incumbent Barbara Van Auken’s challenger Curphy Smith has recently announced a fundraiser for his campaign that will feature “special guest” Aaron Schock:
Not a bad move politically. Schock is popular and has shown an ability to get support even in Democrat-leaning districts (Van Auken, incidentally, is a Democrat). It won’t hurt Smith to hitch his wagon to a rising star. Until now, conventional wisdom has been that Smith is pulling in what I like to call the “NVA” (“Not Van Auken”) vote. Getting Schock’s endorsement may give voters pause to consider Smith on his own merits. If nothing else, it raises public awareness of his campaign, which hasn’t gotten much press since there was no primary in the second district.
Here is a link to Smith’s website:
http://www.smith4peoria.com
In the interest of fairness…
http://www.citizensforbarbara.com/Home_Page.html
Contine the progress for the second district? The website has been up since the 9th and no one caught that typo?
Let’s not contine down this road!
Can we do away with the 2nd District altogether?
What is it about Peoria [area]? Nearly every political race is always between two equally unappealing candidates!
People want to get rid of the 2nd district ? there a lot of gooooood people who live , work and play in our district. I have lived here for over 40 yrs. My son went to Central . We have had some great people who went to Central and went on to do great things . Come visit our district some time and then judge us.
Mamma Hen,
If you are upset because of my comments…I apologize. Just poking fun at the ‘political side’ of 2nd Dist.
Way to go Barbara! News travels fast. She corrected the mis-spelling on her site 😉
I seriously doubt BVA corrected her site. Bet she wouldn’t even know how.
Well then maybe someone will take care of this then… her site doesn’t have the proper campaign disclosure disclaimers and is likely in violation of the state’s campaign election laws as a result.
On top of that, it’s being hosted for free by GoDaddy hence the ads at the top. That would be a shame if some porno ads or other innapropriate content wound up in her ad space.
Only you would think of that Bravo. 😉
Steve Pierz… what he into Schock for?
Pierz was the guy who has the house (besides the one he lives in and is hosting Schock at) in the High Wine Historic district that he is renovating. The one where he wanted to slap on some nice ugly vinyl but the Historic preservation commission said ‘no’, the neighbors said ‘no’, and the city said ‘no’. Van Auken kind of sided with the commission and other neighbors who wanted him to stick with the historic character of the home and replace the deteriorating wood siding with … wood siding. Not sure where things are at today… other than Pierz quit his role as ‘Trash Czar’ over this dispute.
Plus.. I am pretty sure Pierz is a Republican.
The reason Van Auken will lose is because she is an abrasive person who has ticked off one person at a time every day for four years and they now add up to a majority.
Barbara is too calculating in her speeches at the horseshoe and in her votes. Everything has been about politics and re-election from her first day in office. She should have focused on doing a good job and not just political positioning. In the end, had she focused on just doing the right thing, she would be in an unbeatable position.
She has fulfilled NONE of her central promises from 2005. She is divisive and that is putting things mildly. Many people have caught on to her scheming and vindictiveness. Few people regularly trash talk so many other people on a regular basis. It is thoroughly unappealing. As is her hunger for power and willingness to do anything to achieve and keep it.
While many may be scared of retribution from such a vindictive person, in the privacy of the voting booth, they have no intention of voting for her.
Her one monumnet is the million dollar arbor at the expense of sidewalks and far more essential services. But that is a monument to herself and therefore priceless. For it will long endure past her four years in office.
When the votes come in BVA is gonna be behind. This race is between a person with business experience that the city needs versus another divisive lawyer who abuses her “power.”
Oh I am so glad there is an alternative to Van Auken who couldn’t find a way to fulfill campaign promises. I disagreed with sooooo many of her votes. If only we had an alternative choice for mayor as well but we don’t so now we will have to do with Ardis for another term (another promise it but don’t deliver it guy).
i get so woed out defending our Mayor , but i do it because he is a great leader and he cares about us all. How many of you people who write on this have ever worked with Mayor Ardis on issues .?i have as a neighborhood leader , he has helped the older neighborhoods and beyond that , he is a very strong voice for our community . So before you judge him, work with him. Jim Ardis is good for Peoria.