Cantrell to quit as GOP chairman?
NWI Times
Jan 8, 2003
nwitimes.com/news/state-and-regional/cantrell-to-quit-as-gop-chairman/article_15faecce-d911-5b93-9fa1-cdd6e09f7cfc.html
HAMMOND -- Pressure is mounting for East Chicago GOP Party Chairman Robert Cantrell to show his political party colors in this year's race for mayor of Hammond.
And today may be a turning point.
Lake County GOP Chairman Roger Chiabai confirmed plans to meet with Cantrell for breakfast this morning to talk about potential resignation of his leadership post.
"I didn't ask him to resign," Chiabai said. "He's wanting to get out."
Cantrell could not be reached for comment, but Chiabai said impetus for the chat has to do with perception Cantrell either has been, or will be, involved in the campaign of Democratic Party convert Tom McDermott Jr.
McDermott, who began laying a foundation to unseat Republican Mayor Duane Dedelow Jr. of Hammond more than a year ago, is a law partner with Cantrell's son. The two stand side-by-side in billboards on key traffic areas in and around Hammond.
But of the elder Cantrell, McDermott said, "Bobby isn't working on my campaign -- not at all."
While the elder Cantrell did attend McDermott's first, $25-per-person fund-raiser in June, McDermott said, it was to hear him make the announcement official. He has made no financial contributions to the campaign since, McDermott said.
Chiabai, on the other hand, said he believes Cantrell is thinking about resigning to work on the McDermott campaign.
"We've talked about his kid's involvement in this and my instructions were he cannot get involved," Chiabai said. "It's tough. Bob's a family man and family comes first."
Chiabai, noting he empathizes with the family man's view, told Cantrell it was his call, but that if he wanted to play a part in McDermott's campaign, he had to resign.
"I already fired him once ... years ago," Chiabai said. "I told him, 'I won't fire you again.' "
Meanwhile, Dedelow and at least one ally plan to meet with Jim Kittle Jr., chairman of the Indiana Republican Party, to air concern over alliances Cantrell has had with Democrats involved in active campaigns.
"I want to make sure Hammond's interests are protected," Dedelow said. "I want to make sure the Republican Party is allowed to operate unimpeded in the city of Hammond, that the election process is fair and that we have a real, two-party system in Lake County."
Randy Peters, a Republican supporter of Dedelow and a critic of Cantrell's role in the successful Democratic race waged in 2002 by Tom Philpot for county clerk, warned that if assurance can't be given by Kittle that there will be a "level playing field," the national party will be contacted.
Philpot bested Peters' sister, Bernadette "Bobbi" Costa, in the race for county clerk. At the time, Philpot thanked Cantrell for being with him "every step of the way" during a victory party for Philpot and Lake Superior Court Judge Julie Cantrell, the daughter of Cantrell, who was unopposed in her re-election bid.
"If Cantrell's going to campaign for Democrats, he should be one," Peters said. "You don't play one party against the other."
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