02202010 - News Article - Primary countdown: Deck the walls with names of pols - ROBERT CANTRELL

Primary countdown: Deck the walls with names of pols
Post-Tribune (IN)
February 20, 2010
CROWN POINT -- Political intrigues were written large on the walls outside the Lake County Elections office Friday, as the noon deadline for candidates to file for the 2010 primary came and went.

Elections workers scrawled the names of contenders on banners for nearly 90 federal, state, township and county offices up for election next fall. 

All told, a baker's dozen are in the running to replace Sheriff Roy Dominguez, including 12 Democrats. Marco Kuyachich, Dominguez's chief of police, was not among the candidates, letting the deadline lapse some 10 months after he announced the start of his campaign.

Dominguez's name figured in another filing day surprise: The apparent withdrawal from the ballot of longtime Circuit Court Judge Lorenzo Arredondo, who had filed to run for re-election in January. Dominguez's nephew, Alexander Dominguez, and Merrillville Town Court Judge George Paras had filed for the slot.

Candidates have until noon Monday to withdraw from the race, meaning some candidates may have a long weekend ahead of them, said St. John Township Assessor Hank Adams.

"That's a terrible rule. If you're someone someone else wants out of the race, they'll be offering you all kinds of deals," said Adams, who showed up around noon and found no surprises in his race. No candidate filed to run against him in either the Republican primary or general election.

Primary contests are brewing for county assessor, as Carol Ann Seaton filed Friday to run against Ross Township Assessor Randy Guernsey. Jackie Collins, chief deputy to Calumet Township Assessor Booker Blumenberg, filed to run against her boss. The Post-Tribune could not reach either candidate Friday.

And U.S. Rep. Peter J. Visclosky, D-Merrillville, will have opposition in the Democratic primary against Woodrow Wilcox. Eight candidates will run in the Republican primary, including Mark Leyva, who has unsuccessfully challenged Visclosky six times in the general election.

Attorney John Cantrell looked on until shortly after noon, then said he planned to visit his father, political insider Robert Cantrell who is serving a six and a half-year sentence for fraud at a minimum-security prison in Wisconsin.The elder Cantrell was a fixture at filing deadlines for decades and remains keenly interested in Lake County politics.

"He'll want to hear all about it," John Cantrell said.

Kimberly Robinson and attorney Clorius Lay, both of Gary, look at primary election postings Friday at the Lake County Government Center. -- Photos by Scott R. Brandush for the Post-Tribune

Lake County Clerk Mike Brown, Chief Deputy Surveyor Gean Gray and Center Township Board member Randy Palmateer talk Friday while politicians wait until the last minute to file their intent to run for office at the Lake County Government Center.