Jewish Officials Surprised by Political Upset in Chicago Democratic Party Primary Election Achieved

Jewish community officials in Chicago expressed surprise this week at the stunning political upset achieved in the Illinois Democratic Party primary elections Tuesday by two followers of ultra-conservative and extremist Lyndon LaRouche Jr.

But these officials suggested that the victories by Mark Fairchild for the Democratic nomination for Lieutenant Governor and Janice Hart as the party’s nomination for Secretary of State were not indications of support for LaRouche and the views of his political organization.

Instead, they see the victory as the result of a combination of factors, including the low voter turnout–about 25 percent of the state’s 1.6 million registered voter–due to rainy weather Tuesday; growing voter apathy in the political process; and a rejection of the Democratic Party’s candidates running against the LaRouche followers.

STATEWIDE RESULTS CONDEMNED

Democratic Party officials swiftly condemned the statewide results in Illinois. “These people invade our party,” said Cal Sutker, chairman of the Illinois Democratic Party. “They’re extremists. They’re not in the mainstream of Democratic thought or philosophy and they’re objectionable.

In Washington, Party spokesman Terry Michael said, “It is shocking that followers of Lyndon LaRouche have been able to deceive voters in the Illinois primary. LaRouche represents a kook fringe of American politics.

But two officials in Chicago–Jonathan Levine of the American Jewish Committee and Michael Kotzin of the Anti-Defamation League of B’nai B’rith–told the Jewish Telegraphic Agency in separate telephone interviews Thursday from Chicago that the elections do not indicate new-found support for LaRouche. They attributed it to voter apathy, and lack of media coverage of the two elected candidates.

EXPLANATION FOR THE VOTE

“There was so much (media) preoccupation with the elections of Aldermen in southern minority wards that virtually all other elections were not covered at all–and certainly not the primaries for Lt. Governor and Secretary of State,” said Levine, the AJC’s regional representative there.

But, according to Levine, the “sense here, it seems to me, is that this was not a vote in favor of extremism.” He suggested, as did political commentators and political pundits, that the vote was a rejection of Fairchild’s and Hart’s opponents more than it was an indication of support for the LaRouche followers.

Fairchild, a 28-year-old electrical engineer, won the nomination by 20,000 votes in the race against State Sen. George Sangmeister. Hart captured her victory by about 10,000 votes, running against Aurelia Pucinski, daughter of one of Chicago’s best-known politicians, Alderman and former Congressman Roman Pucinski.

The elections, in addition to serving as an embarrassment to the Democratic Party, also pose a serious threat to Democrat Adlai Stevenson Ill’s second quest for the governorship of Illinois. He issued a statement Wednesday night in which he vowed, “I will never run on a ticket with candidates who espouse the hate-filled folly of Lyndon LaRouche.”

He said he would seek legal ways to “purge these bizarre and dangerous extremists off the ticket.” There is speculation that Stevenson may chose to form a so-called “new Democratic slate,” thus effectively leaving the LaRouche candidates on the Democratic list without a gubernatorial candidate. Other options are also being explored by Stevenson.

Levine said there was no evidence that the candidates spent much money in their campaign, or that they campaigned extensively in the state. “But I do think the election does demonstrate the continuing effort by the LaRouche people to try and get a foothold or to infiltrate the Democratic Party,” he said.

LaRouche’s National Democratic Policy Committee has in recent years backed hundreds of candidates for office in primary and general elections. The 63-year-old LaRouche also made unsuccessful U.S. Presidential bids in 1976, 1980 and 1984. The Associated Press reported that LaRouche received 150,000 votes in the 1984 presidential primaries.