Ugly 14th District State Representative race finally ends on Tuesday

EDITORIAL: 
(Rogers Park) - Politics in 49th ward aldermanic campaigns have always been nasty. Darn near a blood-sport. Fingers have been pointed my way. They say that I'm one of the culprit's to this political ugliness that has made Rogers Park a hot-bed for campaign hostility, and magic voting pen jokes that even Jay Leno joked about.

Seems that negative campaigning has rubbed off on the ladies who are running for the 14th District State Representative position.

We've had name calling. We've had accusations of illegal campaign activity. One candidate stuffs our postal mailboxes with endless mailers, as if she's got stock in the USPS. While the other robo-calls voters to the point of total frustration, just like when we look at our phone bill.

Thank goodness I'm not on either candidate's emailing tree.

This time no one can blame me for causing or being involved in such an ugly race. I didn't throw my support behind either one.  Until now, I've kept out of it.

But, here's what I do know.

One candidate, Paula Basta, I know personally. I know her so well, we greet each other with a hug instead of a "hello." She's friendly and she's very knowledgeable about our community. I've seen her as an active member of the community, who's attended many meetings and has shown an interest in the betterment of Rogers Park. Who could knock that as not "being there and doing that?" And then some.

The other candidate is Kelly Cassidy. I didn't really know much about her until she got anointed the job. Since then - she's done well. Maybe too well. She know's how Springfield works. She's making and moving bills through the maze of bureaucracy. Just this session Kelly has thrown so many bills out there for her peers to vote on, one's gotta pass into law, one day. As my mom would say to me, " if you throw enough shit against the wall, something's going to stick..."

So, with only four days left in this heated race, it's now up to us voters to decide which of these two candidates we want representing us. Both are excellent, highly qualified candidates; and either would represent us well.

Who will it be? The robo-caller or mailbox stuffer. Right now I could go either way. Which candidate hasn't pestered me more these last couple of days of this 2012 primary election cycle?  Let me check my voicemail and mailbox to decide.