Sen. Radogno sails easily to re-election in 41st Dist.

Published as part of the November 6, 2008 edition.

by Meg Sullivan
staff reporter

Incumbent state Sen. Christine Radogno, whose 41st District comprises parts of Cook, DuPage and Will counties, including western Orland Township, handily defeated Democratic challenger Audrey Manley, a retired teacher, in the Nov. 4 election.

With 99 percent of precincts reporting early Wednesday, Radogno received 72,339 votes (63 percent) to Manley’s 41,625 votes (37 percent).

Radogno, who celebrated with a low-key night at home following the election, said she is happy to be headed back to Springfield.

“Actually my opponent called me and she was very gracious, I’m grateful to be back in office,” she said.

Radogno, 55, of Lemont, has served in the state Senate since 1997; she is deputy minority leader. She ran against Democrat Alexi Giannoulis for Illinois treasurer in 2006, but was defeated.

Before running for Senate in 1996, Radogno served as a La Grange village trustee and was on the village of La Grange Liquor Commission. She has worked as a social worker at Mercy Center for Health Care Services.

Radogno, who earned both her bachelor’s and master’s degrees from Loyola University in Chicago, has three college-aged daughters with husband, Nunzio.

Radogno previously said she was running for another term because she truly enjoys her work and feels like she has made a difference in her community. She said her tenure has been highlighted by the amount of legislation she has helped pass-from sponsoring legislation lowering the legal blood alcohol content for drivers to .08 to expanding medical assistance for needy families, elderly individuals and disabled persons.

Radogno has also sponsored legislation that has aimed to “reign in the governor’s abusive borrowing practices.”

Gov. Blagojevich “has borrowed billions, forcing us to put off our debt,” Radogno said. “Too much borrowing has made the state financially unstable.”

Radogno wants to focus on “getting the financial ship righted,” especially during these bad economic times, she said.

She is confident that the situation can be rectified. “There are ways to get control. In the nineties Jim Edgar did it. I’m going to try and make sure we are not spending more money than is coming in. We can’t create new programs when we don’t have the revenue coming in,” she said.

Radogno said one of the main problems in the state right now is that people do not trust the governor. “We gave him money for pensions before and he spent it on other things. The people in charge have to use the tools they have correctly,” she said.

Radogno said once the financial situation is rectified, education is the next important issue that needs to be tended to. “Investing in performance based practices for teachers and [establishing] charter schools would be two good ways to improve education in Illinois. We cannot continue to put more money into the exact same system,” she said.

Being familiar with the ins and outs of state government will help her during her next term, Radogno said. “I think I have been effective and I know my way around, which makes me particularly effective. We still have a lot of work to do.”

Democratic candidate Audrey Manley, 70, of Lockport, is a former member and president of the Lockport Township High School Board of Education who ran under the campaign slogan “Send an educator to the Senate.”

“I’m disappointed, but I’m happy I did it,” she said. “It was a great learning experience. I can’t say I’m not happy. I worked hard and I had a lot of help, I just didn’t get the prize.”

Manley said she intends on returning to her “old life”. “I’m never at a loss for things to do, I’m sure I will fill my life,” she said.

She also said she still may help out the Democrats in some capacity.

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