Is Jack Franks Trying To Ride Movie Times To The Governor's Mansion?

By vouchey in News on May 4, 2005 5:35PM

State Representative Jack Franks is a pro-life, pro-gun, anti-tax Democrat. He's also just about the friendliest guy you could ever meet and dominates politics in his home county, northwest exurban McHenry County. He also doesn't want to be a state rep for ever. He clearly wants more.

And so he seems to be riding pretty hard a bill he's authored for honesty in advertised movie start times. The guy seems to be everywhere. Today he's got a glowing story in the Tribune about his measure, yesterday the Sun Times, two weeks ago a feature in Time Out Chicago. A great way to raise his profile as a non-political man-of-the-people.

Franks, first elected to the State House in 1998, has made a career out of railing against in-power Democrats, most notably Governor Rod Blagojevich. Speaking out against the Governor, especially a governor in your own party, does not usually result in cordial relations. All this came to a head last month when an internal e-mail from the Governor's office was leaked to Franks and the media. The e-mail directed all state agencies to direct all Franks requests to Deputy Governor Brad Tusk. Once there, the requests would be ignored, Franks claims.

Why the fuss? Because there's a whisper campaign that Franks will run against Blagojevich in the Democratic primary. Franks, who lives in a small town, and grew up among farmers, could make a lot of trouble for Blagojevich, a city boy repeatedly tarred with Big Chicago politics. Lots of Downstate Democrats would relish voting for Franks, although it remains to be seen if Franks could raise enough money to compete with the Governor's $10 million war chest.