It's not quite so easy.
In the afterglow of former Northwest Side Democrat Jim O'Grady'selection as the first Republican Cook County sheriff in 20 years,some of the local GOP's power brokers waxed poetic about therenaissance of the Chicago GOP.
The voters, though, weren't buying.
Northwestern University Professor Donald H. Haider, recruited bya blue-ribbon panel of Republican suburbanites and lakefronters asthe "blue-ribbon" candidate for mayor, got just 4 percent of the voteon April 7, the weakest showing in the history of the local GOP. Afew witty commentators, evidently assuming that 96 percent of theelectorate made a terrible mistake, have suggested that Haider has apolitical future.
An even bigger disappointment to the local GOP was the shutoutin aldermanic contests. It has been 12 years since a Republicanalderman was last elected and 31 years since a GOP congressmanrepresented the city, and their losing streak is intact.
Yet there's some fire in the ashes, and if O'Grady can attractsome of his old Democratic pals into the Republican camp, it'spossible they may fan the flames enough to get something going.
What made O'Grady's candidacy succeed where other GOP effortshad failed is that the former Chicago police superintendent was awell-known personality with a large and deeply committed following inthe city's ethnic neighborhoods. He didn't have to put on a redjacket to demonstrate that he was one of the guys. As a 30-yearveteran of the Chicago Police Department, O'Grady also had a keenerunderstanding of the local power structure than more traditionalRepublican candidates.
O'Grady told party bosses that it was a blunder to exclude stateSenators Walter W. Dudycz and Robert M. Raica and state Rep. Roger P.McAuliffe, the city's three Republican legislators, fromparticipation in mayoral slatemaking. The suburbs of Kenilworth andHoffman Estates had more input into the selection of Haider than theNorthwest and Southwest sides. It wasn't surprising, then, thatDudycz backed former Ald. Edward R. Vrdolyak (10th), the IllinoisSolidarity Party mayoral nominee, over Haider.
Despite his skepticism about the GOP's mayoral selectionprocess, O'Grady campaigned with Haider and contributed $1,000 to hiscampaign. O'Grady isn't among those, however, encouraging Haider tosee if he can break into double digits in the 1991 mayoral election.
Now that he's in office, O'Grady is showing more interest inparty-building than has any countywide Republican elected officialsince Richard Ogilvie served as sheriff and later County Boardpresident in the 1960s. Like Ogilvie, O'Grady knows how to use jobsand connections to build political alliances.
At the same time, O'Grady has won high marks fromlaw-enforcement officials and editorial boards for his administrationof the sheriff's office. He is keeping his campaign pledge tosharply reduce the number of part-time deputies and has signed up topprofessionals for key positions.
O'Grady is already being promoted for political advancement.One of Gov. Thompson's chief political associates is suggesting thatO'Grady could be a formidable contender for the Illinois governorshipin 1990.
White House press secretary Jim Brady recently described O'Gradyas one of the GOP's brightest prospects in the Midwest. PresidentReagan and Republican National Chairman Frank Fahrenkopf also havetouted O'Grady as a rising Republican star.
With Thompson, a Chicagoan, expected to quit after four terms,two Downstaters, Secretary of State Jim Edgar of Charleston and Lt.Gov. George Ryan of Kankakee, are viewed as the leading GOPcandidates to succeed him. O'Grady is probably better known thaneither of them in the Chicago area, which has more than 60 percent ofthe Republican primary vote.
O'Grady, though, says he wouldn't run against Edgar, with whomhe shared a political headquarters in 1986, or against Ryan, withwhom he shares an Irish heritage and a conservative politicalphilosophy. If Edgar and Ryan decided not to run, then O'Grady mightbe interested.
Another possibility is that O'Grady could be tapped forlieutenant governor to bring geographic balance to a ticket headed bya Downstater. Or he might emerge as the party's nominee for Illinoissecretary of state.
As the ranking member of the Cook County Republican Party,O'Grady might decide to run for president of the County Board if hisDemocratic pal, George W. Dunne, doesn't seek an unprecedented sixthterm in 1990. Ogilvie made the same move in 1966, then used theboard presidency as a springboard to the governor's mansion.
But O'Grady, a veteran cop, isn't eager to become a man withouta star. So, at least for now, O'Grady is focusing on becoming thefirst two-term Republican sheriff of Cook County.
Political Editor Steve Neal's column appears Mondays andFridays.
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