OLYMPIA FIELDS – Republican Eric Wallace voiced his disappointment with area Republican leadership for not supporting his bid to oust State Senator Patrick Joyce in Chicago's south suburbs.
After looking at vote totals of the races in Kankakee I am greatly disappointed. If Republicans would have voted for me like they voted for Jackie Haas I'd be your state senator. Haas won by 9,920 votes! If those same republican voters would have held true to support the party candidate in the state senate race we'd have a Republican state senator. Even if I only received 6,000 of the 9,920 I would have defeated Joyce.Joyce leads me 50,318 to 39,227 a difference of 11,091. However, if you take just 6,000 from Joyce and add them to my column I win 45,227 to 44,318.
This was a missed opportunity. But I'll take some of the blame. I could have spent more time in Kankakee. I guess I thought that Republicans would support Republicans instead of trying to make deals with Michael Madigan democrats. I guess I'm still a little naive.We snatched defeat from the jaws of victory. I hope one day we'll learn to hold the line and fight for our principles regardless of the anticipated outcome.As Frederick Douglass once said, "I am a Republican, a black, dye in the wool Republican, and I never intend to belong to any other party than the party of freedom and progress." Oh what could have been!
Wallace's district includes portions of Cook, Kankakee and Will counties.
