Days after giving up on a recount for reelection, former Lake County Sheriff Mark Curran to seek GOP nomination for U.S. Senate

Lake County News-Sun (IL)

Aug. 7--Just days after giving up on a recount over the post he lost in November, former Lake County Sheriff Mark Curran said Tuesday he is setting his sights on much higher public office and will seek the Republican nomination for the U.S. Senate and the right to challenge four-term Democratic Sen. Dick Durbin next year.

"I think the election process will bear out the case I'm going to make. There's a disconnect between him and the citizens of Illinois. He's a creature of Washington," Curran said.

"He doesn't understand the suffering of Illinois. He doesn't understand much of the state has left, and many more are willing to leave. It's a complete disconnect from the bulk of the voters as part of the far-left wing of the Democratic Party," he said.

Curran, who said he is scheduling his announcement for Aug. 15, Republican Day at the Illinois State Fair, would become the highest profile name to enter the March 2020 GOP primary contest. So far, four people have filed candidacy statements with the Federal Election Commission -- none with more than $1,500 in the bank as of June 30.

The inability of Republicans to field more than a nominal contender to Durbin in the 2020 election had symbolized the party's fortunes following a blue wave last year that saw it lose the governor's office and all statewide offices as well as two congressional seats. That election also saw traditionally GOP-leaning Lake County elect a Democratic-controlled County Board in addition to a Democratic sheriff.

Any Republican entering the U.S. Senate race would be considered an underdog against an established incumbent who has been the chamber's No. 2 ranking Democrat since 2005 and represents a state trending increasingly blue in statewide races. Durbin reported having more than $3.2 million in campaign cash on hand at the end of June.

"I don't have to do this," Curran said, adding he had spoken to U.S. Rep. Darin LaHood of Peoria and former U.S. Rep. Randy Hultgren of Plano about a run.

"The consensus is I would be a Tier One candidate," he said, noting his suburban background could help Republicans in a region that is shifting Democratic.

The move by Curran, 56, of Libertyville, comes after he announced Saturday that he was giving up a recount over his reelection defeat in November to Democrat John Idleburg. Idleburg won by 137 votes out of more than 245,000 ballots cast.

Curran was first elected Lake County sheriff in 2006 as a Democrat and switched to the Republican Party in 2008. He won reelection in 2010 and 2014.

Despite his partisan status, Curran has been somewhat of an outlier on immigration issues in contrast to President Donald Trump and other Republicans.

Curran has repeatedly called for comprehensive immigration reform and backed the 2013 bipartisan legislation that contained a path to citizenship for immigrants in the country illegally and overwhelmingly passed the Senate but was never called in the Republican-led House.

Then-House Speaker John "Boehner never called it and it died. Trump has found himself in a bad position as a result. Had we fixed that then, a lot what's going on now would not be happening," Curran said.

Through comprehensive immigration, "ultimately all the smart minds in business need to know we need to grow the economy."

Curran also backed state legislation that would not allow local law enforcement to detain illegal immigrants on behalf of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement without a judicial warrant.

Still, Curran said he had traveled to El Paso, Texas, recently to view detention conditions and defended the administration's handling of immigrants crossing the border, saying he "was able to observe firsthand that much of what is being said about what we're doing nationally in terms of immigration is a lie."

Curran, an opponent of abortion rights, was a longtime supporter of allowing concealed carry of firearms in Illinois, which became legal in 2013 under threat of a federal court order.

He said he was not opposed to universal background checks to purchase a firearm but contended issues involving mental health and video games are more significant in dealing with gun violence than attempting to ban high-power weapons and high-capacity ammunition magazines.

Curran said there are a lot of "societal problems causing this violence" such as "destruction of the family and glorification of violence."

"There's a connection to the sanctity of life, that you could kill a baby in a partial-birth abortion," he said. "That's why we're in trouble on so many fronts."

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