Posted by Rick Pearson at 8:35 p.m.
Democratic lieutenant governor candidate Sheila Simon of Carbondale acknowledged today she faces a learning curve in trying to lure independent and socially moderate women to vote for her and Gov. Pat Quinn in November. But she said she believed the desire to improve education funding could bridge any cultural or ideological differences between the Chicago area and downstate.
“I think anyone from any part of the state is going to have to grab onto the cultural differences, the geographic differences all across the state and that’s one of the reasons why I’m here–mostly doing listening, because I think that’s an important part,” Simon told the Tribune as she launched an unofficial suburban learning tour today with stops in Elgin, Naperville and Joliet.
Of course the learning curve works both ways. A sign outside a dining room at Quigley’s Irish Pub in downtown Naperville, where she met with about two dozen female Democratic DuPage County candidates and activists, said: “RESERVED. Shelia Simon.”
The 49-year-old daughter of the late U.S. Sen. Paul Simon heard plenty of concerns from women about the state of education funding. Julia Beckman, a member of the Democratic State Central Committee who voted for Simon’s nomination Saturday, said the governor should make his proposed 33 percent income tax hike a temporary boost.
“Our debt is going to steer our choices rather than us steering our choices,” Simon said of the state’s massive debt and backlog of unpaid bills. “We really need to have that budget in order and I’m very proud to be running with a guy who says we need a 1 percent surcharge for education. It’s again, not popular, but it’s the right thing to do and it’s the right area to prioritize.”
Simon, married and the mother of two daughters, said she believed she could sell the ticket to moderate and independent suburban women despite some concerns that she is socially too liberal.
“I think education really is the key (issue),” she said. “I think that’s what brings everyone together because that’s what everyone cares about, Republican or Democrat and if we don’t address the budget and we don’t address funding for education, then we’re just cutting ourselves out of options on how to improve our kids education.”
Simon entered to camera flashes and a raucous din of conversation in the small dining room but said she expects the attention to her new candidacy to die down in about a week. She was picked by top Democratic leaders Saturday to fill the vacancy left when embattled Feb. 2 primary winner Scott Lee Cohen dropped from the ticket.
“One of the things I want to start doing and continue doing throughout the campaign and continue doing as lieutenant governor is just paying attention to how democracy works,” she told the women in Naperville, “and I think you can tell by the volume in the room that we know how democracy works. Women are good at talking and I want to take advantage of that.”