Progress Illinois

If you've been wondering why there hasn't been much coverage of the Cook County State's Attorney race, The Chicago Reader's Mick Dumke has one possible answer: it doesn't benefit either candidate to directly target each other. Democrat Anita Alvarez is "playing it safe and smart" by keeping a low profile, consolidating party support, and anticipating an Obama-fueled November victory. Meanwhile, Republican Tony Peraica is getting a lot more traction beating up on controversial Cook County Board President Todd Stroger than engaging his actual opponent:

In fact, since the February 5 primaries, Peraica has issued statements about Todd Stroger at least 17 times, by my count. Alvarez only got 14 mentions.

Read the whole analysis here.

Someone unfamiliar with Cook County politics might get a little confused if they stumbled across Republican County Commissioner Tony Peraica's campaign website. That's because the header at JoinPeraica.com simply features Tony's name atop the title "State's Attorney." To the right side of the web page it gets more specific, reading "Cook County State's Attorney" in big, bold letters.

The problem is that Peraica doesn't own that title; rather, he's in a race against Democrat Anita Alvarez for the position. Alvarez, by the way, is currently chief deputy State's Attorney (for real).

The heading of Alvarez's campaign site could be instructive here. It reads "Anita Alvarez for State's Attorney." It'd be helpful if Tony could do the same and throw the word "for" or "elect" or even "vote" somewhere near the title he is aspiring to.

I mean, why bother running if he can just declare himself State's Attorney to begin with?