The third time was the charm. After being defeated in his bid to snare a seat on the District 96 school board in 2005 and to win election to the bench as a Cook County judge in 2008, Riverside resident John Allegretti claimed a victory last week.
Capturing 65 percent of the vote, Allegretti won election as Democratic committeeman for Riverside Township over Brookfield resident Wil Brennan.
“It feels good to win,” said Allegretti, 44, who said he hoped Brennan and his supporters would join him in creating a vibrant Democratic organization in Riverside Township.
“We need to work on getting organized and reaching out to those who have identified themselves as Democrats.”
Riverside Township includes most of Riverside, North Riverside east of 9th Avenue, the Hollywood section of Brookfield, Riverside Lawn and a sliver of Lyons.
“I want to start something exciting in Riverside Township,” Allegretti said. “But that won’t come from me, it’ll come from the people of Riverside Township.”
John Toman, who chose not to run for re-election this year, has been Democratic committeeman since 1978, when he was appointed to the post after the death of the previous committeeman – his father, Andrew Toman.
Brennan, a boyhood friend of Toman’s, won the outgoing committeeman’s endorsement. He also had plenty of name recognition within the Hollywood section of Brookfield, which is part of Riverside Township.
Brennan, 68, served as a village trustee in Brookfield from 2001-05. However, like Allegretti, his more recent forays had been disappointments. He lost races for village trustee in 2005 and 2007 and lost in a bid to become Brookfield village president in 2009.
Still, he thought he had a good shot against Allegretti and felt good going into the Feb. 2 primary.
“I get surprised a lot lately,” said Brennan, who picked up just 551 votes (35 percent) to Allegretti’s 1,015. Brennan won soundly in the township’s two precincts within Brookfield and in Riverside Lawn. But in Riverside and North Riverside, Allegretti carried over 70 percent of the vote in the seven other 12 precincts of the township.
“I think my politicking days are over. It’s time to put my energies into other directions.”
Topinka unopposed for GOP committeeman
Riverside resident Judy Baar Topinka, who won the Republican nomination for Illinois comptroller with a primary win on Feb. 2, also was re-elected GOP committeeman for Riverside Township in the same election.
Topinka has been Republican committeeman in Riverside Township since 1994 and the GOP has dominated township politics during that time. Democrats have not slated candidates for election to township office in the past decade.
But, according to Topinka, the reason for that was the good relationship she had with Toman.
“John and I , if we needed to, would reach across the aisle for the betterment of the township,” said Topinka. “We always held the health and welfare of the township first and foremost.
“I’d offer the same to Allegretti. We’re a small township and we don’t need wholesale political bickering. We need to avoid it as much as possible for the good of the order.”