Lack of TOPPER support familiar to Bassi

Six-term incumbent state Rep. Suzie Bassi has never enjoyed support from Palatine Township's Republican organization, TOPPER.

And in case there was any doubt of where the organization stood, it was erased last month when challenger Tom Morrison landed the official endorsement with 85 percent of precinct captains backing the Palatine businessman in February's primary.

However, Morrison said his candidacy for the state House 54th District seat is not a result of the whatever feud between the conservative TOPPER and more moderate Bassi exists.

In fact, Morrison said the TOPPER leadership - including Committeeman Gary Skoien, President Luke Praxmarer and Linda Fleming (also Palatine Township supervisor) - told him not to run.

"They all said to wait until Suzie retires," Morrison said. "They didn't think it was a good idea for me to take her on."

Skoien confirmed that was his advice, saying, "Everybody thought this would be Suzie's last term so why get involved in a bruising."

Still, Morrison, 34, said he felt the time was right for him to run against Bassi, 64, because he senses strong anti-incumbent sentiment. He hired another employee to free up his time at the disaster cleanup franchise he owns.

He maintains he wasn't recruited by TOPPER, and says he considered running against Bassi in 2006. Citizens for Morrison organized and filed with the Illinois State Board of Elections in 2005, and even got a $500 donation from Citizens for Pedersen on behalf of Bernard Pedersen, who served eight terms as state representative and defeated Bassi's first run at the post in 1996.

Bassi calls herself a TOPPER member and says she attends about half of the events. She gave a presentation to the group before the precinct captains voted, saying she knew she didn't have a chance of winning their endorsement but to not show up would infer she doesn't care.

She's also a member of the United Republicans of Palatine Township, which split off after Skoien won the committeeman post in 2002 from Inverness Village President Jack Tatooles, who was in charge the previous four years. The small group isn't very active.

The last time Bassi faced a primary opponent for the 54th House seat was 2004, when she was challenged by TOPPER-backed Patricia "Pat" Sutarik and former Palatine Councilman Warren Kostka. Skoien and Praxmarer made personal contributions to Sutarik's campaign.

Sutarik remains a Skoien supporter, and in November filed objections to the petitions of Skoien's two challengers for committeeman, Collin Corbett, who withdrew from the race, and Aaron Del Mar.

Morrison said he will remain neutral in the committeeman race and has asked Skoien to do the same in the state House 54th District race.

Skoien said TOPPER endorsed Bassi in the 2006 general election and collected signatures on her behalf. But he acknowledges there's no love lost between the two.

"We have a lot of conservative members who think Suzie is not conservative enough or conservative at all," Skoien said. "Myself and others don't think she's done much to help the organization."