Chicago Post Tribune | Alexandra Kukulka | February 28, 2025
November 2016 was a rough month for Democrats, particularly those in Lake County, with the election of Republican President Donald Trump and the federal indictment of former Lake County Democratic Party Chairman and former Lake County Sheriff John Buncich, said Lake County Democratic Party Chairman Jim Wieser.
Sitting with fellow local Democrats nearly 10 years ago, Wieser said he told the group that he believed the next county party chairman should not be an elected official. That way, the chairman could focus more on the party and not worry about conflicts with other officeholders, he said.
What he wasn’t expecting, Wieser said, was Lake County Board of Elections and Registration Director Michelle Fajman suggesting he should be chairman.
Wieser was first elected in 1975 to serve on the Highland Town Council, where he served for two terms, before being elected in 1983 to the Lake County Council, where he served for one term. After that, Wieser said he served on appointed boards and worked as a municipal lawyer in Lake County.
“Believe me, I was not looking for this. I just raised the issue,” Wieser said. “I said, ‘No, it’s not going to be me.’ That’s not why I brought it up. I brought it up just because I thought from an idealistic position it made sense.”
[…]
Repay is running unopposed to be the next chairman. Repay said Wieser did a great job leading the party and focusing on the different voices and opinions of its hundreds of members.
“Jim took the party from a state of disarray and brought a lot of order to the party,” Repay said. “He leaves it better than he found it.”
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