Tuesday deadline to apply for Wilhelmi’s state senate seat

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State Sen. A. J. Wilhelmi

Updated: March 18, 2012 8:12AM

JOLIET — Tuesday is the deadline to apply for the vacancy that will be created when state Sen. A.J. Wilhelmi resigns from office.

Dennis Grosskopf, chairman of the Will County Democratic Party, said he received Wilhelmi’s resignation letter this week.

Wilhelmi, D-Joliet, who has held the post for seven years, will officially step down at 9 a.m. Feb. 25 to take a job as a senior vice president with the Naperville-based Illinois Hospital Association.

Residents of the 43rd State Senate District seeking appointment to the post should send a letter of interest and a resume to the Democratic Party.

They should be mailed to: Will County Democratic Central Committee, P.O. Box 4242, Joliet, IL 60436. Applications postmarked by Feb. 21 will be accepted.

Applicants must be 21 years old, a resident of the district for at least two years, a U.S. citizen and a Democrat.

“You have to be a Democrat because it’s a Democrat who is resigning,” Grosskopf said.

Also, while recent redistricting changed the boundaries of the 43rd District for the next term, the person appointed to fill out the remainder of Wilhelmi’s term must be a resident of the existing 43rd District, Grosskopf explained.

So far, five people have submitted applications: Pat McGuire, R. Dale Evans, Larry Walsh Jr., Paige Vanderhyden and Don Moran.

A three-person legislative committee, which includes Grosskopf, will pick Wilhelmi’s replacement. The committee has 30 days after Wilhelmi’s resignation becomes effective to make its selection.

But it will move faster than that because the Legislature is in session, Grosskopf said: “We’re going to see if it’s possible to get this done by the end of February.”