Even without knowing what year or month it is, it’s easy to know when re-election time is near; it’s when politicians surface from the inky shadows. Such is the case with former Naperville city councilman, and current District 41 State Rep Grant Wehrli.
Wehrli ‘served’ on the Naperville city council from 2005 – 2014. To say he ‘served’ is a misnomer, it’s more like he was served. Wehrli has seldom been accused of helping the average person on the street, unless there is something in it for him. You could say that’s the typical prototype of a politician, however Wehrli has taken it to a new level. It’s difficult for the average voter to come up with something that Wehrli has initiated and accomplished that has helped his constituency.
Wehrli’s lack of accomplishment as a State rep makes him ripe for defeat in the November general election which is why Democrats feel confident in Wehrli getting his walking papers out of Springfield. Wehrli specializes in winning elections without an opponent, but such is not the case in Wehrli’s next campaign.
Wehrli is the assistant minority leader in the House which is something akin to being the assistant manager in a hardware store, the difference being the guy in the hardware store has an upward career path with opportunity.
In 2018 Wehrli’s opponent was Democratic challenger Val Montgomery. It was determined that Montgomery would not be eligible to serve if she won the election because she didn’t live in the district, which prompted a jovial celebration by Wehrli before the election. In essence Wehrli had no opponent, however even considering that, he barely squeeked out a victory by a 52 to 48 percent vote tally, a mere margin of victory of 1,908 votes in a Statewide election. That’s less than Naperville city councilman Paul Hinterlong’s margin of victory over nine of ten city council candidates in his last election.
Wehrli’s profession is listed as ‘city councilman’ so he specializes in living off the taxpayer. With his annual rep salary of $67,836 and a per diem of $111 per day, tax payers have little if anything to show for Wehrli’s time in Springfield. His campaign contributions show a high percentage from liquor commissioners, a liquor distributor and a sizeable contribution from a Naperville pet store; less for puppies and more for Wehrli.
The only good thing about Wehrli in Springfield, means less time for him in Naperville. Based on that theory, if he were to run for election in the Pitcairn Islands (South Pacific), I would gladly throw in a dollar for his campaign. Watchdog has readers in the Pitcairn Islands so it’s likely he wouldn’t win that election either, but it’s worth the dollar.
Grant is a great representative. To suggest a corrupt Democrat owned by Madigan, like Laura Ellman, would be good for Naperville is wholly unfounded and quite frankly, just a dumb comment by this writer.
At least Laura Ellman can play a musical instrument. All Wehrli can do is play some footnotes on a shoehorn, and blow a lot of hot air.
I’d just be happy if Laura Ellman paid her 300k in taxes and her employee withholding taxes. You clearly have an agenda against Grant and do not know him at all.
Well that’s the problem, I do know Grant Wehrli, probably not as well as you do, but enough to know he has never seen a mirror that he doesn’t like.
I am very disappointed in this post by Watchdog. Representative Wehrli is working hard to fight for taxpayers and push for badly needed ethics reform in Springfield. He is going to be facing a Madigan-backed opponent in the general election, and all of Naperville should be rallying behind Grant Wehrli. It is critical that he return to Springfield and continue to serve the residents of District 41.
You are very disappointed with Watchdog, and Watchdog is very disappointed in Wehrli. Yes, ethics reform in Springfield is ‘badly needed’, however Wehrli is not the person to get it done. He has had time to get it started, however he has accomplished nothing. He has had more than sufficient time to show results, however he’s still standing at the starting gate. It’s time to move forward and Wehrli is not the person to do it.
I like Grant Wehrli, he is a nice guy. But to be honest he hasn’t really impressed me in Springfield.
I am not sure anyone could have done a better job. I will have to wait and see who else is in the running this year and if they can convince me they will be able to get more accomplished then Wehrli.
Wehrli just seems to spend more time at NALN Meetings (a republican organization started by Kevin Coyne for the sole purpose of increasing his political capital) trying to convince people he is doing a good job, then simply getting the results in Springfield that validates he is doing a good job.