In 1978, Kenny Rogers, via ‘The Gambler’, said “You’ve got to know when to hold them, an when to fold them”, and that’s exactly what Jennifer Bruzan Taylor did when she decided to call it “quits’ in her pursuit of the 41st District state rep seat. The reason given was for “personal family matters”.
We have no reason to believe that is not accurate, and as such we hope whatever Taylor is dealing with, will come to a happy conclusion for her and her family. Running for office can be grueling, expensive, time consuming, along with whatever negative words can be conjured up, however that would also apply to being on the Naperville city council. Doing the job right can be draining which made it slightly surprising when Taylor decided to continue with her position on the Naperville city council. Would that mean family matters trump state rep matters, but council matters trump family matters?
Taylor ran unopposed for the House seat in the June Republican primary, meaning it was an easy victory. However the general November election has an opponent, incumbent Rep. Janet Yang Rohr, D-Naperville. It’s not easy beating an incumbent, yet that’s exactly what Rohr did when she pounded Republican and former Naperville city councilman Grant Wehrli who served six years in Springfield, and ten years on the council. Rohr had a war chest of almost 2-million dollars, while Wehrli had a quarter-million dollars. $2-million dollars weighs eight-times more than a quarter-million dollars and Wehrli was sent home. As of June 30th, the Illinois State Board of Elections reported Rohr’s campaign with about $500,000, while Taylor was showing less than $20,000. That’s a 25:1 ratio against Taylor which would make any candidate feel far less than well.
Again, we hope Jennifer Bruzan Taylor’s “personal family matters” improve and her time on the council will not be a distraction.
