Breen anti-choice much more than reproductive health, marriage equalty

Tea Partier Peter Breen, candidate for Illinois state representative in District 48, sure has a strange view about the precious concept of citizen and voter choice. As Vice President and Senior Counsel for the Thomas More Society, Breen's primary mission is to deny choice to folks: reproductive health to women, especially tho...se of little or no means; and the sacred right to marry for persons who don't share Breen's sexual orientation. Diametrically opposed to moderate Republican Sandy Pihos, who has represented him for the past twelve years, Breen decided she's just too inclusive and accepting of citizen choice that deeply offends him. So he decided, in his own words, to go "RINO hunting", to dislodge Pihos who he charges is "Republican In Name Only." Well funded and fueled by the fundamental zealotry of his Tea Party followers, Breen pulled a stunning upset to defeat Pihos in the GOP Primary.

Breen isn't content to limit his anti choice mindset on just reproductive and marriage equality issues. When the moderate and inclusive district citizen Marian Tomlinson obtained nearly 1,000 signatures to challenge Breen in the November election, Breen's anti-choice antenna started crackling. He participated in a coordinated effort to remove Tomlinson, as well as other local candidates, from getting on the ballot after the Primary, as allowed by law, to give voters the most precious gift of our democracy: voter choice. Their first effort, claiming over 500 of Tomlinson's signatures were invalid, which would have kept her under the 500 signature requirement, failed. Folks who believe in choice reviewed the challenges and found a majority was specious, certifying Tomlinson's signature requirement with hundreds to spare. Sadly, the Breen anti-choice forces were determined and they successfully knocked her off the ballot on a technicality flimsy enough to horrify a decent proponent of voter choice.

But District 48 voters will have a choice this November. Ms. Tomlinson has launched a Write-In Campaign for state representative in District 48. She is reaching out to all 73,000 registered voters in the district to let them know that the district in not ready to be taken over by the Tea Party and its candidate who disdains reproductive choice, marriage equality choice, and the most important choice of all: that of the voter. When District 48 voters enter the privacy of the polling booth November 4...the choice is theirs.