Well, lo and behold, what do you know, and will wonders never cease?!!!
That was our reaction two months ago when the Daily Herald finally discovered the Frank Mautino story. We can't very well say they “broke” the story, because they didn't. We here at the North Cook News did that – three months earlier, way back in March, with the help of State Senate candidate Mel Thillens.
Of course, Mautino is a Democrat and Thillens is running as a Republican, so maybe the details didn't correspond with the Herald's preferred narrative. Whatever the reason, they sat on the story until June, when an acceptable angle finally presented itself and allowed for a suitable lead: “A suburban Democrat [emphasis added] has asked Illinois' top auditor to take a leave of absence….”
That suburban Democrat just happens to be State Sen. Laura Murphy, the incumbent against whom Thillens is running.
Here's our lead from March: “State Senate GOP candidate Mel Thillens wants answers and is calling for an investigation of Auditor General Frank Mautino….”
Our story included Thillens' criticism of Murphy for voting to approve Mautino's nomination as auditor general: “'Laura Murphy chose to side with the Springfield status quo by appointing a political insider rather than using qualifications to appoint the best person to provide oversight as Illinois’ auditor general,' Thillens said.”
With his popularity among his constituents in the 76th District dwindling after 24 years as their state representative, Mautino was chosen by his longtime legislative allies to replace the retiring auditor general. Several clearly more qualified candidates were passed over to give Mautino the plum.
Serious questions have since been raised about oddities in Mautino's past campaign disclosure reports.
Murphy supported the auditor with oddities and needed the help of the Herald to reinvent herself as a politician with ethical standards. The Herald needed Murphy to add a positive Democratic spin to a story they had ignored for an embarrassingly long time.
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