Getz out, Carpentier, Gianulis in, Schwigen annouces he'll announce.

A piece in Friday's D/A notes that Tom Getz will be stepping down as Republican County Chair to be replaced by township assessor and member of yet another local political dynasty, Sue Carpetier, and Kraig Schwigen announcing that he'll formally announce as Republican candidate for R.I. County Sheriff.

And in something which seems straight out of the movie "Groundhog Day", John Gianulis was elected unanimously to be R.I. County Democratic chair for the 473rd time. Guess you don't mess with success.

After six years at the helm of the Rock Island County Republican party, chairman Tom Getz stepped down at the GOP's caucus Wednesday.

Susan Carpentier, South Rock Island Township assessor, was elected to replace Mr. Getz. She served as the party's chairwoman under Mr. Getz.

The party also selected Kraig Schwigen, a lieutenant with the Rock Island County Sheriff's Department, as its candidate for sheriff in the November race.

Rock Island County Democrats also met Wednesday night, unanimously re-electing John Gianulis as county chairman.

Mr. Getz, 78, stepped down to focus more time on business interests and the ongoing rehabilitation for his wife, Karen, who was injured in a January 2004 auto accident.

"I agreed I would do it for two years, and now it has been six," Mr. Getz said. "The time has come to turn it over. I don't feel I can give the chairmanship the time it needs."

He leaves the party in good shape, he said.

"I think we were able to strengthen the organization with a good group of volunteers," he said. "We opened a new office in downtown Moline that was more centralized, and I left the organization in better shape financially."

One area where he finds disappointment is failing to unseat 12-term U.S. Rep. Lane Evans, D-Rock Island. Rep. Evans announced last month he will retire at the end of the year.
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Ms. Carpentier comes from a line of Republicans who served the people of Illinois. Her grandfather, Charles Carpentier, was secretary of state, and her father, Donald Carpentier, served as state senator.

"You could say I was born into this," she said. "I am excited about the energy this fall, with the congressional district being wide open, the sheriff's race and the governor's race."

She says she inherits a strong organization.
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Mr. Schwigen, a 20-year veteran of the sheriff's department, filed his candidacy papers Thursday. He will make a formal announcement next week. Democrat Mike Huff, a sergeant at the sheriff's department, beat incumbent Mike Grchan in last month's primary.
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Mr. Gianulis said he will appoint committeemen to the 41 vacant Democratic precincts soon, but said he didn't know when that would be.

Democrats in the 17th Congressional District are uncertain whether appointed committeemen will be allowed to vote in the nominating process to replace Rep. Evans.

Several county chairmen have said they would appoint precinct committeemen to the vacant precincts in case they will be allowed to vote in the weighted election that is part of the replacement process.