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His opponent, Republican incumbent Maureen Murphy, had challenged the validity of his nomination petitions. Word had it that behind the scenes no less than Democratic Party chair and house speaker Michael Madigan was working for Murphy. Madigan’s spokesman denied it, but one thing was certain: no major Democratic leaders from the southwest side were helping Houlihan, despite his coming from a political family (his father was a state rep from the far-south suburbs). With the exception of support from maverick Wheeling Township Democratic committeeman Patrick Botterman, Houlihan was on his own.
Eventually Murphy managed to find enough flaws in Houlihan’s petitions to bounce him from the ballot. But Houlihan wasn’t done yet. Since there were no other Democrats on the ballot, state law permitted the Democratic committeemen from his district to pick a nominee for the office.
