Walter Dudycz is either the most sincere, earnest, and dedicated man in Chicago politics or the most outstanding actor on this fall’s ballot. Best known for his fulsome ardor–one might say grandstanding–on behalf of the American flag in the celebrated “Dread Scott” Tyler case at the School of the Art Institute, Dudycz talks a lot about “public service.” The people who have known him for a long time seem to reach invariably for the same adjectives: “honest,” “hardworking,” “sincere,” “ethical.” The people who oppose him always use the same phrase, too. They call him “the flag nut.”
Surprisingly, some daylight manages to penetrate to the interior, where volunteers–there are several in the office, even on a workday morning–labor amid telephones and piles of literature. It’s evident that this campaign doesn’t have a lot of money to waste; the press kits are enclosed in plain white folders with bumper stickers pasted to the front, and all the furniture has a recycled look to it. A big jukebox crowned with a cardboard box dominates one wall; every time a volunteer goes out to ring doorbells or comes in to work the telephones, s/he fills out a raffle ticket and drops it in the box. On election night, Dudycz will pull out one name, and the lucky volunteer will lug the jukebox home.
“Actually, in 1982 my political career began, but at that time I didn’t know the difference between a precinct and a ward. I was apolitical. I did not like politicians then, and I do not associate with politicians today. My friends–as you can see, they’re our volunteers–are plumbers, janitors, housewives, just average people. I’m not a wealthy guy. I come from extremely modest means. My wife buys my suits from Spiegel’s. I have a scar on my face, a rat-bite scar, from where I was bitten as an infant in the tenement we were living in. I know what it’s like to be in need. I’m a family man. I’m a common man, and I represent the common people. I am living the American dream. Where else but in America could a fellow with a name like mine be a state senator, let alone even dream of becoming a congressman?”
After that, Dudycz says, he was approached by “certain people”–Republicans–and asked to run for state senator. He didn’t entirely trust their sincerity, but he considered the offer anyway. “What happens traditionally in Chicago–it’s my understanding–when there is a young upstart, or a troublemaker, as the established political entities may consider, they get him or her involved in a campaign where they get deeply in debt. So [the candidate becomes] very disillusioned by this political process, and just disappears from the scene. . . .
“I think that it’s more than me individually that won. I think it’s more me the symbol of the average person who’s tired of the system, the political leaders that we have. If it wasn’t me, it would be somebody else who would just get out there and speak for the general public. And I believe this.”
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“In order to get ahead in the Democratic Party in Chicago, you must become a precinct captain, you must pay your dues over a period of years, you have to deliver for the machine–that’s how you work your way up the ladder. I didn’t do that. I was not willing to be a precinct captain and deliver garbage cans in order to serve the public. I’ve dedicated my life to public service. I’m 40 years old; I’ve spent 22 years in public service. But I was not willing to become a precinct captain for the local political machine and to deliver votes for whomever is chosen by a back-room group of people.
“I did get help from those circles, because for their purposes, a Republican senator who’s not controllable is a lot more desirable than a Democratic senator who’s adversarial. I wasn’t chosen because they loved me. They didn’t support me because of my ideology–I opposed the governor on ‘Build Illinois’ every time he presented it. And I opposed other issues which I felt were against the best interests of our community. I would say I’m a fiscal conservative.”
