Democrats Criticize Sheriff For Complimenting Host's Appearance

WAUKEGAN, IL — Lake County Sheriff Mark Curran is facing criticism from his opponent in the upcoming November election for remarks he made during a January radio interview. Curran was participating in a remote broadcast of WIND-AM's morning program with hosts Amy Jacobson and Dan Proft at Lake County Jail in Waukegan on Jan. 25, and greeted his guests with a compliment at the start of the interview.

Proft welcomed Curran to the program (listen below) and thanked him for hosting the show.

"It's awesome to have you all here. Amy, I have not really met. She's 6 feet tall. She's got awesome skin. She's a really nice looking lady," Curran said. "That's not bad waking up to, Dan."

"Now you have to compliment me," said Proft.

"Yeah, what are some of his attributes?" asked Jacobson.

"Dan is one of the brightest individuals in this industry, if not right at the very top," the sheriff said. "You've got the beard going – looking a little rough."

John Idleburg, the Democratic candidate running against Curran in November said people shared the six-month-old interview with him recently. He said he was shocked and appalled by the sheriff's comments.

"In one breath he remarks how awesome her skin is and how nice it would be to wake up next to her. In the other, he compliments the competency and brilliance of the male radio host," Idleburg said, in a social media post Wednesday.

"This is not how a Sheriff should conduct himself. It’s inappropriate. We wouldn’t tolerate this from deputies on the road making comments like these, and we shouldn’t tolerate it from our sheriff," he said.

Idleburg, 62, is a Zion resident and retired federal agent. According to his campaign website, he was an investigator for the Pentagon and the Department of Treasury for decades after time as a deputy and a detective in Lake County.

Last month, he criticized Curran for taking a photo with U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions "while children were being snatched away from their parents."

Curran, 55, said the sheriff's office has never run more effectively and professionally than it has under his leadership. The former county prosecutor and Libertyville resident was elected in 2006 as a Democrat and switched to the GOP in 2008. He cited state and national accreditations received by his office and said "no one has promoted more women than I have," according to the Lake County News-Sun.

"These people are haters," the sheriff said, noting the interview took place more than six months ago. "It just shows they are an angry group."

Proft said the criticism was evidence of how "sniveling and pathetic" the "Chicago Dem toadies in the suburbs" are. In a tweet responding to the story, he said it was also evidence the Chicago political press corp was "dumb."

Denise Rotheimer, a victims rights advocate whose disclosure of Sen. Ira Silverstein's (D-Chicago) unethical and "unbecoming" communications with her, is a Republican and a repeated guest on Proft and Jacobson's show.

"[Curran] probably doesn't realize how inappropriate that is, even if it doesn't rise to the level of harassment," Rotheimer told Patch. Elected officials, especially those tasked with law enforcement, should not have the mindset that women are "eye candy" in a professional environment, she said.

"It's better that all men in a professional environment refrain from even making compliments on physical appearance," she said. "Because when we pursue professional endeavors we are using our skills, our talents, our education, our experience. We are not getting employment because of our looks, so that should never be the focus and he was absolutely in the wrong to do that."

Local Democratic leaders told the News-Sun the comments were inappropriate, describing them as "really offensive" and "shocking for an elected official."

Jacobson disagreed in a message posted to social media Thursday morning in response to media coverage of Idleburg's criticism. The interview was a "lighthearted, fun radio segment" and not a #metoo moment, she said.

"I am 6 feet tall and I have great skin. He was just being observant," Jacobson tweeted. "This kind of foolishness makes it harder for the real victims out there. A compliment is not a synonym for sexism."

Read more from the Lake County News-Sun »

Listen the interview in question: