Capparelli's committing, Pucinski's flipping, Fritchey's itching, but neither Lang nor D'Amico are sweating.

That is a succinct synopsis of recent Northwest Side and suburban political developments. Here's what's happening:

32nd Ward (Wicker Park, Lakeview): Marry well, and be happy. The father-in-law connection scores a bullseye again and again. However, despite his in-law link, state Representative John Fritchey (D-11) is not a major player in either Chicago or state legislative politics. Fritchey is married to the daughter of Sam Banks, the brother of influential Alderman Bill Banks (36th) and former judge Ron Banks. That family connection got Fritchey slated in 1996 for the Illinois House seat being vacated by Rod Blagojevich, who is now governor and who then was running for Congress.

Blagojevich's father-in-law, Alderman Dick Mell (33rd), anointed Blagojevich as the nominee in the old 33rd House District in 1992, and Blagojevich won easily. In 1996 Blagojevich sought the Democratic nomination to run against U.S. Representative Mike Flanagan, a Republican who won a fluke upset against Dan Rostenkowski in 1994. Critical to Blagojevich's hopes in the 1996 primary against Nancy Kaszak was support in the western part of the 5th U.S. House District, especially in Banks' 36th Ward. So a deal was cut: Banks backed Blagojevich, and Mell engineered the nomination of Fritchey, then an obscure 32-year-old attorney who happened to live in the 33rd District, to Blagojevich's House seat. Both Mell and Banks delivered on their bargain.

Fritchey has proven himself an astute legislator and politician, voting predictably liberal on social issues such as abortion, gun control and gay rights but not antagonizing Chicago's Democratic political establishment. Fritchey, age 39, is utterly secure in his seat, but he is still suffused with ambition. However, the presence of longtime state Senator John Cullerton (D-6), who has served since 1991, blocks his advancement to that body, and U.S. Representative Rahm Emanuel's solid hold on his seat blocks a move to Washington.

So Fritchey is striking out in a new direction: He is running for Democratic committeeman in the 32nd Ward, and he reportedly has forced the incumbent, Terry Gabinski, out of the race. Gabinski, a protege of Rostenkwoski, was alderman from 1968 until 1998, when he resigned. Gabinski's chief-of-staff, Ted Matlak, was named to replace him. Matlak won a full term in 1999, and he was re-elected with 74 percent of the vote in 2003. Gabinski has been committeeman since 1988, when Rostenkowski quit the job.

According to news reports, Gabinski is not seeking another term, and he is backing Matlak for committeeman. About two-thirds of the 32nd Ward is in Fritchey's House district, but there is some skepticism about Fritchey's name identification. Matlak, as alderman, is very well known. But the Mell-Banks axis will generate both money and manpower for Fritchey to a degree that the Gabinski-Matlak organization cannot match. In a Fritchey-Matlak contest, Fritchey is the early favorite.

According to political insiders, the Fritchey game plan is to get elected committeeman in 2004, so as to have a seat at the party table. He then will remain in his House seat and run for city clerk against incumbent Jim Laski in 2007. And, presuming that both Fritchey and Mayor Rich Daley win in 2007, and presuming that Daley retires in 2011, Fritchey would have a good shot at winning the mayoralty. So the outcome of the 2004 32nd Ward committeeman's race could presage the future of Chicago politics.

10th Judicial Sub-Circuit (Northwest Side, Park Ridge, Des Plaines, Glenview): It looks like former Cook County Circuit Court clerk Aurie Pucinski is rising from the politically dead and is on track for a county judgeship. After losing, as a Republican, countywide contests for Cook County Board president in 1998 and for the Illinois Appellate Court in the Cook County district in 2002, Pucinski has switched back to the Democrats and is now running for Cook County Circuit Court judge in the 10th Sub-Circuit.

Pucinski's flip has caused much angst among area Democratic committeemen, who consider Pucinski to be an opportunist and a turncoat. The sub-circuit includes all or parts of the 41st, 45th, 39th, 40th, 30th and 47th wards, plus portions of Maine and Niles townships. The deal among the Democratic committeemen is this: Each election when a judgeship is available, a rotating committeeman gets his pick. The 41st Ward got its choice in 1996, the 45th in 1998, and the 47th in 2002. In 2004 it's Maine Township's pick, and Committeeman Andy Przybylo picked Joe Potasiak.

Now Pucinski is complicating matters. Nobody believes that the unknown Potasiak, even with a Herculean effort by the committeeman, can defeat her. Pucinski recently attended the annual party of state Representative Ralph Capparelli, the 41st Ward Democratic committeeman and a longtime antagonist of both Pucinski and her late father, former41st Ward alderman  and committeemanRoman Pucinski. When asked if he is backing Pucinski for judge, Capparelli smiled enigmatically and refused to comment.

One major development: Each of the county's 15 sub-circuits is supposed to elect a judge every 2 years, but only if the total number of judges falls under a certain level. In 2004 the 10th Sub-Circuit is entitled to a new judge. However, one of the judges elected in the sub-circuit, Susan Fleming in 1992, has resigned, which means that there is a vacancy, so it is possible that two judges will be elected in 2004. If so, then the committeemen can concede one spot to the undefeatable Pucinski and focus their efforts on Potasiak for the other. Attorney Claire McWilliams, who has an office in Norwood Park, also is expected to file for judge in the sub-circuit.

20th House District (41st Ward, parts of the 36th and 38th wards, Norwood Park Township): There's no more wiggle room. Capparelli was elected in 2002 to represent the 15th District, he but refused to move into the district after his election. He still resides in the 20th District, which is represented by Republican Mike McAuliffe. Rumors abounded that Blagojevich would give Capparelli a choice state job, but that never materialized.

So Capparelli either has to retire or run against McAuliffe. He said at his party that he is running for re-election, and he reportedly is circulating petitions in the 20th District. A Capparelli-McAulliffe battle appears imminent.

A key player in the battle is Rosemont Mayor Don Stephens, the Leyden Township Republican committeeman. Capparelli is Stephens' close friend, and he has been a leading advocate of a gambling casino in Rosemont. But Stephens is a Republican, and he sent a lot of workers from his organization into the 20th District in 2002 to aid McAuliffe, who narrowly beat Democrat Bob Bugielski.

According to Capparelli's strategists, demographic and political factors make Capparelli the favorite. Capparelli is 79 years old, and almost 40 percent of the voting population of the 20th District is 60 or older. "Those are Ralph's voters," said a Capparelli aide. And, according to that aide, Capparelli expects Stephens to abandon McAuliffe and send in troops to back him.  "That's ridiculous," said McAuliffe. "Stephens will support me."

The outlook: The 20th District race will be mean and nasty, and Stephens is the key. If he sticks with McAuliffe, Capparelli will lose. If he abandons McAuliffe and quietly backs Capparelli, then Capparelli will win.

15th District (39th, 30th and 40th wards and most of Niles Township): Capparelli is abandoning this seat, and it will effortlessly fall to John D'Amico Jr., who is the nephew of Alderman Marge Laurino (39th) and the grandson of the late Alderman Tony Laurino.

D'Amico, a city water department foreman, is eager to return a spot in the General Assembly to the 39th Ward; his uncle, Bill Laurino, was a state representative from 1971 to 1996. That year Laurino's seat was won by Joe Lyons, out of the 45th Ward. Under the 2001 Democratic-designed remap, two Northwest Side districts were created: the 15th, dominated by the 39th Ward (which elected the 41st Ward's Capparelli in 2002), and the 19th, dominated by the 45th Ward (which elected Lyons, who is the cousin of 45th Ward Democratic Committeeman Tom Lyons, in 2002).

To date, nobody is circulating petitions to challenge D'Amico in the 2004 Democratic primary. There are plenty of political activists in Sauganash, Albany Park and Mayfair, but none have ventured forth to run for state representative. D'Amico looks to be a certain winner, and he likely will be unopposed for the Democratic nomination.

16th District (Lincolnwood, south Skokie, 50th Ward): Incumbent state Representative Lou Lang announced for governor in 2001, traveled the state, raised almost $1 million, but pulled the plug on  his campaign. He was re-elected in 2002 to his House seat, which he has occupied since 1987, and he remains in the House Democratic leadership.

Attorney Mike Moses, who ran for alderman in the 50th Ward in 1987, getting 31 percent of the vote against incumbent Berny Stone, and who ran for state representative in 1988 as a Republican, losing the primary, is running as a Democrat in 2004. The outlook: Lang will win overwhelmingly.