It is often remarked that idleness is the devil's workshop. And Wally Dudycz, a retired Chicago patrolman and police detective, a Republican state senator from 1985 to 2002, and the executive director of the Illinois Racing Board for 8 months after he retired from the Illinois Senate, has had, of late, a surfeit of idleness.

"He's bored," remarked one area politician. "He needs something to do."

The surprise decision of Dudycz to run for 41st Ward Republican committeeman in 2004 will not only terminate his enforced political leisure, but also will bedevil state Representative Mike McAuliffe (R-20), the current ward committeeman.

McAuliffe has enough problems keeping his Springfield job: He must fend off a challenge from state Representative Ralph Capparelli (D-15). He doesn't need the distraction and financial drain of facing Dudycz in the ward party contest. According to the most recent state campaign disclosure filings, Dudycz had $178,000 in his account as of June 30, while McAuliffe had just $6,500, with $30,000 in leftover debt from his 2002 campaign. McAuliffe claims to have raised $50,000 since June. Capparelli has more than $975,000 in his campaign account.

But the point is this: McAuliffe can ill afford to squander precious dollars to beat Dudycz. More importantly, as he prepares to do battle with Capparelli next November, McAuliffe cannot afford the embarrassment of losing to Dudycz in the March 2004 Republican primary.

"I want to rebuild the party," said Dudycz, age 53. "I want our party to have a presence and a response (to the Democrats). I can do that. We are on the verge of having a one-party state. Unless we get new leadership (in the Republican Party), that will happen."

"I also want to see Michael re-elected as state representative," added Dudycz. "As committeeman, I will do everything in my power to help him."

Dudycz is coy about his long-term ambitions, saying his immediate priority is to get elected committeeman. But it is apparent to political observers that Dudycz, if victorious, would run for either city or county Republican chairman at the April 2004 party meeting. That would give him a media platform. "The governor's administration, despite his pledge, is just business as usual," Dudycz said. "But no Republican, in the legislature or otherwise, is providing any constructive criticism or alternative proposals. I would do that."

Dudycz, who resigned from his Senate seat in September 2002 to take a $103,000-a-year job as executive director of the Illinois Racing Board, quit in May 2003. "The (governor's) appointees made it impossible to do my job," he said. The 2001 Democratic remap also made it impossible for Dudycz to get re-elected in a Chicago-based district against incumbent Democrat Jim DeLeo in 2002, and he opted not to move into a Park Ridge-Des Plaines-based district and run against Republican incumbent Dave Sullivan.

But now Dudycz, with a generous police pension and eligibility for a generous state pension when he's age 55, is eager to re-enter the political wars. "I wanted to be (41st Ward) committeeman in 2002, so I could become county chairman, but Michael wouldn't resign," Dudycz said. "I wanted to be committeeman in 1996, when (then-incumbent Gerry) Michalek retired, but the governor and (Pate) Philip persuaded me that I couldn't do both jobs -- legislator and committeeman." McAuliffe replaced Michalek that year, and when state Representative Roger McAuliffe died, he was appointed to his father's seat.

Now, Dudycz said, it's time for him to get what he wants.

"I'm definitely running (for re-election as committeeman)," McAuliffe said. "I've overcome obstacles in the past. I'll just have to work harder."

In his 2002 House race, McAuliffe campaigned relentlessly, spending up to 8 hours a day working precincts. He was especially active in the 41st Ward, where he often campaigned jointly with Alderman Brian Doherty. Against Democrat Bob Bugielski, McAuliffe carried the 41st Ward by 10,188-6,109, getting 62.5 percent of the votes cast. In order to beat Capparelli, who is the 41st Ward Democratic committeeman, McAuliffe will have to carry the ward with at least 60 percent.

But the electoral universe for a Republican committeeman's race is much smaller. In 2000, 2,249 votes were cast in the 41st Ward's Republican primary (to 9,111 in the Democratic primary); in 1996, 3,528 were cast; and in 1992, 2,772 were cast. There will be no presidential contest to spur turnout on the Republican side in 2004, although the contested U.S. Senate primary will draw interest. But it is safe to predict a 2004 turnout in the range of 1,900 to 2,100, so roughly 1,000 votes is enough to win.

So who's the favorite?

Dudycz has not been on the ballot since 1998, and he has been out of public office for over a year. His in-ward political organization has essentially evaporated, and most of his key strategists -- most of whom had state jobs -- are now retired or out of politics. His worker political base is that of his brother, Maine Township Supervisor Bob Dudycz, who can send in 15 to 20 precinct workers. Nominating petitions for committeeman require 647 to 1,294 signatures. Dudycz will surely file the maximum needed, but the names of his circulators will be a tip-off as to his in-precinct strength.

Dudycz's chief assets are his name identification and his money. He has always been a staunch conservative and ardent Republican, and he has suffered much political abuse at the hands of the Democrats. In fact, the Democrats' 2001 remap was specifically designed to purge Dudycz from the Senate. Dudycz has a cogent message, a sympathetic audience and the money to deliver that message up to a dozen times by mail into the ward's 1,000-plus Republican households.

McAuliffe also has strong name identification, both from his own work and from his beloved late father. He has 15 to 25 competent precinct workers, but the Doherty-McAuliffe organization is much diminished from its heyday of 1996, when an army of state patronage workers, past Roger McAuliffe supporters and Republican job holders in Rosemont and other suburbs descended on the House district to elect Mike McAuliffe to his father's seat.

Now the patronage is gone, most of Roger McAuliffe's contemporaries are retired or have relocated, and McAuliffe's political worker base emanates from Rosemont and the Leyden Township Republican organization, run by Don Stephens.

My early prediction: The 41st Ward has 68 precincts. Each has either two or three Republican election judges, and McAuliffe appoints them. Their votes, plus those of their family members, give him an instant vote of 300. McAuliffe plans to visit every Republican household between now and Christmas, and he will go back again before March. If McAuliffe can't amass 1,500 Republican votes, he deserves to lose to Capparelli, and if he does beat Dudycz by a 60-40 margin, he'll go into the Capparelli contest looking much more formidable. Also, Dudycz can't realistically bombard Republican voters with anti-McAuliffe attack pieces, so give McAuliffe a narrow edge over Dudycz.

In a related development: As detailed in a previous column, Park Ridge was embroiled in a heated contest to replace Mayor Ron Wietecha, who resigned in September. The 14-member City Council met on Oct. 7 to pick a replacement, and on the sixth ballot chose Alderman Mike MaRous to be acting mayor by an 8-6 vote, beating Alderman Sue Bell.

This outcome has implications for the Dudycz brothers, and particularly for Bob Dudycz, whose term as supervisor expires in 2005.

MaRous, an alderman since 1995, has promised not to run for a full term in 2005. He was a compromise choice, as the seven aldermen allied with Wietecha's Homeowner's Party couldn't muster an eighth vote, while none of the five independents elected in 2003 could get an additional three. MaRous, a Homeowner's Party member, was elected mayor by the anti-Homeowner's Party aldermen. For 2005, Alderman Rex Parker, a Democrat closely allied with the political organization of U.S. Representative Jan Schakowsky likely will run, as will Aldermen Mike Tinaglia and Sue Bell. Bell is a Republican, and she will be the Homeowner's Party candidate. In a three-way race, with no runoff provision, Parker is favored.

There also will be a major Democratic onslaught in Maine Township in 2005, with the Schakowsky-Parker group running somebody for supervisor and other township offices. Maine Township Republican Committeeman Mark Thompson, who was ousted as supervisor by Bob Dudycz in 2001, will seek his old job in 2005. In a three-way race, with Dudycz and Thompson splitting the Republican vote, a Democrat would win.