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Highland Park man ready for convention
Highland Park attorney Steve Sheffey missed an earlier chance to serve as a convention delegate when presidential candidate Tom Harkin withdrew before the primary. He's going this year.| Rob Dicker~Sun-Times Media
Name: Steven Sheffey
Age: 52
Profession: Attorney
Avocation: Pro-Israel political activist and newsletter publisher
Next move: Delegate to the Democratic National Convention
Words to Live By: “Some Republicans are deliberately using Israel as a wedge issue when in fact President Obama has been better for Israel than any Republican president has ever been.”
Article Extras
Updated: September 9, 2012 10:31PM
HIGHLAND PARK — Twenty years ago, Highland Park resident Steve Sheffey ran as a delegate to the Democratic National Convention, but his favored presidential candidate — then-U.S. Sen. Thomas Harkin — withdrew before the Illinois primary election. So, naturally, Sheffey lost.
Four years later, the attorney attended the convention in Chicago for one night as a guest.
But this weekend, Sheffey heads to Charlotte, N.C., as one of six delegates from Illinois’ 10th Congressional District. The contingent is headed by a good friend, State Rep. Lauren Beth Gash, D-Highland Park.
“I have been very involved supporting Barack Obama since the first campaign,” said Sheffey, 52, a political activist who distributes a weekly email newsletter focused on pro-Israel politics and other issues.
“There is so much misinformation about President Obama, especially about Israel,” he said. “Some Republicans are deliberately using Israel as a wedge issue to divide the Jewish community when, in fact, President Obama has been better for Israel than any Republican president has ever been.” He also firmly supports Obama’s domestic agenda, including efforts to provide health coverage to the uninsured.
As a convention novice, Sheffey doesn’t quite know how he’ll spend each day at the convention, which officially starts Monday. Of course, he’s eagerly awaiting President Obama’s acceptance speech the night of Sept. 6.
Because the school year already has started, Sheffey won’t be accompanied by his wife, Timna, a teacher’s aide at Sherwood Elementary School in Highland Park, or his three daughters, who attend Deerfield High School and Solomon Schechter Day School.
