Election coverage is all over the map, with many small publications not even bothering to show up. Three publications caught Media Insider's eye on election eve, the Pioneer Press News-Star, covering Chicago's North Side, Windy City Times and Extra. Each at least tried to cover the primary. In the issue on streets Monday, February 3rd, here is what we found.

First up, the News-Star.

"GOP ward chief races steam up," the Pioneer Press News-Star proclaimed on page one of the January 30^th issue. There in paragraph two is true democracy at work as we meet Kenneth H. Hollander who is being challenged by two candidates for the 50^th Ward post of Republican Committeeman.

Hollander, a six-term incumbent in the post, says his 30 years of experience in business and 20 years on law enforcement give him valuable consensus-building experience in an area controlled by the Democratic Party. In a ward with only 350 registered Republicans, his two opponents say they have never met the 40-year resident of West Ridge.

The story, by Lorraine Swanson, does not follow-up on Hollander's defensive statement "building a wall between myself… and all of the Democrats, as my opponents would expound, is ridiculous…"

The job of Republican Committeeperson is a thankless one in a Democratic city like Chicago. Hollander should be commended on his longevity. But Swanson might have asked if Hollander was holding himself out as the party's local voice in civic and business organizations, why two local Republicans didn't know him. How did he miss two Republicans who felt strongly enough about their beliefs that they are running for Committeeperson? There are only 350 GOP members in his ward after all.

Building bridges to the Democrats, as Hollander suggests, may be key to constituent services. But building bridges to your own voters may actually help you win elections and build an organization.

The other political story in the News-Star, a page six piece by Patrick Butler, took on the heated topic of clout in the Cook County Board of Review, especially in the race between Jay Paul Deratany and Joseph Berrios.

The race has hung on whether backing by Cook County Assessor James Houlihan would influence Deratany, or whether Berrios was influenced by campaign contributions from lawyers appearing before the board.

Berrios' campaign does not dispute it accepted contributions from lawyers who appeared before the Board of Review. However, it charges, it will remain independent of the influence of Houlihan, implying that Deratany would not remain independent of Houlihan.

Butler is accepting the Berrios' campaign red herring. Deratany's only crime is receiving the endorsement of a powerful backer. However, Berrios lieutenants admit accepting contributions from parties that had a financial interest in his rulings. Will Berrios return that money? Now that the perception of impropriety is out there, will Berrios list contributions his campaign receives in the coming years, assuming he is re-elected?

Unfortunately, the story doesn't tell us.

Next up, Windy City Times. The newspaper for gay, lesbian, bi and trans readers launches directly to a "Know Your Candidates" article by Lisa Keen on page one. My familiarity with the Windy City Times goes back before the Tracy Baim era, which is to say when Baim was running Outlines.

So, who is Lisa Keen? I ask because the by-line reads Keen News Service. It would be nice to know.

In any case, Keen does a nice wrap-up on the national Democratic presidential candidates from the perspective of the gay community. The Republican presidential candidates, however, are relegated to the web.

A handy pull-out starts on page 11, with notes on how candidates in many of the state's races were graded by the Windy City Times editorial board, the AIDS foundation of Chicago, the Independent Voters of Illinois/ Independent Precinct Organization and other organizations and groups. This is a simple and easy to use piece, the best of the bunch.

Following it is a two-page spread on five of the candidates for Cook County State's Attorney prepared by Amy Wooten.

Plus, the editorial page has a guest column on reproductive choices and voting by Terry Cosgrove, who is associated with a pro-choice political action committee. Tom Tunney, touted as the first open gay member of the Chicago City Council, gets a turn in his bid for Democratic Committeeperson for his ward on page 8. And, Joseph Berrios sits down with Andrew Davis for a Q and A on page 16. Tough questions from Davis and equally tough responses from Berrios. How does he respond to allegations of corruption? Read the article to find out.

Extra, a bi-lingual publication starts its election coverage on page 17, with a primer on the political process. Somehow, I would hope that adults voting in the primary are beyond wondering about the general assembly (p. 22), "how laws are passed" (p. 24), and "why care about the Water Reclamation District" (p. 26).

Can we stop, please, pretending that the political process is as clean as it is portrayed to schoolchildren? Unless, of course, that is the target audience of Extra. "When we go to the polls Feb. 5, we must not forget that there are local races too… that effect our daily lives… If you turn your back on the local races, then you absolutely cannot complain when taxes are raised, police brutality goes up and hospitals around the city and counties are closed," according to Jessica Del Curto, Extra's managing editor.

"Crack open our guide to the 2008 general primaries, and enjoy," she writes. "Hopefully it will answer some of your questions."