The Democratic Party of Illinois today hosted candidate interview sessions at five locations – in Chicago, Springfield, Bolingbrook, Hoffman Estates and Schaumburg. Out of the roughly 260-265 applicants still in the running, according to party spokesman Steve Brown, about a third have RSVPed to speak today before some of the 38 Democratic State Central Committeemen and Committeewomen (or their proxies).

I dropped by the event at the Chicago Hilton, where – due to high demand – the party was holding interviews simultaneously in two rooms. Before things got started around 9 a.m., I chatted briefly with Chicago Alderman Rick Munoz, the State Central Committeeman from the Fourth Congressional District. I asked him if the applicants without strong political backgrounds actually have a shot at getting the nomination. “Illinois is a very diverse state and that’s why we undertook this process, and at this point everybody has an opportunity,” Munoz said. “It’s their turn to shine today.” I paused for a moment to ask a skeptical follow-up question when Munoz stopped me. “Staying on message,” he said with a smile.

That message aside, Munoz told me his support is with state Representative Art Turner for now. Turner finished second in the February primary to Scott Lee Cohen, whose withdrawal is the very reason all this excitement is going on now.

Turner was early on the roster for the “subcommittee” co-chaired by Munoz. Here’s part of Turner’s relatively stern opening statement:

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Turner’s complaints about this process have been percolating for some time. This is not the first time he’s questioned the rules of the selection, or Governor Pat Quinn’s involvement. Here he is talking to reporters following his remarks to the subcommittee, responding to reports that a Quinn staffer asked state Senator Susan Garrett from Chicago’s northern suburbs to apply for the nomination:

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Turner was not the only applicant frustrated by the selection process. Oak Park resident Daniel Seltzer, who works at Northwestern University’s medical school, addressed the subcommittee.

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In that clip, Seltzer said he feared he and others applying for the job “are simply actors in a political play in which the outcome has already been determined.” A couple members of the State Central Committee later tried to make the point to Seltzer that his very presence before them was proof that the selection process is open and transparent. Chicago Alderman Howard Brookins, appearing on the panel as a proxy for Alderman Carrie Austin (State Central Committeewoman for the 2^nd Congressional District), then asked Seltzer a number of questions that showed Seltzer lacked much political experience. (Seltzer did, at times before the panel, refer to the job he was applying for as “attorney general,” and referred to the governor as “Senator Quinn.”)

But those mistakes aside, Seltzer’s comments got some attention during a press availability held by House Speaker Mike Madigan, chair of the State Democratic Party and Committeeman from the 3rd Congressional District.

Here is Madigan answering a few questions from reporters about the process:

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A few notes from Madigan’s comments:

• On process moving forward: the subcommittees at each interview location will be “asked to narrow the list” of candidates and make a recommendation to the full committee, which meets next Saturday in Springfield.
• On Quinn’s role: Madigan says “the governor is entitled to great deference,” but notes that – by law – the nominee will be officially selected by the weighted vote of the 38 members of the State Central Committee. “Some members of the committee will be very interested in the governor’s opinion,” Madigan says. “Some will not be so interested in the governor’s opinion.”
• Whether he’ll support Art Turner, whom he endorsed in the primary: “Nobody has my vote right now. I haven’t made a decision.”
• On reports that Quinn asked Susan Garrett to apply for the nomination: Madigan says Quinn asked him what he thought of Garrett, “I told him my opinion of Susan – which is good.”

UPDATE: The party has now posted the list of the 17 finalists to its website. It includes both Garrett and Turner, failed Comptroller candidate Raja Krishnamoorthi and the late Senator Paul Simon’s daughter, Sheila Simon.