[3] Despite an endorsement from Senator Adlai Stevenson III, the Democratic slate was defeated by the Caucus Party in the April 1969 election.

[2] In 1980 he began a year long campaign to be slated as the Democratic nominee for Illinois Secretary of State including a statewide tour.

[1][8] On January 4, 1985, Sutker was unanimously elected chair of the Illinois Democratic Central Committee, succeeding Philip J.

[9] In 1985, he appointed himself to the Illinois House of Representatives to succeed Aaron Jaffe, his predecessor as Niles Township Democratic Committeeman.

[1][2] Later that year, Niles Township Clerk Louis Black announced a challenge to Sutker in the 1986 Democratic primary.

He defeated Louis Black and a challenger for his role as Niles Township Democratic Committeeman in the primary.

[12] However, he lost his seat as the Democratic Central Committeeman for Illinois' 9th congressional district to Jeffrey Paul Smith.

[13] In the general election, he held off Republican challenger and District 219 School Board president Sheldon Marcus.

[20][21] In 1998, he challenged incumbent John Stroger for the Democratic nomination for president of the Cook County Board of Commissioners, citing the construction of Cook County Hospital and the need for ethics reforms as reasons he opted to challenge stroger.

During his lifetime his involvement, including among other things, serving as president of Old Orchard B'nai B'rith, and chairman of the Anti-Defamation League of Metropolitan Chicago.

[1] In 2005, Sutker handed over the leadership of the Niles Township Democratic Organization to State Representative Lou Lang.