From the State Journal-Register:

RALEIGH - A Springfield man on the campaign trail for an Illinois Supreme Court candidate died in a one-vehicle crash Monday night in southern Illinois.

Michael R. Baer, 29, of the 1700 block of Bent Oak Drive was pronounced dead upon arrival at a hospital in Eldorado.

Authorities said they are looking into the possibility the crash was caused by Baer experiencing a diabetic-related reaction while he was driving.

“We do know that Baer called a friend in Springfield about 10 minutes prior to the accident and stated he was experiencing an insulin reaction,” Saline County Sheriff Ed Miller said in a written statement. “We also know that he was a severe diabetic, and the initial investigation points towards a medical reason for the crash.”

Baer was a member of the Illinois Senate Republican staff but had taken a leave of absence from that job to be a campaign aide for Lloyd Karmeier, a Republican judge who is running for a seat on the state Supreme Court from southern Illinois.

Baer had been at a Saline County Republican Central Committee meeting in Harrisburg earlier Monday evening and was driving to another meeting in nearby Hamilton County, authorities said.

Baer was headed east near Raleigh, some 30 miles east of Marion, at about 7:10 p.m. when the 2004 Oldsmobile Bravada he was driving veered off the roadway about 150 feet, struck a culvert, went airborne for 20 feet and landed on the passenger side, the sheriff’s office said.

He was extricated from the vehicle by the Eldorado Fire Department and taken to Ferrell Hospital.

Read the full story. The SJ-R did a good job on this one.