Question of the day
Monday, Nov 25, 2019 - Posted by Rich Miller
* It’s that time of the biennial again, campers…
* The live coverage feed was filled with stuff like this…
* From Hannah’s story…
Candidate filing begins — The busiest place in Springfield Monday morning will be a strip mall that contains both a Chuck E. Cheese and the Illinois State Board of Elections’ headquarters. As is the biannual tradition, candidates for Congress, the General Assembly, judges and other elected offices — or their proxies — will brave the usually cold pre-winter morning to be in line by 8 a.m., or even earlier. Those with petitions ready to hand in first thing Monday have the chance to get listed first among their competitors on the ballot, which studies have shown may have a slight statistical benefit in down-ballot races. For those who aren’t willing to stand in the cold for hours, or who still have to finish collecting enough signatures to survive a possible petition challenge, the filing period is one week and closes at 5 p.m. Dec. 2.
* Tribune…
Those in line when the doors opened were eligible for a lottery that will determine the top ballot spot, which some believe is politically beneficial at the polls. When filing ends on Monday, Dec. 2, those candidates in line at 4 p.m. will be after the last ballot spot — also seen by some as a plus on Election Day.
Mary McClellan, a Republican candidate for a circuit judge seat in McHenry County, was the first in line. McClellan, a former McHenry County clerk, said she arrived at about 9 a.m. Sunday.
“I want to be able to show my constituents that I’m committed, and that they’ll be represented the same way,” McClellan said.
By 7: 30 a.m., hundreds of the people were outside the Board of Elections office in a line that snaked along the sidewalk outside a Springfield strip mall.
* The Question: Your favorite petition gathering or filing day stories?
…Adding… Expected…
- Just Me 2 - Monday, Nov 25, 19 @ 11:19 am:
Standing in line at 4 am watching a movie on the laptop of the staffer for our opponent, with both of us enjoying the ridiculousness of it all.
- 47th Ward - Monday, Nov 25, 19 @ 11:26 am:
I have better memories from high school of sleeping in my car outside Ticketmaster waiting for Van Halen tickets to go on sale.
The petition thing always bores me. Remember that year it was really cold? (Yes, because it’s really cold every year).
If you’re in line by 8:00am, you’ve qualified. There is no reason to get there any earlier, and yet some folks go all out and freeze their butts off for no purpose whatsoever.
I’ve always found that kind of dumb. And I always noticed that it was Team Madigan holding down all of the front spots. It’s almost like a hazing ritual for the newbies.
- Grandson of Man - Monday, Nov 25, 19 @ 11:36 am:
A self-described Republican voter jumping in and helping get signatures of neighbors in a heavily Democratic area.
- JSI - Monday, Nov 25, 19 @ 11:41 am:
What’s the link showing candidates that have filed?
- Responsa - Monday, Nov 25, 19 @ 11:42 am:
Just last week I was approached outside my library by a young man with a clipboard asking me to sign a petition for a candidate I had never heard of. “What can you tell me about the gentleman?” I asked. “Really not much” was the answer I got from the canvasser with a look between a smile and a grimace.
I passed.
- Chicagonk - Monday, Nov 25, 19 @ 11:56 am:
@Responsa - I appreciate the honesty. I like when they ask me to sign because they get $1 for each signature that they get.
- Bourbon Street - Monday, Nov 25, 19 @ 11:58 am:
The guy ahead of me in the petition-filing line (a judicial candidate who shall remain nameless) was told by an BoE employee that he had not properly bound his petitions at the top because whatever means he used was already falling apart. The candidate took off his shoelaces and rebound his petitions right there as we all waited. Had to give him credit for thinking on his feet, so to speak. Even though he made it on the ballot, he did not win.
- Rich Miller - Monday, Nov 25, 19 @ 11:59 am:
===And I always noticed that it was Team Madigan holding down all of the front spots===
Not this year, which is perhaps noteworthy.
- Behind the Scenes - Monday, Nov 25, 19 @ 12:09 pm:
After they file at SBE, they take their sleeping bags over to Best Buy to be first in line there…
- Hamlet's Ghost - Monday, Nov 25, 19 @ 12:19 pm:
For DuPage County filings, candidates were allowed inside the building starting at 7 am and given numbers and then allowed to enter a heated auditorium with ample chairs, coffee and pastries.
Once you had your number there was no need to remain in line and everyone who had gotten a number before 8 am was stamped as an 8 am filer.
We mingled, chatted and drank coffee while waiting until 8 am.
A hearty “Well Done!” to Jean Kaczmarek, the Democratic County Clerk elected in 2018.
- Oak Parker - Monday, Nov 25, 19 @ 12:32 pm:
It looks like half the wards have no candidates for democratic committeeperson yet, and republicans have only filed for committeeperson in three wards.
https://www.cookcountyclerk.com/content/candidate-filing
- ‘Goose - Monday, Nov 25, 19 @ 2:44 pm:
During the 2013 special Mel Reynolds showed up on the first day at 758 am haggard and with his petitions unbound. Toi and Napoleon were the cool kids and just snickered at poor old Mel. I offered him my shoelace and a hole punch, which he took but had some trouble with. He ended up not filing til a couple hrs later, and was not in the lottery. 🤷🏻♂️
- @misterjayem - Monday, Nov 25, 19 @ 3:58 pm:
I don’t need glasses, but I wear glasses when canvassing for signatures. The slightly bookish look makes voters more likely to answer the door and less likely to call a cop.
– MrJM