* Republican gubernatorial candidate with a whole lot of personal cash and, word has it, a line into the Trump family…
* I reached out to the Illinois State Board of Elections for a response. Board spokesperson Matt Dietrich confirmed the voter registration number and wrote this…
The first field that a user of the online registration portal sees is an attestation — under penalty of federal prosecution — to citizenship and eligibility to vote. This is the same attestation that registrants must sign if they register in person at the local election authority’s office or through the Automatic Voter Registration program at drivers license facilities and other participating state agencies.
Federal law prohibits election authorities from making documentary proof of citizenship a condition of voter registration.
I asked for the federal law citation…
The attestation standard is based on the mail registration form defined in 52 USC 20505 and 20508, which was upheld by SCOTUS in Arizona v Inter Tribal Council of Arizona in 2013. Arizona v. Inter Tribal Council of Arizona ruled that AZ’s proof of citizenship requirements violated 52 USC 20505. §20508. Federal coordination and regulations
(a) In general
The Election Assistance Commission-
(1) in consultation with the chief election officers of the States, shall prescribe such regulations as are necessary to carry out paragraphs (2) and (3);
(2) in consultation with the chief election officers of the States, shall develop a mail voter registration application form for elections for Federal office;
(3) not later than June 30 of each odd-numbered year, shall submit to the Congress a report assessing the impact of this chapter on the administration of elections for Federal office during the preceding 2-year period and including recommendations for improvements in Federal and State procedures, forms, and other matters affected by this chapter; and
(4) shall provide information to the States with respect to the responsibilities of the States under this chapter.
(b) Contents of mail voter registration form
The mail voter registration form developed under subsection (a)(2)-
(1) may require only such identifying information (including the signature of the applicant) and other information (including data relating to previous registration by the applicant), as is necessary to enable the appropriate State election official to assess the eligibility of the applicant and to administer voter registration and other parts of the election process;
(2) shall include a statement that-
(A) specifies each eligibility requirement (including citizenship);
(B) contains an attestation that the applicant meets each such requirement; and
(C) requires the signature of the applicant, under penalty of perjury;
(3) may not include any requirement for notarization or other formal authentication; and
(4) shall include, in print that is identical to that used in the attestation portion of the application-
(i) the information required in section 20507(a)(5)(A) and (B) of this title;
(ii) a statement that, if an applicant declines to register to vote, the fact that the applicant has declined to register will remain confidential and will be used only for voter registration purposes; and
(iii) a statement that if an applicant does register to vote, the office at which the applicant submits a voter registration application will remain confidential and will be used only for voter registration purposes.
This primary race could come down to a Trump endorsement. Ergo the election denial nonsense.
- Sox Fan - Tuesday, Jan 27, 26 @ 10:09 am:
I would think this one statement is disqualifying in a general election and Heidner has to be smart enough to realize that. My question then becomes; What is the motivation for spending millions of your own money to get trounced in a general election?
- NIU Grad - Tuesday, Jan 27, 26 @ 10:11 am:
If he’s shooting for the Trump endorsement, he has to go back to 2020 denialism.
- AlfondoGonz - Tuesday, Jan 27, 26 @ 10:19 am:
Rich, you’re going to have to unban some words if we’re going to have honest discussions about the state of the GOP.
Snark, respectfully.
- Pundent - Tuesday, Jan 27, 26 @ 10:23 am:
Whoever Republican candidates see as the most loyal Trump candidate will win. They don’t care about the general election outcome and if we’ve already predetermined that it’s rigged it provides 4 more years of grievance airing. Not saying that Heidner is the chosen one but he certainly knows how to play the game. At the end of the day all this is doing is strengthening the Democratic Party in Illinois as fewer and fewer people can bring themselves to vote for GOP candidates.
- Candy Dogood - Tuesday, Jan 27, 26 @ 10:27 am:
Clearly he is taking inspiration for his campaign for governor from his daughter’s TikTok.
I am unsurprising that a man whose wealth is largely coming from gambling has decided to turn his campaign into a grift rather than taking a stand on the principles which our country was founded on.
Oh, how I miss the days when a man with a last name like Heidner would think better on running as a nativist.
- Huh? - Tuesday, Jan 27, 26 @ 10:32 am:
He’s a republican’t. Won’t vote for him.
- ste_with a v_en - Tuesday, Jan 27, 26 @ 10:39 am:
He’s going to win the GOP nomination.
-Flood the zone with ads
-Get Trump endorsement
-Bailey and Dabrowski are coded as losers in the current Trump GOP.
- TNR - Tuesday, Jan 27, 26 @ 10:40 am:
Good Republican Primary politics being practiced by Heidner. Factually and morally abhorrent, but good politics.
- former southerner - Tuesday, Jan 27, 26 @ 10:41 am:
Illinois can be windy, bitterly cold, icy, and has tornadoes and earthquakes BUT counteracting all of that we have enough intelligent voters to prevent people like this from being elected in statewide elections. So I have enjoyed 36 wonderful years in my adopted state.
- H-W - Tuesday, Jan 27, 26 @ 10:43 am:
Illinois has open primaries. Because of the local candidates for local offices in this republican region, I will be taking the Republican Primary ballot this year. I want to vote for the least MAGA local candidates.
Having said that, I am not sure which republican candidate I would prefer on the fall ballot for federal offices.
Heidner sounds like a conspiracy theorists or worse - a politician who would use conspiracies to falsely insight anger among the electorate. Dombrowski sounds like a professional MAGA voice.
Who to vote for in state and federal elections will be interesting study.
- The Farm Grad - Tuesday, Jan 27, 26 @ 10:43 am:
Preposterous, what Heidner alleges.
But I will say that DJT got a larger percentage of the Illinois vote (43.5%) than any other GOP presidential candidate in at least two decades.
And DJT has squandered that support by deporting abuelos and cutting health care subsidies
- Leslie Dimas - Tuesday, Jan 27, 26 @ 10:47 am:
As the former Director of Illinois Latino Outreach for the Harris campaign. When they say “undocumented,” they mean Latino, and more specifically, Mexicano. Illinois has the second largest Mexicano population in the country.
With ICE being forced to pull back, this isn’t about enforcement. It’s about fear. It’s another calculated attempt to intimidate and suppress Latino voters by turning immigrants into a political enemy. We’ve seen this playbook before.
If the concern is truly election integrity, maybe we should refocus on mail in ballots in Wisconsin, Michigan, and other swing states, not on scapegoating Latino and immigrant communities who have made Illinois their home for decades.
- Ducky LaMoore - Tuesday, Jan 27, 26 @ 10:48 am:
“Makes you wonder what’s really going on in our state.”
Makes me wonder wonder what’s really wrong with your brain.
- ChicagoBars - Tuesday, Jan 27, 26 @ 10:48 am:
What did JB spend on independent expenditures to make sure he faced Bailey and not Aurora’s Mayor last cycle? Looks like Heidner is going to save him that cash outlay this cycle.
- cermak_rd - Tuesday, Jan 27, 26 @ 10:53 am:
Why can’t the GOP head back toward the days of Percy and Edgar? At least they lived in the real world. To give these guys the benefit of the doubt, they probably live in the real world and just do this kind of thing for campaign purposes.
- New Day - Tuesday, Jan 27, 26 @ 11:01 am:
Such amazing choices in the GOP primary. JB doesn’t have to spend a dime. Any of these jamokes would be tremendous fodder in a general. I mean there’s so much material on Ted, Schmendrick and now this guy. An embarrassment of riches for the GOP in 2026 with emphasis on embarrassment.
- Someone you should know - Tuesday, Jan 27, 26 @ 11:11 am:
Is Looney a banned word? I’m just asking for a friend.
- peace - Tuesday, Jan 27, 26 @ 11:12 am:
More division. Not needed
- low level - Tuesday, Jan 27, 26 @ 11:13 am:
Actually, its a testament to how weak of a candidate Harris was. She should have won Illinois by 20 points. Instead, it was only 11. Let’s investigate that.
- Garfield Ridge Guy - Tuesday, Jan 27, 26 @ 11:17 am:
==To give these guys the benefit of the doubt, they probably live in the real world and just do this kind of thing for campaign purposes.==
If true, this is far more immoral and dangerous than actually believing the things they’re saying.
- Rudy’s teeth - Tuesday, Jan 27, 26 @ 11:29 am:
Not to disparage used car salesmen, but Heidner has the persona for late night commercials.
- Flyin' Elvis'-Utah Chapter - Tuesday, Jan 27, 26 @ 11:30 am:
“Why can’t the GOP head back toward the days of Percy and Edgar?”
cermak rd-it’s over.
Done, fini.
Imagine twenty years ago being told there would come a day when the ILGOP wouldn’t field a candidate for a state office.
They were bought, on clearance, at Ollies by Rauner.
- Homebody - Tuesday, Jan 27, 26 @ 11:40 am:
The ILGOP (and the national GOP writ large) are both intellectually and morally empty at this point. They won everything in 2024, and all they could bring us was trade wars, murder of Americans, destroying the international order that helped make the US the weathiest country in the world, etc.
And all they can do is double down, because they don’t actually have anything else. They cannot build anything. They cannot improve anything. They cannot learn anything.
Heidner is not new or special in this matter. It is inherent to the conservative world view. Any conservative who disagrees is just having their head in the sand about the state of the party they’ve chosen to go down with.
- Big Dipper - Tuesday, Jan 27, 26 @ 11:41 am:
I saw one of his ads where he mispronounced Ill-inois as El-inois. That should be disqualifying right there.