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Illinois

[posted by Mike Murray]

* The 2010 election cycle is officially underway in IL today as candidates may begin to collect the signatures required to appear on the February 2nd primary ballot.

The Illinois primary is the earliest in the nation, and so is its filing process. Candidates begin filing petitions Oct. 26, effectively setting the stage for a shortened 14-week campaign season shoehorned around the Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year’s holidays. Several candidates have decided to formally declare for office Tuesday, the first day their volunteers can circulate candidacy petitions.[…]

The campaign season is accelerated this time as a result of a change in Illinois election law that moved the primary elections up from March to February to help favorite son Obama’s Democratic presidential bid. While other states opted to leave their non-presidential-year primaries later in the calendar, Illinois made the move permanent for its statewide primary.

* If your are interested in running for public office, keep in mind that you can’t win if you are not on the ballot…

But the regulars often count on one thing: They know how the election system works and ordinary citizens do not. A lot of well-intentioned would-be candidates get kicked off the ballot because they didn’t follow the rules. Many will sabotage themselves from the moment they begin collecting petition signatures.

The rules that govern petitions are complex and unforgiving. Lawmakers have crafted those hard-to-satisfy rules because — take your pick — (a) an aspiring candidate should have to demonstrate discipline and smarts, or (b) the more complicated the process, the more it’s as good as rigged to protect incumbents and their political parties.

Ah…I’ll have to go with option ‘a’ on that one. My youth could mislead me here, so someone please correct me if I am wrong, but Obama’s first political victory (his IL Senate seat) was obtained by getting his primary opponents, including the incumbent, kicked off the ballot for not following correct filing procedure. The rules are the rules, and candidates -incumbent or not- whom don’t know the rules will get no sympathy from me.

Of course, you need supporters to win regardless of how meticulously you follow procedure.

* Speaking of endorsements, the Chicago Regional Council of Carpenters threw their support behind Comptroller Dan Hynes for governor yesterday…

“Dan is someone who possesses the integrity and trust we are looking for to lead the state as governor,” Carpenters’ union president Frank Libby said in a statement.[…]

The Chicago Regional Council of Carpenters represents 47,000 members in Illinois, southeast Wisconsin and eastern Iowa, including members in the 28 northernmost counties of Illinois.

While certainly not a make or break endorsement, the fight between Quinn and Hynes for union endorsements should be fun to watch…

The backing of union labor, particularly trade unions, will be closely watched in the Democratic primary. Quinn pushed for the state’s first major public works construction program in a decade, urging lawmakers to act quickly to spur job creation and take advantage of the summer construction season. But Quinn delayed signing the measure in a failed attempt to try to gain leverage for legislative passage of a state income-tax increase.

Stay tuned.

* Other campaign news…

* Jacobs joins race to unseat Bean

* Excitement Builds in IL-10 Race With Possible Addition of Former Edgar Administration Official Renee Thaler

* The next governor may be a guy named Clayborne

* Chicago lawmaker running for lieutenant governor

posted by Mike Murray
Tuesday, Aug 4, 09 @ 9:08 am

Comments

My youth could mislead me here, so someone please correct me if I am wrong, but Obama’s first political victory (his IL Senate seat) was obtained by getting his primary opponents, including the incumbent, kicked off the ballot for not following correct filing procedure.

That’s correct, but pointing out that Obama did this conflicts with the political myths he used to get elected last year, and some of his supporters won’t want to read this.

Comment by VanillaMan Tuesday, Aug 4, 09 @ 9:22 am
Did not the Trades unions support Dan Hynes for US Senator against the some not so well known candidates?

Comment by downstate demo Tuesday, Aug 4, 09 @ 9:40 am
I would change “Jacobs joins race to unseat Bean” to something like “Cook County deputy sheriff will be second Republican running in IL-08″.

Comment by Carl Nyberg Tuesday, Aug 4, 09 @ 9:50 am
Mike. I will agree with you the A is the correct answer. Having done this for over 20 years it is still shocking that some incumbents have no clue about what can and cannot be done with petitions. I have been attacked on here before for agreeing with the fact that a smart person who follows the rules can stay on the ballot (they probably won’t win — this year will test that theory) but they can stay on the ballot.

Comment by WOW Tuesday, Aug 4, 09 @ 9:58 am
According to info elsewhere on the InterWorld, the GOPs are not targeting Bean or the Kirk district in 2010…They do have eye on Foster and Halverson…..looks good for Hamos

Comment by CircularFiringSquad Tuesday, Aug 4, 09 @ 10:22 am
The color scheme at the Team America blog is just hard on the eyes.

Comment by Scooby Tuesday, Aug 4, 09 @ 10:56 am
Mike! You are a legend! Nice job. Where can I find more info on what petitions need to include, etc.??

Comment by b-dogg Tuesday, Aug 4, 09 @ 11:17 am
b-dogg — the state board of elections has all you need. From a sample petition to the statute that covers everything.

Comment by WOW Tuesday, Aug 4, 09 @ 11:19 am
test

Comment by Shore Tuesday, Aug 4, 09 @ 11:31 am
“Ah…I’ll have to go with option ‘a’ on that one. My youth could mislead me here, so someone please correct me if I am wrong, but Obama’s first political victory (his IL Senate seat) was obtained by getting his primary opponents, including the incumbent, kicked off the ballot for not following correct filing procedure. The rules are the rules, and candidates -incumbent or not- whom don’t know the rules will get no sympathy from me.”

You have much experience to gain young one. Barack Obama could not have kicked his opponents off the ballot in the other 49 states. Only Illinois uniquely has a cottage industry for election lawyers that can do such things with our vaque, inprecise, sloppy, and irrational election laws that are routinely held unconstitutional by higher courts. One would think an honest, respectable, and intelligent law school professor that taught election law at U of Chicago would recognize Illinois’ anti-democratic election laws and do something about them during his 8 years in office, instead of using them to restrict democracy and political competition for his selfish personal gain. But if he wants to play by the rules are the rules game, then when the GOP schedules their convention after Illinois’ ballot deadline knowing full well they are doing so, then the GOP should have the follow the rules too.

The rules are beyond horrible and terribly costly to taxpayers without good reason. More than half of GA races are always unopposed, and often 2/3 of them have no competition. When you have to hire a team of lawyers to interpret the silly laws and the judges’ past interpretations of those laws, the problem is with the laws, not with American citizens trying to exercize their democratic right to equally participate in our elections.

The results of those election rules prove that B is the true answer.

So if the rules told you to jump off a bridge…. How it is, is not how it has to be. Believe what is true and right, not what is convenient for you to believe.

Comment by TaxMeMore Tuesday, Aug 4, 09 @ 11:42 am
It takes time, effort, and a lot of money to withstand challenges which are routine for organization candidates. Usually the challenged candidate is a non-incumbent with limited resources and even though the challenge is unfounded it can break the opposing campaign by draining valuable resources. The rules are written to protect the incumbents who have massive state party support. It is an old trick and usually works.

Comment by Bill Tuesday, Aug 4, 09 @ 12:01 pm
Illinois ballot rules are a shining example of what happens when the Dems and GOP in the GA work together in a spirit of bipartisianship and self-interest.

Comment by wordslinger Tuesday, Aug 4, 09 @ 1:42 pm
Some other states do have a ballot access process just as arcane as Illinois (New York, for example), where failure to number one’s pages correctly or a seemingly minor typo is fatal.

But it is not really all that hard to get it right - if you’re willing and able to do the shoe leather job of gathering signatures and don’t take shortcuts.

The Candidate’s Guide and stock suggested sample forms are good enough for any modestly intelligent person to weather the process of doing it.

Comment by krome Tuesday, Aug 4, 09 @ 1:46 pm
It is probably both options A and B. However, I have never seen a smart/talented local candidate get his petitions thrown out that I can recall.

Has anyone ever seen a candidate take a big swing and miss at the ballot and gone “aw, that’s too bad; he’s really bright and would have made a great candidate?” It seems to be the hacks generally speaking.

Comment by Obamarama Tuesday, Aug 4, 09 @ 3:42 pm
Scooby - adjust your monitor, or your eyes.

Comment by Team America Tuesday, Aug 4, 09 @ 7:20 pm
I’ve come to realize that election fraud is allowed in this state. Try to “blow the whistle” to the attorneys at the State Board of Elections who are supposed to investigate and they will tell you (in no uncertain terms) (1) to mind your own business, (2) who do you think you are, (3) what business is it of yours, etc.

When I saw all the arrests in NJ, it gave me small hope for IL. Emphasis on “small”.

Comment by Alison Wednesday, Aug 5, 09 @ 7:47 am