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You reap what you sow

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* Donald Trump better hope he doesn’t fall three delegates shy of winning the Republican nomination because his Illinois supporters apparently don’t love foreign-sounding names…

In the western Chicago suburbs, a Trump delegate candidate named Nabi Fakroddin received 14 percent fewer votes than a member of the same Trump slate named Paul Minch. In southern Illinois, a would-be Trump delegate named Raja Sadiq received an eye-popping 25 percent fewer votes than a slate-mate named Doug Hartmann. And in a rural western Illinois district, a losing Trump delegate named Jim Uribe received 11 percent fewer votes than one named Rich Nordstrom.

In all three cases, the disparity appeared to cost Trump a delegate.

Oops.

Former Illinois Republican Party Chairman Pat Brady, a Kasich delegate, finished ahead of Nabi Fakroddin, by the way.

* This wasn’t an isolated incident here, either…

* Nancy Kimme also won a Kasich delegate slot yesterday. Kimme, you will recall, was the winner of our 2014 Golden Horseshoe Award for Best Statehouse Insider and won our 2015 Golden Horseshoe Award for Best Contract Lobbyist. I chuckled to myself last night when I thought about her being in one of those smoke-filled rooms cutting a deal on who the nominee will be. Nobody I know in the GOP is better suited for an environment like that than her. Nobody.

posted by Rich Miller
Wednesday, Mar 16, 16 @ 2:01 pm

Comments

IMHO this is the price paid for the rhetoric Trump uses. This is a direct consequence of Trumps messaging.

Comment by Ghost Wednesday, Mar 16, 16 @ 2:05 pm
As for names, both Gray’s (Kent and Don) had a tough Tuesday in Springfield. Kent needs to stop running for everything or move where they don’t always see an ‘L’ behind his name on day after result tabs.

Comment by Anonymous Wednesday, Mar 16, 16 @ 2:08 pm
“What kinda name is ‘Raja Sadiq’? Might be one a them sneaky Syrian kids — best not risk it.”

– MrJM

Comment by @MisterJayEm Wednesday, Mar 16, 16 @ 2:09 pm
If your name is Nabi Fakroddin or Raja Sadiq, what the heck are you thinking supporting Donald Trump?

Where did Kent Gray find these guys and what did they think they were signing up for?

Comment by 47th Ward Wednesday, Mar 16, 16 @ 2:10 pm
I thought the word in parentheses after the name said “derelict” dont touch that. The poorly educated.

Comment by Magic carpet ride Wednesday, Mar 16, 16 @ 2:13 pm
If you polled the majority of voters, most people vote for names they recognize. It’s not just a Trump thing. Everyone talks about the value of a good ballot name.

Comment by whatev Wednesday, Mar 16, 16 @ 2:20 pm
The same thing happened in 1976. One Carter delegate who had a polish name received the fewest votes of a six person slate. The other candidate was first on the opponents slate.

Comment by Tom Joad Wednesday, Mar 16, 16 @ 2:21 pm
===Everyone talks about the value of a good ballot name.===

Define “good.”

Comment by Rich Miller Wednesday, Mar 16, 16 @ 2:21 pm
===Define “good.”===

Janice Hart?

Comment by 47th Ward Wednesday, Mar 16, 16 @ 2:24 pm
With record GOP turnout, this post demonstrates the mindset of today’s electorate.
Mad as hell.
No one who sounds like they might be unAmerican.
(Except Raja. Oh yeah, He was in the Democrat primary.)

Comment by Austin Blvd Wednesday, Mar 16, 16 @ 2:24 pm
Nabi! Former director of Kane County Division of Transportation, a well-respected guy. He was appointed to the RTA board awhile back, then had to resign when it was found that he was serving on the IL Human Rights Commission board, and the letter of the law says you can only serve on one at a time.

Comment by Six Degrees of Separation Wednesday, Mar 16, 16 @ 2:25 pm
We have a long history of that in Illinois. Recall that LaRouchies Mark Fairchild and Janice Hart beat George Sangmeister and Aurelia Puchinski in the 1986 Democratic primary.

Comment by Northsider Wednesday, Mar 16, 16 @ 2:26 pm
Name recognition always counts for something in an election, so I am not surprised. I helped a handicapped individual yesterday to vote in their first primary ever. This individual wanted to go vote to support Bernie. But he voted for Hillary delegate Andy Manar (State Senator) anyway, because he “thinks he is a good guy.” So people do split their own vote up under this system.

Comment by Beaner Wednesday, Mar 16, 16 @ 2:26 pm
===Define “good.”===

Janice Hart?

And apparently Mark Fairchild.

Comment by Six Degrees of Separation Wednesday, Mar 16, 16 @ 2:28 pm
Good can be defined in a number of ways. Do indian voters not vote to support indian-sounding names? I bet they do. It used to be the an irish sounding name had the excellent appeal on the ballot. As our country and state diversify won’t hispanic sounding names have greater ballot appeal? The point is voters vote for what they think they know.

Comment by whatev Wednesday, Mar 16, 16 @ 2:30 pm
===And apparently Mark Fairchild.==

Those days are mostly over. Remember that guy with the BHO initials?

Comment by Rich Miller Wednesday, Mar 16, 16 @ 2:30 pm
===It used to be the an irish sounding name had the excellent appeal on the ballot===

Used to be? My judicial ballot was littered with middle- and maiden-names that sure sounded Irish.

And Rich is right, Obama knocked a lot of that down. But obscure races are still susceptible to the name attraction phenomenon.

Comment by 47th Ward Wednesday, Mar 16, 16 @ 2:33 pm
As our country and state diversify won’t hispanic sounding names have greater ballot appeal?

+1, and as our country diversifies, surnames seem to matter less. Look at our commander-in-chief…the “Obama = Osama” campaign didn’t get much traction. And great to see “Raja” having fun with it.

Comment by Six Degrees of Separation Wednesday, Mar 16, 16 @ 2:35 pm
Hmmm. Nabi’s been around for a while. Do a search.

Comment by sal-says Wednesday, Mar 16, 16 @ 2:39 pm
I get the ballot name thing normally, but in this case the only ballot name that matters is the one in parentheses after the delegate’s name.

Comment by Ron Burgundy Wednesday, Mar 16, 16 @ 2:43 pm
It’s a good thing some foreign name like Drumpf wasn’t on the ballot. /s

Comment by AC Wednesday, Mar 16, 16 @ 2:44 pm
@Ghost, you nailed it. After all Trump doesn’t want Muslims allowed in to the country and those probably sounded like Muslim names to those bigots that like Trump.

Comment by The Dude Abides Wednesday, Mar 16, 16 @ 2:46 pm
===Everyone talks about the value of a good ballot name.===

I pulled a Republican ballot for the primary. Trump’s name was right there near the little circle for the delegate. I figured that, for most, they’d just vote for the delegate of the person they wanted to win the primary.

Comment by Earnest Wednesday, Mar 16, 16 @ 2:48 pm
I’m sure she will find a room if she still wants to go but it appears Shirley Madigan and a few other Clinton delegates (if not all of them) received less votes than the Sanders in their district. Do the dems do it all by vote totals or do the apportion it to the actual votes received by the candidate?

Comment by Win Some Lose Some Wednesday, Mar 16, 16 @ 2:52 pm
This may go to the convention, and Kasich could pull out a win there….

whats a bit freaky is the variant of this playing out on House of Cards…. which was scripted and filmed long before, although as a dem variant.

Comment by Ghost Wednesday, Mar 16, 16 @ 3:15 pm
Pretty deep in the weeds with this one, Rich.

Comment by walker Wednesday, Mar 16, 16 @ 3:17 pm
What you are pointing out can be found in every campaign, not just Trump’s.

Not a voter of The Donald, but this is a stretch.

Comment by VanillaMan Wednesday, Mar 16, 16 @ 3:28 pm
Kent Gray also lost his race for PC. He is worse than Oberweis.

Comment by Hahahahaha Wednesday, Mar 16, 16 @ 3:28 pm
Trump didn’t help the cause, but at the same time, show me an ethnic name that has played well on a Republican primary ballot. I’d say it’s a party thing, not a Trump thing.

Comment by Lost in Chicago Wednesday, Mar 16, 16 @ 3:32 pm
Shades of the LaRouche election year.

The guys needs to change it to Raja O’Sadiq.

Comment by titan Wednesday, Mar 16, 16 @ 3:45 pm
Nabi is a former IDOT guy in Springfield. Heck, he even worked under Chris Lauzen in Kane County. That makes him eminently qualified to be a Trump delegate!

Comment by Joe Schmoe Wednesday, Mar 16, 16 @ 4:02 pm
I guess that’s what happens when you love the poorly educated.

Comment by DonaldDrumpf Wednesday, Mar 16, 16 @ 4:47 pm
as you sow, so shall you reap. ReTrumplicans!

Comment by Amalia Wednesday, Mar 16, 16 @ 4:48 pm
Just noticed a Trump delegate named Taneequa Tolbert won in IL2, so there’s that.

Comment by Lost in Chicago Wednesday, Mar 16, 16 @ 5:24 pm
Seriously, it could be a big deal. After all, the object of the exercise is delegates.

A WSJ analysis today shows that Trump needs to win 57% of the remaining delegates to walk into Cleveland with a majority. To date, he has won 48%.

Only a handful of states left award winner-take all with a plurality. Some biggies require a majority. The rest are proportional.

In the 28 contests to date, Trump has yet to break 50% of the vote in any, and in 12 of those he didn’t break 35%.

He very likely will have the most delegates going into the convention, but it is unlikely that he’ll have a majority.

Could be some barnburner rules fights in committee and on the floor before they even get to the first ballot.

http://www.wsj.com/articles/delegate-math-becomes-clearer-for-clinton-muddier-for-gop-after-tuesdays-results-1458127506

Comment by wordslinger Wednesday, Mar 16, 16 @ 5:52 pm
“===Everyone talks about the value of a good ballot name.===

Define “good.”

“None of the Above”*

* It’s been tried by someone who wanted to change their name and make sure they were the last candidate on the ballot..

Comment by Mouthy Wednesday, Mar 16, 16 @ 5:58 pm
Spend much time in the 2nd CD Lost?

Comment by 47th Ward Wednesday, Mar 16, 16 @ 6:19 pm
If voters don’t know anything, or very little, about the person on the ballot, they are influenced by the ethnicity of the name. People with names that originate from western Europe, particularly Anglo-Saxon names, enjoy the advantage. When voters know more about the person on the ballot, such as a presidential candidate from one of the major parties, then they are less influenced by the ethnicity of a name because voters know more about the political positions of the person on the ballot.

Related to this, the position of a person’s name on a ballot among a list of names, also influences how for whom people vote. Basically, people at or near the top of a list of candidates tend to receive more votes than people at or near the bottom.
The outcomes during an election can be influenced by silly stuff like this.

Comment by Ultragreen Wednesday, Mar 16, 16 @ 6:46 pm
My grandpa taught me to never vote for an Irish name in Chicago. Sound advice.

Comment by Tone Wednesday, Mar 16, 16 @ 11:34 pm
===My grandpa taught me to never vote for an Irish name in Chicago. Sound advice.===
Well unless your grandpa was Irish himself that would be like my grandfather saying to not vote for names that “sound Hispanic, Black, Jewish or Greek. If you think that’s sound advice” you are one sad shallow person. Happy St Patrick’s Day to you.

Comment by Been There Wednesday, Mar 16, 16 @ 11:42 pm
Hahahaha! Too funny that this happened to Trump.

Comment by Robert the Bruce Thursday, Mar 17, 16 @ 7:56 am
–My grandpa taught me to never vote for an Irish name in Chicago. Sound advice.–

Said the proud bigot.

Comment by wordslinger Thursday, Mar 17, 16 @ 8:01 am
Too be fair, the 3rd Kasich delegate in the 10th district finished 4,600 votes less than the top Kasich delegate. Discrimination there? They may have cost themselves a delegate up there as there is a logjam in the Top 5 (so far only one delegate has been declared winner).

http://chicago.cbslocal.com/election-results-illinois-primary-march-15-2016/?state=IL&eid=15371&site=WBBMTVELN

Comment by anonymous Thursday, Mar 17, 16 @ 8:24 am
The assumptions here are wrong. Voters do not understand how to choose delegates. This is the reason for the discrepancies. It is a widespread problem impacting all candidates and both parties. To single out one and claim that it is reflective of their unintelligent supporters is insulting.

Women marry and still often take their husband’s last name. Everyone knows this. Everyone knows someone with an ethnic name, due to marriage. Everyone knows this, even bigots.

If Trump was as racist as being claimed, then his campaign would ensure that his delegates have names they would not discriminate against. He doesn’t. Why? Because he isn’t.

This was a biased political story based on silly assumptions. It is as bad as the one claiming that Charles Manson endorsed Trump.

Comment by VanillaMan Thursday, Mar 17, 16 @ 8:46 am