| Submit your comments on this article |
| Home Front: Politix |
| Judge overturns ruling, putting Crenshaw back in the race |
| 2010-07-23 |
| A Will County judge Wednesday ruled to put a Bolingbrook Republican and tea party favorite back on the ballot for a state Senate race. Judge Bobbi Petrungaro overturned a 2-1 decision by the Will County Electoral Board to remove Cedra Crenshaw, 37, from the ballot over a technical issue with her nomination petitions. Crenshaw is vying to unseat Democrat A.J. Wilhelmi in the 43rd District, which has been a Democratic stronghold since 1975. The ballot controversy energized tea party members, who organized protests on the stay-at-home mom's behalf and showed up in patriotic T-shirts at her legal hearings. Crenshaw, an African-American voice in a tea party movement that last week was criticized by the NAACP for alleged "racism," has made the rounds on talk radio shows across the country in recent weeks. "Finally, we can vindicate the 2,100 people who signed my petition and all the people in the district who are looking for an alternative," she said after learning of the ruling. Wilhelmi, 42, who has served in that seat since 2005, said he supports the court's decision and that the Democratic leadership does not plan to appeal the decision. "I welcome Mrs. Crenshaw to the race, and I look forward to discussing the issues that are important to Will County as well as the significant challenge we face in the state of Illinois," he said. Wednesday's decision comes about three months after Crenshaw's petitions were challenged. This month, the electoral board ruled her nomination petitions invalid because her campaign indicated on old forms that signatures were collected within 90 days of the filing deadline, even though a new state law requires that signatures be collected within 75 days. In fact, Crenshaw collected signatures less than 20 days before the deadline. Republicans picked her to be their candidate on March 30 because no one in the GOP ran in the February primary. After the electoral board ruling, her attorney, Burt Odelson, filed an appeal. In her five-page ruling, Petrungaro said state election law is unclear, but court precedent is clear and favors Crenshaw. "There was no evidence of fraud, nor was there any evidence of voter confusion. ... No evidence was presented that the petitions were circulated in an untimely manner or that the petitioner gained an unfair advantage over her opponents by circulating her petition in advance of the circulation period," the ruling said. |
| Posted by:Fred |
| #1 "There was no evidence of fraud, nor was there any evidence of voter confusion. ... No evidence was presented that the petitions were circulated in an untimely manner or that the petitioner gained an unfair advantage over her opponents by circulating her petition in advance of the circulation period" Evidence? When did the Dems let something like evidence stand in the way of walking all over Guess I just found another politician who will be getting a small donation from my help-out-the-good-guys fund. |
| Posted by: Barbara Skolaut 2010-07-23 17:15 |