//
you're reading...
Elections 2010

Illinois 2010 Elections: David Schroeder Survives Petition Challenge from Ken Dunkin Allies

State Rep. Ken Dunkin (D-Chicago)

(Chicago, IL) – November 23, 2009. The Chicago Board of Elections dismissed a challenge to the candidacy of David Schroeder that clears the way for Schroeder to face incumbent State Rep. Ken Dunkin (D-Chicago) in the Democratic primary for the 5th legislative district seat on February 2, 2010.

Shroeder, an attorney, will be Dunkin’s first Democratic challenger since he was elected in 2002.

“The voters deserve a choice,” said Schroeder. “Election after election, Ken Dunkin and his allies have successfully prevented other candidates from appearing on the ballot. This year, voters will finally get their say on who will represent them.”

Under Illinois law, a Democratic candidate for the State House of Representatives must submit a petition with the signatures of 500 or more Democratic voters from the district to appear on the ballot. Schroeder filed 1,963 signatures.

Under Illinois law, any citizen can challenge the petitions and petition signatures of any candidate. Dunkin’s allies challenged Schroeder’s petitions and those of a third candidate, Gwendolyn Drake.

An examination of the voter registration records was called off after staff from the Chicago Board of Elections examined only the first 33 sheets of 146 sheets filed.

Charles Holiday, the Board’s assistant manager for registration, noted that the limited examination conclusively determined that Schroeder submitted 603 signatures more than the minimum required.

“Continuing the records examination would only put the candidate further over that minimum,” Holiday wrote.

“The people who live in the 5th District want new representation,” said Schroeder campaign manager Erik Wallenius. “Dunkin has been an ineffective voice in Springfield, voting for the interests of his political cronies rather than the best interests of his constituents.”

Dunkin was the only state representative to skip the vote to impeach former Governor Rod Blagojevich, voted against tougher penalties for gang recruitment and gang activity, and voted against lowering the Cook County sales tax.

About David Ormsby

David, a public relations consultant and blogger at The Huffington Post, is an ex-Press Secretary of the Illinois Democratic Party.

Discussion

2 Responses to “Illinois 2010 Elections: David Schroeder Survives Petition Challenge from Ken Dunkin Allies”

  1. geez, the law is there for a reason, but when people like Ken Dunkin misuse the law by filing what amounted to obviously frivilous challenges and by hiding behind two political operatives to file the challenges, that certainly says alot about Dunkin’s character and honesty. I remember what he did to Pat Dowell when he ran against her – he’s just a despicable person for what he did! Why do we keep sending people like this to Springfield?

    Glad to see that the board of elections called it for what it was, and refused to allow Ken Dunkin to waste any MORE taxpayers’ money and time. This Dunkin guy’s GOTTA GO!

    Posted by s fahey | November 23, 2009, 2:00 PM
  2. Dear S,

    Geez, nothing.

    The Illinois election law challenge provision exists to verify that a candidate’s petition ethically and competently abides by state law–it’s an accountability measure. Dunkin is completely within his legal rights to exercise the challenge provision. If candidate is unable to either ethically or competently follow state election law as a first test to lawmaking, then that candidate deserves no place the ballot or in office if they fail to understand the basics.

    Schroeder past his first, basic test. Good for him.

    Thanks for reading.

    David Ormsby

    Posted by David Ormsby | November 23, 2009, 2:15 PM

Leave a Reply

Fill in your details below or click an icon to log in:

Gravatar
WordPress.com Logo

You are commenting using your WordPress.com account. Log Out / Change )

Twitter picture

You are commenting using your Twitter account. Log Out / Change )

Facebook photo

You are commenting using your Facebook account. Log Out / Change )

Connecting to %s

Submit your email address and be among the first to receive our posts by e-mail as soon as they are published. It's free.

David Ormsby, Editor

RSS Gov. Pat Quinn

  • McHenry County Blog | Pat Quinn Tells Truth about Pension ... Cal Skinner
  • Pat Quinn Criticizes Scott Walker On Jobs The Huffington Post News Editors
  • Will Governor Pat Quinn Sign Illinois Budget on Thursday? « Child ... Marge Berglind
  • Quinn: Lawmakers Must 'Show Some Fortitude' On Pension ... Todd Feurer
  • Governor Pat Quinn Puts His Foot Down On Gambling Expansion ... Mark
  • Senate narrowly backs Quinn on facility closures - Capitol Fax.com Rich Miller
  • Gov. Pat Quinn Releases 2011 Federal, Illinois Taxes David Ormsby
  • Democurmudgeon: Gov. Pat Quinn exposes Scott Walker as a fake ... Democurmudgeon
  • Chicago News Bench: No, Really, Pat Quinn Still Sucks More Than ... TM-1000
  • Advocates Seek Illinois Child Welfare Vision from Governor Pat Quinn Marge Berglind

RSS IL General Assembly

  • General Assembly puts health exchange bill on back burner - Crain's Chicago Business May 10, 2012
  • IL educators react to proposed state budget cuts - WREX-TV May 11, 2012
  • Violence Against Women Act Survives Partisan Fight, Quinn Told Not To Close ... - Patch.com May 9, 2012
  • American Progressive Bag Alliance Urges Illinois General Assembly To Pass ... - MarketWatch (press release) May 1, 2012
  • You Paid For It: IL General Assembly Scholarship Program - FOX2now.com May 7, 2012
  • Our Opinion: Anti-bully bill should get OK - The State Journal-Register May 10, 2012
  • Illinois State University considers 4.4 percent tuition increase - Herald & Review May 10, 2012
  • American Progressive Bag Alliance Urges Illinois General Assembly To Pass ... - PR Newswire (press release) May 1, 2012
  • Asian-Americans to have state caucus - WBEZ May 8, 2012
  • Suburban mayors also urge state to pass pension reform - Chicago Sun-Times May 10, 2012

RSS The Capitol Fax Blog

  • Question of the day May 10, 2012 Rich Miller
  • Political cover or political payback? May 10, 2012 Rich Miller
  • Illinois Needs Private Sector Jobs Now! Why Labor Leaders Support Senate Bill 1849 May 10, 2012 Advertising Department
  • Senate narrowly backs Quinn on facility closures - Chamber backs Quinn pension reforms May 10, 2012 Rich Miller
  • House approves bill to effectively end free employee health insurance premiums May 10, 2012 Rich Miller
  • *** UPDATED x2 - VIDEO *** Smith hearing resumes today (LIVE Coverage and Video) May 10, 2012 Rich Miller
  • *** UPDATED x2 *** Not a big deal at all, but it’s probably time to delegate a bit more May 10, 2012 Rich Miller
  • Morning Shorts May 10, 2012 Owen Irwin
  • *** LIVE SESSION COVERAGE *** May 10, 2012 Rich Miller
  • Protected: SUBSCRIBERS ONLY - COWL review, supplement to today’s edition and a Statehouse roundup May 10, 2012 Rich Miller
Follow

Get every new post delivered to your Inbox.

Join 135 other followers

Powered by WordPress.com