Walsh now running unopposed in primary

SPRINGFIELD — U.S. Rep. Joe Walsh of McHenry no longer has to worry about the primary election March 20 after both of his Republican challengers were removed from the ballot by the Illinois Board of Elections Tuesday.

Each of the candidates, Richard Evans and Robert Canfield, was more than 100 petition signatures short of the minimum 600 valid signatures required to run in the 8th District Republican primary, the board ruled.

The majority of Canfield's signatures were collected in the 6th District, but a candidate needs signatures from people registered to vote in the district in which he is running.

Canfield told the board that the new political map for 2012 upended his effort.

“I gained my momentum and ... addresses in District 6, thinking I was in District 8 for a variety of reasons,” he said.

Canfield, of Palatine, is the owner of a commercial printing business who was seeking elected office for the first time.

Evans was not present Tuesday to argue his case in front of the board and didn't immediately return a request for comment.

Evans, of Villa Park, is a certified public accountant who 12 years ago ran unsuccessfully for the McHenry County Board.

A spokesman for Walsh declined to comment on the congressman's new status of being unopposed in the primary. Walsh decided late last year to run in the 8th District — not the 14th, where he lives — in order to avoid a potentially divisive primary contest against Rep. Randy Hultgren of Winfield.

Tuesday's action means all the competition before the March 20 primary will happen on the Democratic side of the ballot, where Iraq War veteran and previous congressional candidate Tammy Duckworth is running against former candidate for state comptroller Raja Krishnamoorthi. Both are from Hoffman Estates.

The 8th District is centered in Schaumburg and includes Addison, Elk Grove, Hanover and Wheeling townships.