Marks out for now but may be write-in for 33rd District Senate race

Doug Marks, a Libertarian candidate in the 33rd Senate District, has thrown in the towel in his fight to stay on the ballot even before the State Officers Electoral Board rules on objections to his petition signatures.

Marks, a Carpentersville village trustee, posted on his Facebook page Monday that his opponents have “sufficient objections” to keep him off the ballot, telling supporters he is now considering a write-in candidacy.

James Abbott, of Geneva, and Kenneth Cabay, of Lake in the Hills, jointly filed an objection with the electoral board alleging, among other things, that some people who signed Marks’ petitions live outside the 33rd District.

Marks did his own audit of the signatures and confirmed close to 850 of them were from outside the district — enough to bring him short of the 3,000 required.

“A good portion of these were within a couple blocks of the border of the district,” Marks said. “Some of it was just errors on the petitioners I had. They wandered outside of the district and didn’t know it.”

Because Marks has not formally withdrawn his candidacy, a hearing scheduled for Wednesday in Chicago to examine the signatures in light of the objections is still set to take place — even without the candidate’s attendance.

Marks said he has no desire to waste taxpayer money in a fight he has no chance at winning and, therefore, has turned his attention to a write-in campaign. His letter to supporters Monday said his next steps depend on donations.

“If I move forward or just walk away rides entirely upon the liberty minded individuals who will financially support the required advertising campaign I will need to become successful in November,” Marks wrote.

A strong early response has given Marks hope, but he is waiting until the end of the month to decide what to do. If he follows up a 2010 write-in campaign for Congress with the current bid, he will be asking residents to vote against Republican Kane County Board Chairman Karen McConnaughay.

McConnaughay could not be reached to comment on her potentially uncontested race.