Will Elgin's Rep. Moeller get to stay on 2016 ballot?
A Democratic state lawmaker facing potential removal from the 2016 ballot for signing a Republican's petitions argues she should get to run because she signed her own first.
State Rep. Anna Moeller of Elgin is the only suburban incumbent lawmaker facing potential removal from the March primary ballot, which would end her first re-election bid early.
Elgin resident Julie Schmidt challenged Moeller's candidacy because the lawmaker signed a petition for Republican Kane County Recorder Sandy Wegman. Schmidt's attorney argues the law doesn't let you support a candidate of one party, then run for office as a member of another party.
But a spokesman for the House Democrats says Moeller should be allowed to remain because she signed up to run as a Democrat before she signed Wegman's papers.
"She signed her own petition first," spokesman Steve Brown said.
He argues previous legal cases show the courts look to what petition is signed first.
Schmidt's attorney, Jeffrey Meyer, who ran against Moeller in the 2014 election, doesn't agree. He argues the law is clear that a candidate can't sign the petitions for a candidate for one party and run as a candidate in the other party.
Ultimately, the Illinois State Board of Elections is set to decide Moeller's and other cases like it Jan. 7.
Among the other cases is a challenge to Republican Casey Urlacher's candidacy to run in the primary for Illinois Senate.
The Mettawa mayor has said he hopes to overcome an objection that says some of his petition signatures were improper.
Several candidates for Congress face challenges, too, but no incumbents face ballot threats.