Republican hopefuls get on the Illinois ballot
Republican presidential hopefuls Dr. Ben Carson, businesswoman Carly Fiorina, Ohio Gov. John Kasich, Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul and Florida Sen. Marco Rubio turned in convention delegate lists to run in the Illinois primary Wednesday, the last day to do so.
They join former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, Texas Sen. Ted Cruz and businessman Donald Trump, who filed on Monday to get their delegates on the Illinois ballot.
Illinois 2014 primary runner-up Rick Santorum joined former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee and former Virginia Gov. Jim Gilmore in having only a few convention delegates listed in suburban areas.
The Illinois State Board of Elections was still processing Carson's delegates late Wednesday, but a spokesman said the candidate turned in a list at the last hour.
"Anyone who thinks they have a monopoly on conservatives should look at our list," state Sen. Mike Connelly of Lisle, a Rubio campaign leader, said.
Delegates represent a candidate at the party's nominating convention this summer and get picked by voters in Illinois' March 15 primary election.
On the Democratic side, Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders and former Maryland Gov. Martin O'Malley turned in their delegate lists on Wednesday. Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton filed her delegate list on Monday.
"I'm from Wheaton, and I thought I wasn't going to get a very good response," Dan Bailey, a Sanders delegate, said of campaigning for his candidate. "But I'm getting a surprisingly good response."