GOP takes aim at Democratic candidate who voted Republican

Tom Cullerton declared himself a Republican when he pulled a ballot for the Feb. 5 primary.

Less than two months later, he was seeking a state Senate seat as a Democrat.

GOP lawyers say Cullerton can't be an elephant in one election and donkey in the next.

"I am totally convinced that you cannot participate in both parties in Illinois during the same election cycle," said attorney Burt Odelson, who is handling the Republicans' objection to Cullerton's candidacy.

Cullerton is hoping to unseat Republican state Sen. Carole Pankau of Roselle in November. The DuPage Election Commission will hold an 11 a.m. hearing Tuesday to determine the fate of the objection.

Cullerton's lawyers called the basis for the objection "legally absurd."

"The supreme courts of Illinois and the United States have been absolutely unambiguous on party switching in Illinois, and there's nothing that says you can't," said Cullerton's attorney, Michael Dorf. "We don't understand the point of this objection except the point of harassment."

Odelson argues that because Cullerton declared himself a Republican voter for this "election cycle," he can't become a Democratic candidate.

Dorf counters that the election code makes no mention of the term "election cycle" when dealing with party switching.

"The only thing it says is if you lost a primary you can't run in the general on the other side," Dorf said. "My client only voted in the Republican primary."

Primary voting records are public to ensure that someone doesn't vote multiple times for different parties.

Odelson admits case law is vague on the issue and cites several cases that touch on the topic, but don't address this particular scenario directly.

"It's only uncharted because no one's taken it up," he said.

Odelson's client is also objecting to Cullerton's paperwork, citing missing dates as a reason his candidacy should be denied.

"If (Cullerton's) going to lose, he's probably going to lose on the technical deficiencies of his papers," said Adam Lasker, an election law attorney for the Lavelle Law Group in Chicago. "If there's no case law on the issue, it's probably to the objector's detriment."

DuPage Democratic Chairman Bob Peickert laughed off the latest twist to the Cullerton objection.

"They want it both ways," he said. "Even (Republican state Sen. Dan) Cronin said Republicans were pulling Democratic ballots in the primary to get the presidential candidate they thought they could beat."