Illinois primary would return to March under House plan

SPRINGFIELD - One suburban lawmaker's push to move the primary election back to March unanimously cleared an Illinois House committee Tuesday.

State Rep. Elaine Nekritz, a Northbrook Democrat who sponsored the proposal, said shifting the February primary election to the third Tuesday in March made sense because it's the date Illinoisans are familiar with.

"This is the date we had lived with for many, many election cycles, and I think given the experience of the voters and candidates in the February election, it's a good idea to move it back," Nekritz told the committee.

Nekritz's plan, which is now headed to the full House for consideration, was just one of many pushes to delay the state's primary election, which was adjusted in 2007 in an effort to boost Barack Obama's 2008 presidential bid. As for this year's February primary, early estimates suggested the turnout was significantly lower than in previous years.

Republican House leader Tom Cross of Oswego proposed legislation that would move the primary in presidential-election years to March and also shift the primary in nonpresidential years to June. Cross said he still doesn't think March is late enough but felt the committee's decision to advance Nekritz's proposal was a step in the right direction.

"In this day and age, getting things done is more important than who's name is on it," Cross said.

Meanwhile, a proposal that would require candidates for governor and lieutenant governor to run on a team in the primary election is also headed to the House floor for consideration.

State Rep. Lou Lang, a Skokie Democrat who introduced the legislation, acknowledged there were other proposals concerning the lieutenant governor's office in the wake of the Scott Lee Cohen debacle, but he felt his measure was "a better approach." If enacted, Lang's proposal would go into effect in the 2014 election cycle. Cohen gave up the lieutenant governor nomination amid controversy over assault and drug allegations.

"It would solve the problem you've heard recently of candidates not being vetted by political parties, which of course they had no responsibility to do in the first place," Lang said.

State Rep. Monique Davis, a Chicago Democrat, questioned whether allowing the prospective governor to choose his possible successor was appropriate, asking Lang who he thought disgraced Gov. Rod Blagojevich might have picked.

"This is really important for us to think about," said Davis, who voted against the measure.

Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan proposed a constitutional amendment that would abolish the lieutenant governor's office entirely in 2015. Madigan, a Chicago Democrat, will testify in support of the amendment in a House committee hearing Wednesday morning in Springfield.