Elections official: Moeller can run for re-election
A Democratic state lawmaker should be allowed to run for re-election even though she signed nominating petitions for a Republican, a state elections official recommends.
And officials also recommended to the Illinois State Board of Elections that a few Republican hopefuls for Congress not be allowed onto the 2016 ballot, records show.
The board meets Thursday to rule on efforts to keep candidates off the primary ballot, including state Rep. Anna Moeller of Elgin.
Her eligibility to run has been challenged after she signed petitions for Republican Kane County Recorder Sandy Wegman. State law generally doesn't allow candidates to sign petitions for candidates of one party and run as a member of the opposite party.
But a hearing officer recommends Moeller be allowed to continue her re-election bid because she signed her own Democratic petition to run first.
He pointed to a 1984 court case that says, "the signature appearing on the petition first signed is valid and all subsequent signatures appearing on the nominating petitions of other parties are invalid."
The state board gets a final say Thursday. Attorney Jeffery Meyer, who represents the Elgin resident who objected to Moeller's candidacy, said he'll wait to see what the board does before saying whether he'd appeal the decision.
Earlier, the Chicago Board of Elections in late December removed Republican Susanne Atanus of Niles from the 9th Congressional District race for having a lack of valid petition signatures, and in the 6th Congressional District, Republican Gerald Drabnik of Glen Ellyn has withdrawn.
In the northwest suburban 8th Congressional District, hearing officers have recommended the state board remove three Republican candidates from the ballot, which would clear the field for DuPage County Board member Pete DiCianni.
Republican Joseph Hanstch of Wood Dale turned in enough signatures to get on the ballot, but a challenge invalidated more than 270 of them, leaving him without enough, according to a recommendation. Richard Evans of Elgin and Andrew Straw of Streamwood didn't turn in enough.
Straw, a disability rights attorney, has contested the decision, saying a car accident left him in pain and the board should accommodate him.
"I should be allowed to collect less signatures to reduce the pain I experience," Straw said in a news release. He says he's filed a federal complaint.
In the northern suburbs, Mettawa Mayor Casey Urlacher has seen his primary bid for Illinois Senate challenged, but his case will likely be delayed.