Appellate court upholds decision to keep Rudd off the ballot
An appellate court has upheld a ruling to keep Lake County Coroner Thomas Rudd off the ballot for re-election in the November.
The ruling, issued Wednesday, upholds a circuit court decision that Rudd is ineligible to place his name on the November ballot as an independent because he already tried to seek office in the same cycle as a Democrat
Rudd argued that because he said he withdrew his petition to appear on the Democratic Party primary and abstained from voting in the March primary. But the court on Wednesday said Rudd's changing his mind is not enough.
"The fact of Rudd's earlier established-party candidacy in this election cycle simply is not Rudd's to
'take back.' Once Rudd filed his nominating papers, his sworn statement of candidacy and his sworn statement of party affiliation were matters of public record," the decision reads.
Rudd dropped out of the March primary after his nomination papers were challenged. He said at the time he would not have enough signatures on the petitions should the objections be upheld.
In June, Rudd filed nominating petitions to run as an independent in the November general election. However, Democratic coroner candidate Michael P. Donnenwirth and Waukegan resident Keith E. Turner filed objections.
The ruling issued on Wednesday was expedited because Sept. 1 is the last day to print ballots and absentee ballots for the November election. It is unclear if Rudd will appeal his case to the Illinois Supreme Court.