Champaign County Democrats Oppose democracy

[AntiLempa]

Illinois has some of the toughest ballot access laws in the state. The Champaign County Dems, although I'm pretty sure this is at the direction of a higher power (aka Michael Madigan) are challenging any candidate to the left of Zell Miller. It's funny how they still find the time and energy to let Bush on the ballot.

What makes this more apalling is that two local Dems filed their papers incorrectly and were still allowed to be on the ballots.

It must be asked, why is the Illinois Democratic Party fighting democracy?

from: http://www.ucimc.org/newswire/display/18712/index.php
Urbana, IL Three Champaign County Democrats - Jane Williams who resides with county board member Tom Betz; Alan Kurtz who resides with Democratic precinct committee person Linda Kurtz; and Susan McGrath, Democratic precinct committee person - filed objections on Monday June 28, 2004 to the filings of Ken Urban, Dave Sacks, Susan Rodgers, and Zach Miller, all Green Party candidates for Champaign County Board. The County Officer’s Electoral Board will hold a preliminary hearing on the issue on Tuesday, July 6, 2004 at 9AM in room K on the second floor of the Champaign County Courthouse, 101 E. Main, Urbana, IL.

Green Party Candidates filed for Districts 7, 8, and 9 on Monday June 21. Each was required by law to solicit over 300 signatures, roughly ten times the number that would be required of a Democrat or Republican candidate running for the same office in the same district.

Zach Miller, running for County Board District 9, filed 445 signatures, of which at least 318 must be valid. Miller was challenged as to a lavk of valid signatures. Miller believes that his petitions will survive the challenge. Miller stated, "It seems like we will be able to make a strong showing that the challenged petition signers definitely were eligible to sign and intended to sign."

Objections to both Susan Rodgers, running for District 8 and Dave Sacks, running for District 7, were based on allegations that Rodgers and Sacks, both students at the University of Illinois, are not eligible for office because they 'do not reside at' their respective addresses.

Sacks is an apartment resident, registered to vote at his current address with a lease running through mid-August. David Sacks stated, "The Democrats of Champaign County want students who go home for the summer to register to vote in Champaign County and vote Democratic, but when it comes to those same students running for office, they suddenly have a problem."

The validity of campus voter registration for students who return home for the summer was upheld in court over thirty years ago. A person's residence for purposes of voter registration is also his or her residence for purposes of political candidacy.

Susan Rodgers adds, "As a registered voter, I have a right to run for office in Champaign County. As a candidate, I will represent the thousands of registered student voters who, like me, leave the county for the summer." Rodgers, a dorm resident registered at that address, returned home for the summer, fully intending to move back into the district in the fall.

Ken Urban, candidate for County Board District 7 and a professor at Parkland College, questions the further implications of the objection. "This is an incredibly shortsighted objection, one that will disenfranchise the student population if upheld, at a time in their lives when they should be encouraged to engage in civic esponsibilities."

Ken Urban and Dave Sacks will face two Republicans and two Democrats in the fall, while Miller and Rodgers will each face one Democrat and one Republican in the fall in their respective districts. Jen Walling, media contact for the Prairie Green Party of East Central Illinois, stated, "It’s disappointing that the local democrats would choose to focus their efforts on restricting the choices available to voters in the fall. These Green candidates have an excellent chance of winning and will make great county board members once elected."

The Prairie Green Party of East Central Illinois, a chapter of the Illinois Green Party, endorses these candidates for office.

For more information on the Prairie Greens, visit www.prairiegreens.org

For more info on Ken Urban visit, www.kenurban.com,

For more information on Zach Miller visit, www.votezach.org

Illinois election board defers ruling on ballot status for SEP candidate

By Joe Parks and Barry Grey
7 July 2004
http://www.wsws.org/articles/2004/jul2004/hear-j07.shtml

In a hearing held Tuesday in Urbana, Illinois, the Champaign County Election Board put off issuing a ruling on a challenge filed by Democratic Party officials aimed at keeping Socialist Equality Party candidate Tom Mackaman off of the ballot for the November election. Mackaman is the SEP candidate for state representative in Illinois’ 103rd legislative district, which includes the twin cities of Champaign and Urbana.

The board authorized its chairman, Champaign County Clerk Mark Sheldon, to conduct a line-by-line examination of the hundreds of petition signatures challenged by the Democratic objector, in the presence of a representative of Mackaman and a representative of those challenging his right to ballot status. This time-consuming process is to begin some time next week. The board set July 27 as the date for a further hearing, at which it plans to issue a ruling based on its review of the contested signatures.

The hearing, which took place at the Champaign County Court House, was covered by a reporter for the Champaign-Urbana News-Gazette, who interviewed Mackaman prior to the start of the proceedings. Following the hearing, Mackaman was interviewed by a number of local radio and television stations.

<more http://www.wsws.org/articles/2004/jul2004/hear-j07.shtml>

[displacedtexan]

1. I lived in Bloomington for 20 years...

I found the general population of Central Illinois as a whole (of course, there were many incredibly kind and brilliant individuals who were born and raised there!) to be the most inept, selfish, mean, and/or pig ignorant people I've ever had to deal with.

In the opinion of most residents, Dems were the biggest threat to peace and prosperity.

Even the McLean County sheriff (a Dem) changed parties in order to "fit in."

I always thought that Champaign was much more enlightened than Bloomington! After reading your post, it wouldn't surprise me to learn that most of the Champaign County Dems are actually Repukes in Dem clothing.

Sorry for the rant, but I lived with "Let's celebrate mediocrity!" way too long in that area.

[AntiLempa]

2. Liberal Democrats

There are quite a few liberal Democrats that hold office in Champaign County. Unfortunately many of them are hostile to third parties as well. This is of course understandable since they are challenging their seats. What bothers me is that they don't even want them to have a chance to run. Instead of beating them through better ideas and policies they use dirty tricks, lots of money, and politicking.

But at least they let Bush on the ballot!

[davsand]

3. Where to start...

OK--I REALLY resent some of the crap thrown out here about how narrow minded the Dems are here. I'm absolutely struggling NOT to blow up--so excuse me if I sound a bit abrupt.

First, two of the candidates cited in this article CLEARLY do not reside in district, NOR do they even live at the addresses they filed at. Sorry gang, but that is a clear violation of Illinois election code. It has little to do with the fact that they are Green, but a lot to do with the fact that they broke the law.

The five County wide Green candidates couldn't be bothered to comply with even the simplest and most direct provision of the law since each of them submitted petitions a THOUSAND signatures short of the requirement at the outset.

By contrast, the Dems who were allowed on the ballot were using the paperwork distributed by the County Clerk--our local election authority--who had vouched for the correctness of the language used.

This isn't about choice for voters. This is about keeping Champaign County government from being handed back to the GOP the same way the White House was handed back to Bush. None of these Green candidates had any chance of winning. The ONLY possible outcome of a "successful" Green candidacy in any of these districts would have been the election of Repugs in what are profoundly liberal districts.

If these Green candidates were truly interested in moving either the Dem party or Champaign County government further to the left they should have run in the Dem primaries (which they actually might have had a chance of winning) so that they could run behind a united front in the fall as a legitimate Dem candidate against the GOP.

Greens have no f*&^ing place running against any Dem on a General election ballot, IMO.

Laura

[Tweed]

4. Great argument and then you show your true colors

It's good to know that those Greens did not live in the district and weren't legal to run there. However, "Greens have no f*&^ing place running against any Dem on a General election ballot, IMO." is wrong, wrong, wrong. Any candidate should be able to run for office for any party they want to. Maybe it's true that "Champaign Democrats oppose Democracy".

[chiburb]

5. Thank you for that, Laura...

NOBODY knows Champaign County politics better than you. I appreciate your perspective...

[AntiLempa]

6. Interesting Perspective.

Your post made a lot of sense and then you showed your true colors when you said "Greens have no f*&^ing place running against any Dem on a General election ballot, IMO."

That is my point and you proved it better than I could.

And what is your take on Mr. Mackaman's situation? I realize that the incumbent Dem is in a tough race against a liberal Republican, but the charges that Mrs. Parr has thrown aganst Mackaman are shady at best. Are you of the opinion that Mr. Mackaman has "no f*&^ing place running against any Dem on a General election ballot"?

[davsand]

7. My argument is based on practicality.

Ya know what? I am about as left as it gets. Many of the Dems here ARE left of the mainstream as far as Dems go. That is FINE in the urban areas--works for the voters, and left leaning candidates do fine. Those Greens could win IF they play the game and take advantage of the party machine by running in primaries. That, however, is NOT what they have chosen to do.

This is not some exercise in political science in some U of IL classroom--this is real life. These elections impact on thousands of people's lives, and clinging to the dream of creating a new party is a nice ideal, but simply not feasible for now. What they are doing now is putting several important elements of county government at risk, nothing more.

IF it means risking that the GOP wins control of that board back again because a handful of Greens wants to try and prove a point, then, yeah, I will fight tooth and nail to keep illegal candidates from going on that ballot and draining votes off viable Dem candidates.

I have fought for nifty little ideals like protection for the GLBT workers in the county--THAT will be gone if the GOP regains control of that board.

You can kiss the county public health dept goodbye as well--the GOP HATES that idea--and in doing that you will place the rural residents in a situation where they are without important services. You have NO idea of how awful the county restaurants were before they began to inspect them regularly...

Along with that, you can kiss responsible bidder ordinances farewell, along with any real attempt to help minority contractors gain a foothold.

Workers will not have contraceptive coverage, possibly NO coverage for health care. THAT is another battle that has been hard won, along with another ideal we have been working toward which is coverage for same gender partners of workers. (Trust me, you do NOT want to hear about the conversation I had with one of the GOPiglets on that board who felt it was "just ridiculous" for the county insurance to pay for women's birth control pills...)

Frankly, I resent being treated the way I have been here. Not many of you live here, I bet. You want to call it my true colors, but I bet that not ONE of you can tell me the voter demographics in those ares where the Greens are trying to prove a point. Let me clue you in: If they pull too many votes off the Dems you can bet that the GOP WILL regain control of that board.

Call me a Dem party animal, call me narrow minded, call me any damn thing you want, but I'll fight you to the mat to protect the ideals we have accomplished and continue to work toward. This is high stakes stuff for those of us who live here, and the poly sci experiments need to be conducted someplace else.


Laura

[AntiLempa]

9. Run on the Record

Then the Democrats should run on their records. I am represented by a liberal Democrat in Urbana, in fact, Urbana has a pretty left City Council, but I find it appalling when dirty tricks are used to keep legitimant candidates off of ballots or out of office. I thought it was ridiculous that Bush/Cheney stole the 2000 election and I think it's ridiculous when Republicans fight to keep Libertarians off of the ballot. I also think it's ridiclous when Democrats use the same tactics to keep legitimate candidates off of the ballot.

If the Democrats have done a lot for the County then they should run on their records. If they are concerned about a left wing Party then they should institute IRV. Of course this isn't about democracy or making elections fair, it is about maintaining the stranglehold on power that the two parties have secured.

By the way, what is your take on the Tom Mackaman situation?

[davsand]

11. Is it "dirty tricks" to require candidates to obey the law?

Sorry, I am NOT buying that argument. Seems to me that any candidate who can't follow the law probably isn't anyone I'd call "legitimate." I am not inclined to give the Greens a special dispensation due to lack of experience in elections. I doubt the GOP will either.

I ask you, AntiLempa, if the local Greens are so determined that the Dems run on their record, WHY are the Greens so unwilling to come and play in a Dem primary where they might stand a fighting chance? Is it possible that maybe, just maybe, they worship ideals more than an honest victory?

Before you return to the "victim of the system" litany, be sure and ask a couple of your Urbana city councilwomen who RAN and WON as Dems if they feel Greens get raped by the Dems here. I am not buying that argument because I was there and I saw the Dems turn out for those ladies.

I'll tell you right now--if the Greens want to climb out of the wailing corner and come play in a Dem primary, not a Dem will challenge them. Even the Dem Party Chair will have to stay neutral--because we don't smack around fellow Dems with challenges. If the Greens want a free pass out of the Dems then they better RUN as Dems--that is what elections are about.

Of course this is about holding onto power; if only because the alternative is ceding control of the county back to the Republicans. By way of illustration, here are the actual Green Party totals from 2002, when they ran a congressional candidate. The three county board districts broken out here are the same ones the Greens filed for this year:



The simple fact revealed by these numbers is this: had there been Green candidates in these same county board districts two years ago, and had they received approximately the same number of votes as the Green congressional candidate, the Republicans would have won in districts 7 and 9 and be in control of the Champaign County Board today. Does that really serve the Green agenda?

On the subject of Mackaman, I have not talked to anybody who even knows for sure what the challenge was based on, except for the fact that over one thousand of his signatures are in question.

I will say, that the State Rep District was drawn to favor a Dem, and I would guess that the challenge is most likely supported by the House Dems (or at least Mike Madigan's people.) I doubt they want to risk losing that district to the moderate GOP candidate simply because a fairly non-viable candidate siphoned off a few votes. That race is very high stakes, and I am not shocked that at that level it has been scrutinized.

We desperately need to find two candidates to run against the Dem Township supervisors in both Champaign and Urbana (Cunningham township.) A Green party person could win that Urbana race quite handily, if they run in a Dem primary. Here's a public invitation from one of the evil Dem party members. Come out and play...


Pax to you and yours.

Laura

[davsand]

14. Post to provide new link for chart:

Sorry, all, Picgoo somehow dropped this image. I need to find a new free hosting site for images...

Laura

[chiburb]

10. You're so cute when you're mad!

;-)

Actually, your post should be required reading for every Illinois DUer...

[scarlet_owl]

17. I have to say that I agree with you.

Champaign County, especially where I live (Urbana), is doing quite well with the Dems on the board. I don't really know as much about local politics as I should, but I do know that the Green party pulling too many votes away is the last thing we need right now.

[AngryAmish]

8. Champaign Repubs sent a trial lawyer to Congress

Guess the humidity down there gets to folks.

[davsand]

12. "Uncle Timmy" is a phenom,,,

You have got to understand, I loathe that man and all he stands for, but I also respect him for the kind of campaigner he is.

The running joke here is that you can't get more than two people in a bathroom at the same time without him showing up...

That joke might make you smile, but this guy literally works it harder than anybody I've ever seen in all the time I've been doing this. This is a guy that is working his campaign 24/7/365, and he's going to every ham and bean dinner, fish fry, 50th Wedding Anniversary, high school basketball game, and baby shower in the district.

This district is also just an awful mess if you look at how it is drawn. Like the State House district, it was drawn to favor a party--in this case the GOP.

I've been carrying Dr. David Gill's website addy in my sig line for a while now--he's running against Tim Johnson this year. I LOVE David--he's an amazing guy with a huge amount of energy. Not all of us think Tim Johnson is the bee's knees.

Laura

[AngryAmish]

15. Bottom line tho Johnson is a winner

Thanx to IDP.

[davsand]

16. It isn't JUST IDP.

When he was our State Rep, it was difficult to find ANYBODY to run against him. It was literally seen as a sort of sacrificial lamb campaign--keeping Tim Johnson busy so he couldn't work too hard for anybody else.

Local Labor even bought into Johnson from the viewpoint that even IF he did vote badly, he at least called them back. Literally, I have heard some of them say that at least his votes in Congress on Over Time were the right ones.

In the endorsement session for this election, there were guys in there advocating for Johnson--even tho Dr. Gill is running a good campaign and working it hard. They DID finally endorse David Gill, but it was a hard fight for the guys who were in there supporting him.

THAT kind of stuff really torques me--you'd THINK the labor guys would be smarter than that. Endorsing ANY Repub in Illinois is just the same as laying down and "beggin to get raped," as one of my old room mates used to say...

Laura

[scarlet_owl]

18. Funny story about Tim Johnson.

He visited my sister's high school civics class a few years ago. As the students were filing into the class, they noticed a disheveled- looking, unshaven man sitting in the corner. In my sister's words "he looked like he woke up in a dumpster". My sister asked who that was, and the teacher replied, "that's Tim Johnson". My sister told me later that his presentation was terrible. She couldn't believe that this was an elected official.

[davsand]

19. He looks REALLY bad in person.

There were rumors making the rounds that he was a coke addict. Nobody ever knew for sure--but yeah--he looks awful and that added fuel to the rumor. I joke that he looks like a survivor of Bergen Belson.

He's had multiple wives (serial, so he's not a bigamist!) and I'm betting there are divorce attorneys here in town who know the really good dirt and can never talk about it. Such a shame because you just KNOW there's a good story there somplace...

Anyhow, he was out campaigning years ago for his seat in the state House, and he came to a bowling alley where I was bowling. One of the ladies I was bowling with looked up and saw him walking along talking to people, and said, "Oh lord--some homeless guy is here tonight. I hope they get him out of here soon." She about fell over when she found out that was her State Rep. she had just been so nasty about.

He uses a very old photo on his campaign literature. I've never known if it was vanity or just self protection.

Laura

[scarlet_owl]

20. Yup. I have heard the coke rumors.

My mother worked with a friend of Johnson's who swore he was a coke addict. My mom once had to throw him out of the McDonald's restaurant where she was a manager. He was passing out literature to customers and she politely asked him to leave, pointing to the "No Soliciting" sign. He asked her, "don't you know who I am? I'm Tim Johnson". My mother replied, "I don't care who you are. Get out or I'm calling the police". I love my mom.

[Cuban_Liberal]

13. The emphasis should be on why they screwed up their petitions.

The laws are VERY clear in terms of what Greens have to do to gain ballot access for a given office. If they can't do it properly, that is NOT the fault of the Democratic Party--- it is the fault of the Greens. I'm tired of this utter bullshit about 'opposing democracy' when the fault lies squarely with the candidate and his/her petitions!

:grr: