| Submit your comments on this article |
| Home Front: Politix |
| Tea Party Candidate Cedra Crenshaw Fights Illinois Democrats to Get on Ballot |
| 2010-07-16 |
| [Fox Chicago] On Wednesday, one of Governor Quinn's routine bill signing ceremonies turned into a debate over ballot access and the Tea Party in Illinois. A supporter of Republican and Tea Party activist Cedra Crenshaw jumped up and demanded to know why Democrats supporting incumbent State Sen. A.J. Wilhelmi, who was at the bill signing, had worked to get Crenshaw kicked off the ballot. Crenshaw, a 37-year old mother of three who studied accounting at North Carolina A&T, submitted hundreds more signatures on her nominating petitions than required. But Will County officials knocked her off the November ballot, saying one of the sentences in her filing should have used slightly different wording. "I am angry," said Crenshaw, an African-American who rejects complaints that the Tea Party movement is racist. "And a lot of the voters are very angry, as well. Right here in the State of Illinois, the vote is being denied to the voters of the 43rd State Senate District by a frivolous challenge." Sen. Wilhelmi told me the rules are the rules. "The statute is pretty clear on what you need to do," he said. "So, follow the statute and there are no issues." Sen. Wilhelmi's right. Candidates all across Illinois are trying to kick their opponents off the ballot. We've lost a lot of real jobs, but this is a growth industry pumping big bucks into the pockets of nit-picking lawyers for both Democrats and Republicans. |
| Posted by:Fred |
| #2 "The statute is pretty clear on what you need to do," he said. "So, follow the statute and there are no issues." The classic cop out. Wilhelmi is the one that needs to go. |
| Posted by: 49 Pan 2010-07-16 12:05 |
| #1 I live in Will County. The politics here are almost as crooked as that seen in Cook County, just less famous. Joliet and Romeoville are heavily Democratic, the rest of the county is heavily Republican. |
| Posted by: Steve White 2010-07-16 09:49 |