Patton Files For Board Chairman
Published by Al Adomite on June 23rd, 2008
I should start off my post on this upcoming chairman’s race with a quick disclaimer. I know both Alan Dunstan and Hal Patton very well. Both of them are friends. Hal is my dentist, Alan has known my family here in Troy for 30 years. I like both of them and find them both to be honorable people. Maybe that’s why I’ve been reluctant to post about this potential race so far.
But, this filing will provide the opportunity to follow the plight of an Independent candidate, the most disadvantaged person in Illinois under the state’s arcane and unfair election laws.
Patton filed with (according to my sources) somewhere around 1,000 more than the required 4,209 signatures. It’s an unbelievable grassroots effort that he reached over 5,000 in just three weeks. You would think an effort like that would be rewarded with a month’s vacation in political terms.
But the story doesn’t end there, because this next week the mother-of-all petition challenges is set to begin. And this won’t be the first bloody petition fight in Madison County. In fact, it won’t be the first over the issue of County Board Chairman.
The deadline for filing petition challenges, according to the State Board of Elections calendar, is next Monday, June 30th. Then, under state law, there are some goofy time period descriptions, but it will take about a week or two for the three-member electoral board to meet and make a decision. After that, the candidate gets 10 days to file for judicial review, and that review is statutorily limited to a 30-day time period. That takes us to at least the middle of August, not counting if the Appellate or Supreme courts would need to get involved.
So, I’m rather surprised that there was no mention of any petition challenging when the first article on Patton’s filing showed up this afternoon. Granted, any local citizen can end up filing the challenge, so it’s not necessarily anything focused on just Dunstan and Patton.
“I think it’s hard to run as an independent, but I’m taking it very seriously,” Dunstan said.
Maybe I’m wrong. Maybe next Monday will come and go quietly. But the hardest part of running as an Independent in Illinois is how the law’s are stacked against ballot access. It’s not Dunstan’s fault. There’s nothing Patton can do to change it. Blame the legislature if you think it is unfair (I do). But, the most interesting political story in the metro-east is likely to begin one week from today. In my mind, the only character yet to be named is the Objector.
Filed under County Issues
June 24th, 2008 at 3:35 pm
Let’s hope no one challenges the petitions. That being said, I agree with Al, I would fully expect someone to officially challenge the petitions.
Patton and his followers have defied all odds by getting this many signatures in less than three weeks. It is one of the most remarkable political petitions drives to have taken place in decades, if ever. It says something about the electorates mood!
Unless there are egregious violations, unqualified signers, or outright fraud found, the 3 person electoral board should easily vote to certify the petitions and place Patton on the ballot.
I beg to differ with you Al,then Dunstan will have a choice. The ballot access should no longer be blamed on the legislature at that point.
Dunstan and Patton should get about the task of presenting their positions and let the voters decide.
I don’t blame the legislature for setting higher ballot access to other than the party candidates. Without a higher threshhold, there would be dozens of candidates on the ballot.
June 25th, 2008 at 3:14 pm
Results : Dunstan 62 - Patton 38
That may be generous in Patton’s favor.
June 26th, 2008 at 9:58 am
What dos Dunstan 62 -Patton 38 mean?
June 26th, 2008 at 11:14 am
It means Hal is going to get trounced.
June 30th, 2008 at 5:48 pm
[...] to my sources, no challenge was filed this afternoon in the Hal Patton candidacy. Shows what I know. Filed under County [...]
November 1st, 2008 at 7:26 am
I don’t know folks. If he was qualified to run, why didn’t the party assist him. If he wanted to run, why couldn’t he do things in a timely manner. If he does win, will he set a time where someone can find him and talk to him.
Just reading his bio and the time he been on the board now it appears he wants to cost taxpayers in the Western part millions with his trying to undo the levee funding methods. The ONLY result would be to raise the taxes in all communities along the river and or watch the insurance rates in such communities to double, triple, or worse because of the new flood plain maps by the Corp of engineers.
He doesn’t think things out, he just opposes anything and everything and hope it sticks.
November 5th, 2008 at 10:18 am
Results : Dunstan 62 - Patton 38
That may be generous in Patton’s favor.
Was I right, or was I right?