Campaigns & Elections News

Campaigns & Elections

Unpaid city bills, campaign fines weigh on Johnson ahead of tomorrow’s mayoral runoff; he's a court ruling away from being tossed from ballot

Published reports that Brandon Johnson had amassed thousands in unpaid city water bills and parking tickets has intensified concerns that the former public school teacher lacks the fiscal management skills to oversee the budget of the nation’s third largest city.
By Cook County Record |
Campaigns & Elections

IL Dems change law to allow vote-by-mail ballots to be counted in a way judge had said 'would be obvious way to commit fraud'

The changes come after a Republican state House candidate had sued the Democratic DuPage County Clerk, accusing her of illegally verifying signatures on mail-in ballots against signatures on the vote-by-mail ballot applications, and not the official voter registration records, as had been required by law
By Jonathan Bilyk |

Latest News

Medium mazzochi v kaczmarek
Campaigns & Elections

Appeals court: DuPage judge wrong to step into fight over mail-in ballots while votes were being counted

By Jonathan Bilyk |
A state appeals panel has sided with DuPage County Clerk Jean Kaczmarek in a court fight with State Rep. Deanne Mazzochi, saying courts have no ability to order election officials to follow the law when counting votes until after election officials say they are done counting ballots.
Medium mazzochi v kaczmarek
Campaigns & Elections

DuPage County Clerk appeals again to escape judge's order requiring her to follow law when counting mail-in ballots

By Jonathan Bilyk |
DuPage County Clerk Jean Kaczmarek has appealed to the Illinois Third District Appellate Court to overturn a DuPage County judge's temporary restraining order in a dispute with a Republican state legislator over how she is verifying mail-in ballots are legal
Medium mazzochi v kaczmarek
Campaigns & Elections

IL Supreme Court rejects bid by DuPage Clerk to overturn judge's order to follow law when counting mail-in ballots

By Jonathan Bilyk |
DuPage County Clerk Jean Kaczmarek had argued a DuPage County judge overstepped his authority by granting a court order sought by a DuPage County state lawmaker seeking to force her office to verify mail-in ballots as Illinois election law requires
Medium mazzochi v kaczmarek
Campaigns & Elections

DuPage Clerk asks IL Supreme Court to toss DuPage judge's order to follow law when verifying mail-in ballots

By Jonathan Bilyk |
DuPage County Clerk Jean Kaczmarek argues a DuPage County judge improperly entered a court order requiring her office to exclusively use voter registration records to verify voter signatures on mail-in ballots. She says judges must wait until after she has finished counting votes to ensure votes were legally counted
Medium mazzochi v kaczmarek
Campaigns & Elections

Judge: Procedures used by DuPage Clerk to count mail-in ballots 'obvious way to commit ballot fraud'

By Jonathan Bilyk |
A DuPage County judge has ordered DuPage County Clerk Jean Kaczmarek to rely exclusively on voter registration records when verifying signatures on mail-in ballots, as the law requires, in a win for Elmhurst Republican State Rep. Deanne Mazzochi in her lawsuit over vote counting in her race for a new term in office
Medium mazzochi v kaczmarek
Campaigns & Elections

DuPage County Clerk not properly verifying mail-in ballots, Mazzochi says in lawsuit

By Jonathan Bilyk |
State Rep. Deanne Mazzochi, R-Elmhurst, filed suit against DuPage County Clerk Jean Kaczmarek, accusing the Democratic Clerk of not verifying mail-in ballot signatures as required by law. Mazzochi trails her Democratic opponent by about 200 votes, as of Monday evening.
Medium illinois capitol from supreme court
Campaigns & Elections

Illinois' Amendment 1 too close to call

By Andrew Hensel, The Center Square |
Votes will be continue to be counted over the coming days to determine the fate of Amendment 1, the so-called "Workers Rights Amendment" strongly supported by government unions seeking to cement their power over Illinois' laws and government
Medium obrien and rochford
Campaigns & Elections

Rochford wins big, O'Brien declares victory, giving Dems 5-2 majority on IL Supreme Court

By Jonathan Bilyk |
Democrats Lake County Judge Elizabeth Rochford and Appellate Justice Mary K. O'Brien have prevailed in the races for two open seats on the Illinois Supreme Court, in their respective contests vs Republicans former Lake County Sheriff Mark Curran and incumbent Illinois Supreme Court Justice Michael Burke
Medium law evans tim chief judge
Campaigns & Elections

Cook County voters hand easy wins to Democratic judges seeking retention, including Chief Judge Evans

By Jonathan Bilyk |
Voters also elected Cook County Assistant Public Defender Joe Gump to a seat on the bench in the 13th Subcircuit, in the only contested partisan election for judge in Cook County.
Medium goppresser
Campaigns & Elections

'Unprecedented spending' by Illinois Democrats erodes confidence in Supreme Court independence, officials say

By Steve Korris |
SPRINGFIELD – Governor JB Pritzker, having spent $353 million of his personal fortune on elections in five years, dug into a different pocket for Democrat Supreme Court candidates Elizabeth Rochford and Mary O’Brien.
Medium devoreraoul
Campaigns & Elections

Illinois attorney general candidates differ on Pritzker's pandemic orders, forcing Kim Foxx to prosecute crimes

By Greg Bishop, The Center Square |
Democrat Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul and Republican challenger Tom DeVore faced off in a debate on WTTW in Chicago on Tuesday.
Medium harmonpritzker800
Campaigns & Elections

Top IL Dems rake in campaign cash; Trial lawyers chip in big bucks to help Dems

By Jonathan Bilyk |
According to campaign finance reports, trial lawyers in Illinois donated almost $1.85 million to campaign funds run by powerful Democratic leaders, Illinois House Speaker Emanuel "Chris" Welch and State Sen. President Don Harmon
Medium illinois capitol from supreme court
Campaigns & Elections

Judge blocks IL Dems' law to block out-of-state donations to judge campaigns

By Jonathan Bilyk |
Democrats said the law was needed to maintain judicial integrity. A federal judge said he feared the law was actually motivated by a desire for the Democrats who dominate Springfield to "maintain the status quo" of Democratic control of the courts, not to fight corruption
Medium voting location
Campaigns & Elections

Judge says IL Dems can't step in to join IL State Elections Board's defense vs challenge to IL vote by mail law

By Jonathan Bilyk |
The judge recognized Democrats' election efforts could be strained, should he rule that mail-in ballots can't be counted if they are received after Election Day. But the judge said that's not enough to let them join the court fight
Medium curran and rochford
Campaigns & Elections

Trial lawyers pony up big bucks to slam Republicans, boost Democrats running in close IL Supreme Court races

By Jonathan Bilyk |
This fall, voters will have the chance to reshape the partisan makeup of the Illinois Supreme Court for the first time in modern history. Trial lawyers and other progressive special interests are pouring millions of dollars into a campaign fund to stop that
Medium abramsstacey
Campaigns & Elections

Georgia-based Fair Fight and others get around Illinois out-of-state judicial contribution ban by giving to indie 'All for Justice'

By Steve Korris |
SPRINGFIELD – Citizens of other states can’t send a penny to judicial candidates in Illinois but Georgia Democratic gubernatorial hopeful Stacey Abrams can send $500,000 to a group backing judicial candidates in Illinois.
Medium illinois henyard tiffany
Campaigns & Elections

Appeals panel: Voters can't create recall mechanism, remove Dolton mayor in same election

By Jonathan Bilyk |
A state appeals court says the results of referendums approved by voters in June to remove Dolton Mayor Tiffany Henyard can't be enforced, because the referendums were placed before the voters unconstitutionally
Medium devore presser screenshot
Campaigns & Elections

'White guy' protestor disrupts SAFE-T Act press conference called by DeVore, Black south suburban leaders, activists

By Jonathan Bilyk |
The press conference was intended to draw attention to alleged racial discrimination risks faced by Black and brown Illinois residents under the SAFE-T Act. DeVore called on Gov. JB Pritzker and Attorney General Kwame Raoul to condemn the 'violence' that disrupted the press conference

Most Popular
1
Chicago parking meters owners say City Hall owes millions for not properly enforcing parking rules
2
Homeservices of America to pay $250M to settle real estate commission antitrust lawsuits
3
Judge: IL Sup Ct decision can shield health care vendors from huge biometrics class actions
4
Judge says United Airlines workers can't keep trying to sue airline over Covid vax mandate; Appeal filed
5
Lawsuit says Northwestern failed Jewish students by 'coddling' pro-Hamas, 'terror-supporting' encampment