Candidates gather in Springfield for first day to file

Posted on November 25, 2019
A long line formed Monday morning outside the Illinois State Board of Elections offices. (Dave Dahl/WJBC)

 

By Dave Dahl

SPRINGFIELD – In a quaint political tradition every other year in Springfield, a long line of candidates assembled Monday morning outside the Illinois State Board of Elections offices.

They want to be first on the ballot in their respective races in the March 17, 2020 primary.

“We have never been able to find any evidence or any sort of academic study that shows there is an advantage to having your name first on the ballot, but it is a tradition,” said Matt Dietrich, spokesman for the election board.

Marc Loveless, a statehouse candidate from Chicago, was not taking any chances. “They will tell you strategically that it’s a value of about two to three percent of the vote (to be first). Elections are won in the margins. That we all know.”

If you can’t be first, perhaps you can be last. The candidates who file in the final hour – leading up to 5 p.m. next Monday – have a chance for the bottom spot on the ballot. The lottery, featuring Illinois Lottery balls in a wooden box, is Dec. 11.

Dave Dahl can be reached at [email protected]

Blogs

Labor Day – Expanding voting rights for all

By Mike Matejka Because of COVID, there is no Labor Day Parade this year.  It’s always a great event for our everyday workers to march proudly down the street and enjoys the festive crowd. If there had been a parade, this year’s Labor Day theme was to be “150 years of struggle: your right to vote.” …

Is federal mobilization the answer?

By Mike Matejka As President Donald Trump threatens to send federal marshals into Chicago, over the objections of Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker, recall another Illinois Governor who protested the incursion of armed federal personnel into the city.   Those federal troops, rather than calming, escalated the situation, leading to deaths and violence. Illinois poet Vachel Lindsay…

In these troubled times, to my fellow white Americans

By Mike Matejka Our nation is at a unique watershed in human relations. African-Americans have been killed too many times in the past before George Floyd, but the response to this man’s death is international and all-encompassing. I was a grade-schooler during the Civil Rights 1960s. I watched Birmingham demonstrators hosed and the Selma – Montgomery…

Workers’ Memorial Day – Remember those whose job took their life

Looking around our community, when we say employer, most will respond to State Farm, Country, or Illinois State University.   We too often forget those who are building our roads, serving our food, or our public employees. COVID-19 has made us more aware of the risk.  Going to work every day for some people means…