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* Politico…
Watch for GOP governor candidate Jesse Sullivan to see his petition signatures challenged. Copies of some of the petition pages that his campaign turned in Monday show signatures that look strikingly similar. Check out here, here and here. His campaign’s response: “We’re not surprised that our opponents prefer to focus us in court than on the campaign trail.”
Click those links. This may not be enough to kick him off the ballot, but those signatures are probably going to get a closer look.
posted by Rich Miller
Wednesday, Mar 16, 22 @ 7:54 am
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its extremely difficult to have signatures removed based on this. not registered, or registered at a different address…sure, they’re gone. this signature doesn’t look authentic, or it looks like the same person filled these in…voter disenfranchisement.
Comment by wilco Wednesday, Mar 16, 22 @ 7:59 am
Between Griff’s puppet and this walking gaffe, Bailey looks like the most polished, together candidate on the ballot.
No small feat, IMO.
Comment by Flyin' Elvis'-Utah Chapter Wednesday, Mar 16, 22 @ 7:59 am
===Bailey looks like the most polished, together candidate on the ballot.===
If this was a collaborative ranking I believe we would be having a debate about this statement based off of trying to decide how much relying on a person now charged with crimes related to the January 6th attack on the Capitol impacts that.
In ancient Athens it was possible to not successfully elect someone to fill one of their archon positions. The GOP primary candidates are a stellar example as to how that could happen.
Comment by Candy Dogood Wednesday, Mar 16, 22 @ 8:07 am
This the same guy who was all “Mr. Ethics and Integrity” yesterday while this was coming to light?
Comment by Ron Burgundy Wednesday, Mar 16, 22 @ 8:08 am
Who knew so many people lived in Marion with the last name beginning with K, and that all of the K’s look identical.
If you’re going to complain about corruption, maybe don’t try doing it yourself, Jesse.
Comment by Steve Rogers Wednesday, Mar 16, 22 @ 8:09 am
Yet an anti-corruption platform.
Comment by Big Dipper Wednesday, Mar 16, 22 @ 8:10 am
If you’re the Griffin Crew, ya gotta want Sullivan on the ballot, maybe “send help”.
I don’t think Bailey has the ability to mount a challenge that could be enough to throw Sullivan off, that would take a good/exceptional attorney… and will Bailey even have the manpower to go through and catalog, correctly?
Sullivan is not a serious candidate.
Nothing points to that, even written platform points don’t absolve the lacking.
Comment by Oswego Willy Wednesday, Mar 16, 22 @ 8:10 am
== Bailey looks like the most polished, together candidate on the ballot.==
Words I thought I would never see together.
Comment by Bruce( no not him) Wednesday, Mar 16, 22 @ 8:11 am
To the petitions, yeah those look really fishy. Look at the loopy M’s on Marion on all 3. These are supposed to have been circulated by 3 different people.
Comment by Ron Burgundy Wednesday, Mar 16, 22 @ 8:12 am
==that would take a good/exceptional attorney==
and, Devore is in Florida…
Comment by Pot calling kettle Wednesday, Mar 16, 22 @ 8:14 am
My guess is Sullivan’s petitions will be challenged but he will stay on the ballot. He’s got a lot of money for attorneys.
In terms of the platform, that would appear to be the work of the former legislative IG who has endorsed Sullivan. Sorry don’t recall the name.
Comment by Friendly Bob Adams Wednesday, Mar 16, 22 @ 8:19 am
== same guy who was all “Mr. Ethics and Integrity” yesterday ==
At this point, I just use their words as the starting point to look for what they did wrong.
It very rarely fails to produce, and it’s a great time saver.
Just look how often Bailey likes to complain about socialism. Doesn’t take too long to find his FSA/USDA records…
Comment by TheInvisibleMan Wednesday, Mar 16, 22 @ 8:20 am
county signature “Williamson” repeats on each others from the bottom signatures notarized?
Comment by Rabid Wednesday, Mar 16, 22 @ 8:20 am
There are more than 3 signatures that look alike in my opinion.
Comment by allknowingmasterofraccoondom Wednesday, Mar 16, 22 @ 8:21 am
==will Bailey even have the manpower to go through and catalog, correctly?==
U-Line’s $1M is plenty to pay for it with room to spare, if you can count on Bailey to not throw that money at friends and gritfters.
…so, “No” is probably the answer to your question.
Comment by Arsenal Wednesday, Mar 16, 22 @ 8:24 am
I wonder if he was paying for signatures. That can often lead to trouble. Also, he said he intentionally waited until the last day to file to secure the final ballot position. Looks like that was another prevarication on Sullivan’s part.
And he wants to be our latex salesman?
Comment by 47th Ward Wednesday, Mar 16, 22 @ 8:24 am
==At this point, I just use their words as the starting point to look for what they did wrong.==
Every accusation is a confession.
Comment by Arsenal Wednesday, Mar 16, 22 @ 8:25 am
===“Mr. Ethics and Integrity” ===
I agree that candidates are ultimately responsible for their petitions and in an ideal world would have someone internally review them but that state of Illinois politics being what it is and has been for decades “enthusiastic” supporters of a candidate in some cases paid staff will engage in inappropriate conduct without direction simply because they believe that this is how it is done and fail to connect how their own conduct impacts the campaign because “everyone does it” which seems to be the leading excuse for corruption in the State of Illinois.
Assuming the Sullivan campaign remains viable, it might do them some good to take a look at their Williamson County operation. Williamson County — where a GOP primary opponent changed her name to Ashley Gott to match the name of her incumbent opponent. There seem to be some red flags flying over at the Williamson County GOP.
Comment by Candy Dogood Wednesday, Mar 16, 22 @ 8:32 am
I’ve never seen so many K’s on the signatures look so alike. That’s a very distinctive style and they’re the same on all three sheets.
Comment by Suburban Guy Wednesday, Mar 16, 22 @ 8:46 am
Since we are in the season of filling out brackets I would say Bailey is the number 1 seed right now. I am not commenting on the merits of that choice. But if asked to pick today who I think wins? Bailey
Comment by Galway Bay Wednesday, Mar 16, 22 @ 8:48 am
For me, it always begins with fundamentals;
The blocking and tackling of a campaign and the Crew showing real proficiency in going about their business in doing the fundamentals.
This includes petitions.
Let’s look back, shall we?
The Sullivan Crew runs ads, yet couldn’t find a running mate.
The running mate they found? They found an actor in political propaganda ads to support Proft candidates, continually saying false things about whom they support and will vote for, as she couldn’t vote for all of them. She was a prop, an actress, a tool of phony.
Sullivan still can’t clarify any valor, choosing to let others believe “whatever” in actuality, stealing valor for the sake of appearances.
Money? Welp, if Sullivan was running in California the money makes sense. Seems as though those big dollar drops stopped. Was it because of the stolen valor, no running mate, a lack of signatures to get in the ballot…
… and let’s talk about this signature gathering operation, arguably the most important fundamental as you can’t actually run without getting signatures and be in the ballot.
The Sullivan Crew is so grossly inept… they tout going to… (checks notes again, and in disbelief)… 52 counties, including… Tuscola County… and still lacked signatures?
Seriously? Really? The Sullivan Crew wanted all that to be seen as doing the blocking and tackling that pros do to win elections?
Now we have round tabling?
Sullivan is not a serious candidate, he can spend $6-10 million, but in the end Sullivan lacks any appearance or thoughtful work as a candidate serious about being the governor of the 6th largest state in America, and is only helping Irvin, which in the whole scheme of things is pretty comical when you look at the media Sullivan produces.
Bailey needs Sullivan gone.
I don’t think Bailey has the Crew to pull it off.
Comment by Oswego Willy Wednesday, Mar 16, 22 @ 8:59 am
I remember challenging some signatures that seemed very “similar” in a Sate Rep race —52 years ago
Hard to believe some knucklehead or group of knuckleheads are still “round tabling”.
Not only can it embarrass a candidate, in this nasty campaign environment that kind of nonsense by a volunteer or paid passer can get them charged with a crime.
Campaigns often attract true believers who cross the line or folks having some ethical compass issues. A petition challenge might find some more questionable signatures, but finding enough to throw someone off the ballot is a hard road to travel.
This may be an opportunity to add some people who can set some speed bumps in managing the campaign.
Comment by Back to the Future Wednesday, Mar 16, 22 @ 9:04 am
So where are the petitions from Tuscola County?
Comment by piper Wednesday, Mar 16, 22 @ 9:11 am
Piper
“So where are the petitions from Tuscola County?”
Ouch.
That may be the quote of the day.
Comment by Back to the Future Wednesday, Mar 16, 22 @ 9:15 am
=== Not only can it embarrass a candidate, in this nasty campaign environment that kind of nonsense by a volunteer or paid passer can get them charged with a crime.
Campaigns often attract true believers who cross the line or folks having some ethical compass issues.===
Let’s be quite plain, let’s make sure there’s no ambiguity;
The campaign, the leadership of the campaign, it’s legal people, the paid part of the campaign where the professionals are allegedly…
… they submitted these.
They submitted these.
This ain’t no “paid volunteer” or “rogue true believer”
Stop. Just stop that.
To submit for a statewide, so many hurdles are met, or as I’ve already said, the tacking and blocking being done… it’s the Crew that submitted these, bound these, got these or checked these with notaries…
.., they are not a serious campaign, from jump street.
If we are at the point of the exercise where a man who got millions to run for governor has folks looking to blame “volunteers” or “rabid true believers”…. friend… you’re tattling on them.. they are not only not prepared to run a campaign, they ain’t ready to run any state, California or Illinois.
Can’t blame volunteers.
Nope.
Fundamentally misguided, and truly only bad campaigns blame volunteers for lacking fundamentals
Comment by Oswego Willy Wednesday, Mar 16, 22 @ 9:17 am
Agree with OW on where the responsibility for problem is.
I don’t mind “amateur” issues, but ”dumb” does rub me the wrong way.
Comment by Back to the Future Wednesday, Mar 16, 22 @ 9:26 am
3rd page - #6 and #7 look like the exact same person wrote them - look at the way the addresses are written. What a mess.
Comment by Cool Papa Bell Wednesday, Mar 16, 22 @ 9:32 am
== can be charged with a crime (for petition fraud). ==
In the county of Cook, it’s not common for even flagrant cases of petition fraud to result in criminal charges. I remember helping challenge the petitions of a county board candidate. We stopped after collecting 100 affidavits from purported signers who said they never signed, including one from a widow whose late husband purportedly signed from the grave. Yet the election board saw no pattern of fraud, no one was charged, and the candidate got on the ballot.
Comment by anon2 Wednesday, Mar 16, 22 @ 9:35 am
To quote one of the 21st Century’s foremost moralists: “it’s not a lie if you believe it.”
I think that explains the advantage Bailey has over phonies like Irvin and Sullivan.
Comment by Henry Francis Wednesday, Mar 16, 22 @ 9:41 am
Those are all small counties. They all had the same teachers in that one room schoolhouse. /s
Comment by Bruce( no not him) Wednesday, Mar 16, 22 @ 9:41 am
Not a glimmer of the Palmer Method in the signatures.
Too many similarities, letter forms, size of letters, slant.
For Mr. I-have-all-the-answers Sullivan this is quite a blunder.
Comment by Rudy’s teeth Wednesday, Mar 16, 22 @ 9:46 am
It’s important to remember that when round-tabling is the issue, the goal isn’t simply to bump-off a handful of clearly bogus signatures.
The goal is to use those bogus signatures to disqualify entire petition sheets or even all petition sheets attested to by a particular circulator.
If a challenger can show that there is a “pattern of fraud and false swearing,” the necessary signatures can melt away rather quickly.
In extreme cases, electoral boards have even voided the nomination papers in their entirety.
tl;dr- this should be fun to watch.
– MrJM
Comment by MisterJayEm Wednesday, Mar 16, 22 @ 9:52 am
Kan you believe so many people kould have signatures that so klosely resemble one another? It’s un-kanny.
Comment by Southern Wednesday, Mar 16, 22 @ 9:55 am
Is this whole thing just a goof for Sully?
Comment by walker Wednesday, Mar 16, 22 @ 10:02 am
I’m sure the bar is pretty high for disqualifying based on handwriting but these are blatant and ridiculous. This could end up taking out whole pages, or all signatures collected by these circulators. They better not let these stand.
Comment by The Velvet Frog Wednesday, Mar 16, 22 @ 10:13 am
I’ve never, ever, made a circle thing on top of my Ks when writing cursive. Is that a thing?
Comment by Da big bad wolf Wednesday, Mar 16, 22 @ 10:16 am
= Copies of some of the petition pages that his campaign turned in Monday show signatures that look strikingly similar=
The bigger question is how many signatures did Sullivan gather? Campaigns anticipate challenges
and they generally get many times the min to survive. So even if they toss a few this is a nothing burger
Comment by Donnie Elgin Wednesday, Mar 16, 22 @ 10:17 am
Bailey takes on Pritzker, Pritzker for the win. IL.GOP, not serious about being a part of modern, cooperative, collaborative, collegial governance of a diverse and dynamic populace. Dems win not because they are better stewards, but?
Comment by The Hills 60010 Wednesday, Mar 16, 22 @ 10:41 am
==Bailey takes on Pritzker, Pritzker for the win.==
Anything can happen in an election, especially with a Dem President in the WH, but yeah, Bailey does not maximize ILGOP’s chances of victory.
Comment by Arsenal Wednesday, Mar 16, 22 @ 10:43 am
I’d argue that right now Pritzker looks like a much better steward than Rauner did.
Comment by The Velvet Frog Wednesday, Mar 16, 22 @ 10:45 am
This is yet another reason Illinois can’t have nice things. But don’t bother our Attorney General, who can’t find corruption in Illinois government or elections, just phone the FBI and save time…..’K??
Comment by thisjustinagain Wednesday, Mar 16, 22 @ 11:24 am
==The bigger question is how many signatures did Sullivan gather?==
Good question. But if he was comfortable with signatures to spare, why resort to fake ones? Maybe he will still have enough but no way this is a good sign for him.
Comment by The Velvet Frog Wednesday, Mar 16, 22 @ 11:25 am
You don’t think IL throws people off the ballot and the FBI would have to get involved for it to happen? Try looking at what has actually happened in this state and see if your theory is true.
Comment by The Velvet Frog Wednesday, Mar 16, 22 @ 11:36 am
As to Mr. Sullivan, if I had my choice between addressing giving $10,000,000 to the political fund of a fellow who has been charged in a Federal Indictment of running a criminal enterprise or dealing with a few knuckleheads that may have had signature adventures in my campaign I would choose the knucklehead problem.
This signature issue will fad away well before the election, but being in bed with the head of a Criminal Enterprise will be around right up to the day before the election.
Comment by Back to the Future Wednesday, Mar 16, 22 @ 12:14 pm
=== This signature issue will fad away well before the election===
If he stays on the ballot…
No offense, but if you *aren’t* getting paid for being this much of an apologist, geez, Louise, you have this cult-like fascination that Sullivan is good to seemingly almost anything up to “indictment”… and this one’s a beaut, lol
=== if I had my choice between addressing giving $10,000,000 to the political fund of a fellow who has been charged in a Federal Indictment of running a criminal enterprise or…===
LOL
If you haveta go all “because Madigan” to excuse the possibility of fraudulent round tabled signatures… that is the most pathetic shilling of a phony candidate running an amateur campaign in a very long time.
If you’re on the payroll, and pretending you’re not, do a better job shilling so it’s not so obvious you’re on the campaign.
Comment by Oswego Willy Wednesday, Mar 16, 22 @ 12:22 pm
@Back To The Future
But we’re not having to choose between Madigan & Sullivan are we. Sullivan and his crew appear to be in over their heads and willing to skirt the law to get to where they want to be.
Comment by The Dude Abides Wednesday, Mar 16, 22 @ 12:49 pm
Not on the payroll for any candidate.
Also not excusing the failure of the Sullivan campaign to not doing a better job of getting their act together.
I just find Mr. Sullivan to be an interesting candidate who has significant financial backing, a straight forward message and has done some pretty decent things to make the world a bit better, but I do recognize the issues you raise.
Thinking the fellow has a certain inner toughness and drive to get through his initial issues and will be in the race until the end.
Comment by Back to the Future Wednesday, Mar 16, 22 @ 12:51 pm
Signatures, smignatures. A chisled chin is all that counts.
Comment by Sir Reel Wednesday, Mar 16, 22 @ 1:23 pm
===I just find Mr. Sullivan to be an interesting candidate who has significant financial backing, a straight forward message and has done some pretty decent things to make the world a bit better===
No offense to your “I’m merely a rube who likes someone”
Your whole take was not to blame staff or crew but to blame volunteers and/or the overzealous for this debacle.
You’d be the first “Johnny Nobody” in the history of ever that took the side of paid staff and crew … and lawyers… and blamed this on others like themselves… LOL
Comment by Oswego Willy Wednesday, Mar 16, 22 @ 1:30 pm
First, no offense taken. Always thought if you can’t take a few hits here you shouldn’t participate in commenting.
Don’t know why anyone would be thinking i was not a bit amazed at the Sullivan campaign missing “similar” signatures. I have been on both sides of checking signatures and challenging signatures.
Currently the only information that has been reported seems to be about 12 signatures out of about 10,000 are problems, but readily admit someone or some group in campaign management appears to not be able to pick out some obvious “similar” writing patterns.
Clearly campaign managers should have caught this and anyone that did the round tabling here - be they volunteers or paid passers - should be shown the door.
Comment by Back to the Future Wednesday, Mar 16, 22 @ 1:58 pm
=== I have been on both sides of checking signatures and challenging signatures.===
As a volunteer or paid staff/crew?
If that is true, you’ve done this, I’m shocked you think it’s merely 12 that may be cited (if)when these get challenged.
Still…
=== Clearly campaign managers should have caught this and anyone that did the round tabling here - be they volunteers or paid passers - should be shown the door.===
… still sounds like you’re blaming the volunteers here and not really holding accountable the staff or crew, lol
Comment by Oswego Willy Wednesday, Mar 16, 22 @ 2:05 pm
Been a volunteer, lawyer and paid staff, but that was a long time ago and I am sure things on some levels have changed so probably not up to speed on new legal or filing issues.
One thing that I hope has not changed is that the management of a campaign is responsible when things go sideways and that folks that take short cuts like round tabling need to be gone.
As to 12 signatures, agree that their may be more, but unless the campaign is totally incompetent (could be the consensus here) Sullivan should easily survive a petition challenge if one is filed.
Comment by Back to the future Wednesday, Mar 16, 22 @ 2:20 pm
===lawyer===
As an attorney you have no problem with this? Huh.
===Sullivan should easily survive a petition challenge if one is filed.===
Remove “easily” from that sentence and it’s true. One in a hundred likelihood he’s removed, but it’ll cost time, resources, and lots of questions.
Comment by Oswego Willy Wednesday, Mar 16, 22 @ 2:23 pm
Absolutely right about this kind of misadventure costing money, taking up time and being embarrassing.
On a lark I did a Zoom webinar put on by a Bar Association featuring a few lawyers that specialized in election law and petition challenges. They came across as very good lawyers that really knew this area of the law. Thinking Mr. Sullivan being on the other side of any of these attorneys would be a very tough and expensive place to be.
Comment by Back to the Future Wednesday, Mar 16, 22 @ 2:39 pm
==unless the campaign is totally incompetent==
If signatures this blatantly bogus aren’t a sign of incompetence, I don’t know what is.
Comment by The Velvet Frog Wednesday, Mar 16, 22 @ 2:40 pm
White collar 20-something Management consultants should not manage statewide campaigns in Illinois as their first real campaign gig, especially if their degrees make them look down at most people. It’s as simple as that.
Comment by Lake Effect Wednesday, Mar 16, 22 @ 2:52 pm
three different circulators on those three pages; something fishy going on.
Comment by Eastern Bloc Gulag Wednesday, Mar 16, 22 @ 3:03 pm