Cunningham not a candidate, court rules
By Matt Hanley mhanley@stmedianetwork.com March 14, 2012 5:44PM
Jack Cunningham
Updated: April 16, 2012 8:17AM
After being on the ballot twice and off the ballot once, the appellate court has finally ruled that votes for Jack Cunningham will not be counted in the 11th Congressional District Republican primary on March 20.
The Illinois State Board of Elections sent a recommendation to the court that Cunningham’s votes be stricken because of problems with how some signatures on his election petitions were collected. Late Wednesday afternoon, the appellate court upheld the board’s latest decision.
Cunningham, the Kane County clerk, was running against U.S. Rep. Judy Biggert in the new 11th district, which includes Aurora, Naperville and Joliet.
Cunningham’s name appears on early voting ballots and will appear on all March 20 ballots. However, any votes cast for him will not be counted.
On Feb. 5, the State Board of Elections ruled Cunningham off the ballot because of the signature issue. He appealed that decision, and the court put him back on the ballot in a Feb. 21 ruling.
On Tuesday, Cunningham said he was considering his legal options for challenge. But with so few days until the election, he said he may run as an independent in the general election, or wait until the 2014 elections to run again.
