MOORE’S SUMMARY: Republican strategist-turned-independent candidate for governor Collin Corbett will remain on the November general election ballot after an objection to his nominating petitions filed by Republican lieutenant gubernatorial nominee Aaron Del Mar was withdrawn on Tuesday.
An Illinois State Board of Elections spokesman confirmed that Del Mar and GOP activist Kristina McCloy withdrew their objection. The challenge will officially be disposed of at the board’s July 14 meeting. Del Mar is running on a ticket with Darren Bailey, who is seeking a second shot at defeating incumbent Democratic Gov. JB Pritzker after falling short in 2022.
Del Mar and McCloy challenged 20,000 of the 37,000 signatures Corbett filed in May. But a records examination conducted by Board of Elections staff last week determined Corbett filed 27,323 valid signatures — exceeding the 25,000 required of independent and non-established party candidates running for statewide office.
CORBETT REACT: “Perennial candidate Darren Bailey’s campaign did whatever they could to keep us off the ballot, but they couldn’t stop our common sense movement of everyday Illinoisans,” Corbett said in a statement. “To get on the ballot in this rigged system, we needed five times the number of signatures as the two political parties, and we faced far stricter rules on who could circulate, but that didn’t stop us from making history.
“Now, Independents, disaffected Republican and Democratic voters, and Illinoisans who haven’t voted in years will have a candidate to vote for in November,” he said.
A spokesperson for Bailey did not immediately return a request for comment.
WHY IT MATTERS: Corbett is the founder of center-right leaning political consulting firm Cor Strategies. He left the Republican Party earlier this year after expressing concerns that it supports violent immigration raids and no longer welcomes opposing opinions.
Rejecting the major parties’ “sprint to the extremes,” Corbett is hoping to appeal to voters in the “mainstream middle.”
But, given his long history in Republican politics, there’s a belief in GOP circles that Corbett will siphon more votes away from Bailey than Pritzker, particularly among more moderate Republican voters who reside in the Chicago suburbs.
REALITY CHECK: Even when independent and non-established third party candidates achieve the daunting feat of making the ballot, mounting a serious statewide campaign under a banner other than one of the major parties has been next–to–impossible.
In 1986, Adlai Stevenson III received 40% as the Illinois Solidarity Party candidate in his unsuccessful bid to unseat Republican Gov. Jim Thompson. But even then, the third party was viewed as a stand-in for mainstream Democrats, who refused to run on a ticket with two followers of conspiracy theorist Lyndon LaRouche who won statewide Democratic primaries that year.
In 2006, Green Party candidate Rich Whitney won 10.4% against incumbent Democratic Gov. Rod Blagojevich and Republican Illinois Treasurer Judy Baar Topinka.
In 2018, former Republican state Sen. Sam McCann captured 4.23% running under the Conservative Party banner. And in 2010, Scott Lee Cohen won 3.64% running as an independent after his withdrawal as the Democratic lieutenant gubernatorial nominee.
CASH: Pritzker, a self-funding billionaire, had $14.1 million in his campaign account as of the end of March. Bailey had just $81,840 and has since raised $324,913. Corbett has reported raising just $42,000 so far, per campaign finance records.
STATE OF RACE: Illinois has become a safe blue state in recent decades, with Democrats holding all statewide offices as well as supermajorities in the state legislature and congressional delegation that are in part buoyed by gerrymandered maps.
Pritzker is viewed as a likely candidate for president in 2028 and is considered a strong favorite to win reelection to a third term as Illinois’ chief executive in November given the state’s blue lean and his massive financial advantage.
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