Pritzker Signs Bill Aimed to Protect Democrat Incumbents While GOP Rushes to File Petitions
Rep. Katie Stuart (D-Edwardsville) on the House floor in 2020. New legislation rushed through the General Assembly was aimed at stopping Republicans from “slating” a candidate against her in November. (Photo: Chicago Tribune)
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Just after 3:00 P.M. Thursday, Senate Democrats hastily moved a bill from the House that had been introduced less than 24 hours before. About 30 minutes earlier, Republicans pulled a fast one.
In it, Democrats placed three non-binding advisory referenda on the November ballot, changed future filing dates for nominating petitions, and fixed a glitch in the process to appoint a Senator when a special election is triggered.
None of those issues were met with much opposition, but one provision of the bill made Republicans ballistic.
It would end the process of slating general election candidates by party leaders if no candidate filed for the November ballot. The tool has long been used by both parties to fill open slots and give voters choice in November, though the slated candidates are rarely successful.
The Democrat bill was introduced and passed in the House in just a few hours Wednesday then moved by the Senate on Thursday in a deliberate attempt to stop Republicans from slating a candidate against Rep. Katie Stuart (D-Edwardsville), who many Republicans believe is vulnerable in November.
In fact, some Republicans began calling the legislation the “Katie Stuart Protection Act.”
Republicans announced weeks ago they had planned to slate Jay Keeven, Keeven served 27 years in the Illinois State Police and as Chief of Police in Edwardsville. He is currently city administrator in Troy in Madison County.
Since 2010, slated candidates have had to file signatures to make the ballot. The GOP ramped up the effort to get Keeven 500 signatures to get on the ballot since Wednesday. Keeven filed 828 signatures, according to the House Republicans. He filed with the State Board of Elections around 2:30 Thursday, around 30 minutes before the Senate took up the bill.
“It’s our anticipation he’s on the ballot, even if the Governor signs the bill,” a House GOP source said. “I’m sure Democrats will challenge and sue and stomp their feet, but this will backfire on Katie Stuart.”
Senate President Don Harmon, who presented the bill on the Senate Floor Thursday, attempted to sell a notion that the change wouldn’t impact any potential candidates.
“We are unaware of any candidates pursuing office through a slating process, certainly none on the Democratic side, and I have no firsthand knowledge of any others,” Harmon said, though Republicans announced their slating of Keeven and another candidate in the suburbs in April.
Republicans were harshly critical of the legislation. Sen. Erica Harriss (R-Glen Carbon), who represents Stuart’s House District, called the bill a “blatant political power grab.”
“This legislation reeks of everything people hate about politics,” she said. “It’s a last minute ploy to jam through [this bill] in 24 hours, rewriting our election laws in the very middle of an election year. It’s one more reason voters will lose trust in our democracy. It’s a power grab and it’s exactly why people will lose trust in the electoral process.”
Sen. Jason Plummer (R-Edwardsville) called the legislation an “affront to democracy.”
“You kinda think you’ve heard it all in Springfield until you hear that we’re protecting the democratic process by taking choice away from the voters,” he said.
Harmon defended the bill, calling it the end to a “corrosive” practice.
“I want to emphasize, we’re not taking this away from Republicans, we’re taking this away from everybody,” Harmon said. “We Democrats won’t be able to slate candidates for the Senate in any districts where your members are running unopposed. There’s a problem with the practice. People who want to run for office should face the voters before they’re the nominee of a major political party.”
In 2022, Democrats slated one congressional candidate, one Senate candidate, and 8 House candidates. Republicans slated five Senate candidates and 16 House candidates.
Six Democrats were slated in 2020. Seven Republicans were slated during the pandemic.
None on either side were successful.
Senate Republican Leader John Curran (R-Downers Grove) called the move “how to steal an election.”
The Senate passed the bill 35-3. All Republicans voted “present” on the legislation. The Governor’s office announced early Friday morning he had signed the bill into law with an immediate effective date.
Pritzker defended the legislation at an unrelated news conference Thursday.
“As I understand, this is actually an ethics bill. It really does make sure that we don’t have backroom deals to put people on the ballot and run as a result of, you know, some small group of people in a smoke filled room making the choice. So I think to me more transparency is better,” he said.
Slating has required 500 or 1,000 signatures from voters for 14 years.
President Biden won Stuart’s district by around 6 points in 2020, one of the closest Democrat-held seats in the House. Governor Pritzker won the Madison and St. Clair county based district by about 2.5 points in 2022.
It appears the last slated candidate to win a legislative election was in 2018, when Mary Edly-Allen won a race against appointed Rep. Helene Miller-Walsh.
Edly-Allen currently serves in the Senate. She voted for the bill to end slating.
