Rabine Campaign Behind Challenge to Sullivan Petitions
Suburban businessman Gary Rabine’s campaign attorney filed a challenge to GOP foe Jesse Sullivan’s nominating petitions, attempting to remove Sullivan from the June ballot.
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The challenge filed against Republican venture capitalist Jesse Sullivan’s nominating petitions was engineered by the campaign of primary foe Gary Rabine.
Rabine, a suburban businessman, used his campaign attorney, Matthew Custardo of Naperville, to file the challenge of Sullivan’s nominating petitions. Neither Custardo or the Rabine campaign responded to requests to release the details of the challenge. The State Board of Elections doesn’t make the files available until next week.
Asked by text message Thursday night why they decided to challenge Sullivan’s petitions and are attempting to remove him from the ballot, Rabine cited “election integrity.”
“We believe in election integrity not only at the polling place on Election Day, but also getting on the ballot as well,” he wrote.
The Sullivan campaign provided a copy of his petitions to The Illinoize, and it matched the file provided by the Illinois State Board of Elections. Sullivan’s campaign filed around 9,000 signatures, about 6,000 more than required.
While we aren’t fully aware of the nature of the complaint, there have been numerous rumors floating of “roundtable” by Sullivan circulators, essentially passing petitions around a table and signing names out of a phone book. While on cursory glance, it appears one member of the same household may have signed for multiple members, it does not likely constitute enough disqualified signatures to remove him from the ballot.
“They're sloppy, but passable,” said a top Republican consultant who has seen Sullivan's petitions. “There is definite roundtabling, but its not so pervasive to invalidate huge chunks of sheets from major circulators. He is perhaps gettable, but it would be a heavy lift.”
The Sullivan campaign attacked Rabine’s effort to remove him from the ballot.
“Corrupt Illinois politicians from both parties, and Michael Madigan in particular, have used these tactics for decades to rig Illinois elections in their favor. Those same interests are worried about a Governor Sullivan. And they should be. He is the only political outsider in this race capable of ending the insider games and the back room deals on which politicians feast,” a Sullivan spokesman said. “While lawyers are arguing about whether our petition pages were secured with staples or paperclips, Jesse is working directly with our state's sheriffs on a plan to take back our streets, meeting with parents and educators in Lake and Winnebago counties to talk about delivering school choice to Illinois families, and speaking with thousands of Republican voters about his ethics agenda. We look forward to a swift victory and putting this political sideshow behind us.”
The State Board of Elections begins the process of hearing the challenges Tuesday. The Board only has about a month to sort them out before they’re required by law to certify the June ballot.