Unions Find Write In Candidate Against Niemerg
Chrisman Schools Superintendent and Interim Ogden Mayor Jim Acklin, who ran for State Representative in 2016, has been recruited to wage a write-in campaign against Rep. Adam Niemerg (R-Dieterich), who was removed from the ballot earlier this month.
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A school superintendent and interim Mayor from Champaign County appears to be the choice of a group of unions, backed by the Illinois Education Association, to take on Rep. Adam Niemerg (R-Dieterich) in a write-in primary in March.
Niemerg, who was elected to the House in 2020 and is part of the conservative “Freedom Caucus,” was removed from the primary ballot earlier this month after he failed to submit a notarized statement of candidacy in his petition packet, as required by law. It was an embarrassing blow to an incumbent who has to then mount a write-in campaign to keep his seat in a heavily Republican district stretching from Danville to Lawrenceville.
We later learned it was the Illinois Education Association teachers union who engineered Niemerg’s removal from the ballot.
Now, it appears, IEA and a group of other unions have a horse in the race.
Chrisman School District Superintendent Jim Acklin, who is also the interim Mayor of the Champaign County village of Ogden, has filed as a write-in candidate for the seat. Acklin is a longtime superintendent in St. Joseph-Ogden schools in the Champaign area. He is scheduled to retire from Chrisman schools in June.
Acklin did not comment when contacted Wednesday claiming he could not discuss his involvement in the race, yet.
Acklin ran for House in 2016, losing to Rep. Brad Halbrook (R-Shelbyville) in a bruising, negative battle by a 44%-38% clip in a three-way race. In the race, a PAC run by conservative talk show host Dan Proft ran scathing television ads claiming Acklin had covered up sexual abuse by a teacher based on a lawsuit that was dismissed with prejudice.
(Disclosure: I worked on Acklin’s campaign in 2016 and consider him a friend. I have no role with his new campaign.)
The Illinois Education Association did not respond to requests for comment about their involvement in the race, but multiple sources say IEA and numerous other unions, including trades, are likely to spend big on bouncing Niemerg.
“The money will be there,” one source said.
Another candidate, Ed Blade of Toledo in Cumberland County, has also filed to run in the seat. Blade is the son of a longtime IEA official, but it isn’t clear if the union had any role in his candidacy. He did not respond to a message from The Illinoize.
Multiple people in the district have claimed privately that Blade is expected to withdraw, but that had not happened as of Thursday afternoon.
The most intriguing part of the race, potentially, could be the role of the House Republican Organization, led by House GOP Leader Tony McCombie (R-Savana). GOP leadership and the Freedom Caucus have oft butted heads in recent years, and it does not appear Niemerg pays dues to be an active member of the House campaign arm.
We’re told the House GOP intends to remain neutral in the write in race, meaning Niemerg won’t get any financial or staff help in the final stretch.
Sources close to Niemerg say he has paid caucus dues recently, but a statement from McCombie made it appear he may be on his own.
“Had the Representative been a member of HRO, his petitions would have been correct,” McCombie said.