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         August 28, 2010        

Sherman knocks Andy Martin, four others off
General Election ballot of November, 2010

The Illinois State Board of Elections has removed from the November, 2010, General Election ballot every single one of the candidates whose nominating petitions I had challenged last month.

My challenges to Gregg Moore, Stephen F. Estill, Carl E. Officer, Anthony Robert Martin-Trigonia (operating under the alias, "Andy Martin," because of the tainted reputation associated with his real name) and Christopher Pedersen were all sustained by the State Board of Elections during the past two weeks.

Gregg Moore had filed one set of papers to run for Governor and for Lieutenant Governor.  I challenged his papers because only one individual is named -- Gregg Moore.  The failure to nominate two individuals (one as Governor and one as Lieutenant Governor) renders the Nomination Papers insufficient and invalid.  In addition, Mr. Moore did not submit anywhere near the number of signatures of duly registered voters required by state law 10 ILCS 5/10-3 in order to appear on the ballot.  The State Board of Elections sustained the challenge that I filed on June 28th and removed Gregg Moore from the ballot on August 17th.

Stephen F. Estill also filed one set of papers to run for Governor and for Lieutenant Governor.  I challenged his papers for exactly the same reason that I challenged Mr. Moore's papers:  Failure to nominate two individuals for two offices and failure to submit the required number of valid signatures of registered voters.  The State Board of Elections sustained the challenge that I filed on June 28th and removed Stephen F. Estill from the ballot on August 17th.

Carl E. Officer filed one set of papers to run for United States Senator as the candidate of the Practical Party.  I challenged his papers because state law 10 ILCS 5/10 requires that a new party must submit a full slate of candidates (U.S. Senator, Governor, Lieutenant Governor, Attorney General, Secretary of State, Comptroller and Treasurer).  Mr. Officer did not submit a full slate.  The State Board of Elections sustained the challenge that I filed on June 28th and removed Carl E. Officer from the ballot on August 17th.

Anthony Robert Martin-Trigona filed under the alias, "Andy Martin," to be the candidate for United States Senator of the Reform Party.  Martin-Trigona filed only one signature on his nominating petitions, instead of the required 25,000.  He lost in the February Primary in his attempt to be the Republican nominee for that office, so he is ineligible to run in November as the candidate of another Party.  He also filed a legal brief on or about July 29th in which he insisted that he was a member of the Republican Party, so he is not eligible to be the candidate of the purported Reform Party.  He then attempted to obstruct, through a bunch of sleazy lawyer tricks, the State Board of Elections from holding a hearing on my objections, in order to maintain his illegitimate place on the November ballot by stalling the process until it was too late for him to be removed from the ballot.  Each and every one of his bizarre lawyer tricks backfired.  The State Board of Elections sustained the challenge that I filed on June 28th and removed "Andy Martin" from the ballot yesterday, August 27th.

Christopher Pedersen filed nominating petition papers for just about every office that is on the November ballot.  He filed for U.S. Senator, Governor, Lieutenant Governor, Attorney General, Secretary of State, Comptroller, Treasurer, State Senator and State Representative.  I challenged many of those nominating petition papers on the grounds that State law prohibits you from running for "incompatible offices," which means multiple offices that you can't serve in simultaneously.  The State Board of Elections sustained all of the challenges that I filed on June 28th and removed Christopher Pedersen from the ballot for those offices on August 17th.

I'm all for ballot access, but you have to comply with certain reasonable requirements in order to be on the ballot.  You have to file a full slate if you are claiming to represent a new political party.  You can't run for multiple offices at the same time.  If you lost in the February Primary Election, you can't run for the same office in the November General Election.

Previous Rob Sherman News stories about this subject matter:

Tuesday, July 27:  Hooters Girls Car Wash Team rewards Rob for big victory over Martin-Trigona in SLAPP suit

Monday, July 26:  $250,000 SLAPP suit against Sherman by Martin-Trigona thrown out by judge

Saturday, July 3:  $250,000 SLAPP suit filed against Rob Sherman

Thursday, July 1:  Senate candidate goes nuts in attack on Rob Sherman

Wednesday, June 30:  Sherman challenges Nominating Petitions of candidates running in 2010 General Election

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