The Constitution Party of Illinois met to nominate its statewide candidates yesterday. From Facebook:
Constitution Party of Illinois
Update for Statewide Candidates: Governor: Michael Oberline; Lt Governor: Randy Constitutional Evangelist Stufflebeam: Secretary of State: Stacy Moss; Treasurer: Mike Nicestro; Comptroller: Timothy Goodcase; Attorney General: Joe Bell; US Senate: Chad Koppie.
Two of the candidates were previous CP nominees. Current national Constitution Party vice-chairman Randy Stufflebeam was the party’s write-in candidate for governor in 2006, a race in which he received the largest write-in vote total in state history (0.55%). Chad Koppie was the Constitution Party’s nominee for U.S Senate in 2008, receiving 0.24% of the vote, as well as in 1996, receiving 0.41%.
It is not yet known if the CP of Illinois will have ballot access. To do so would require 25,000 signatures. In 2010 the party fell a few hundred votes short of the required amount after the state GOP mounted a challenge against them. The Libertarian Party of Illinois will have at least $65,000 to help in the signature gathering process, but the CP likely won’t have anywhere near that amount of finances to help get on the ballot.
The Treasurer & SoS candidates are different too. Either Politics1 is mistaken, or they switched their candidates without announcement.
Then what’s with this posting?
It appears that he is.
WAIT A SECOND!
What is this?!
http://www.politics1.com/il.htm
… Is that Don Stone listed for Lt. Governor?
They have always been well short of LP (and usually short of GP) in ballot access. But it’s true they have gone further downhill.
I’m not. From the late ’90s & through the ’00s the CP had the resources to do successful petition drives. But after Virgil’s failures & the cultural shift toward social liberalism, it seems to be falling apart and fast.
It seems you’re right:
https://independentpoliticalreport.com/2010/10/randy-stufflebeam-on-the-il-constitution-party-court-ruling/
I’m surprised.
I don’t think the CP was as destitute in 2010 as they are now, a few hundred short seems plausible to me.
From article:
In 2010 the party fell a few hundred votes short of the required amount after the state GOP mounted a challenge against them.
Is this correct?
Seems more plausible that they had a few hundred signatures total than that they fell a few hundred short.
They’ll challenge it hands down; the GOP won’t have it this year.
The CP was on with 300 or so signatures a few years ago…2010 or 2006 IIRC.
Not even that. In 2008 John Joseph Polachek was on the ballot for President in Illinois as the nominee of the New Party. This despite the fact that he did not list a full slate, the New Party had been defunct for 10 years, and he didn’t turn in a single petition signature. No one challenged, he was on the ballot.
But this is the GOP we’re talking about. It would be challenged. Best of luck to the CP.
They can be on with as little as one signature if they do not get challenged.
I think the best they can do there is write-in