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| Independent Scott Lee Cohen Present Petitions |
There will be more than just Republicans, Democrats, and Greens on the November ballot. The State Board of Elections this summer will certify the ballot that voters will see, and Monday was the deadline to get petition signatures in for independent candidates and non-established political parties.
The other-party and independent candidates must collect 25,000 signatures and typically bring in many more, anticipating legal challenges. Scott Lee Cohen, who won the lieutenant governor primary in February as a Democrat and then resigned from the ballot, carted in almost 9,000 pages of signatures, which he said numbered more than 133,000. Cohen is now an independent candidate for governor.
"It's gonna take a strong person to get us out of the financial mess that we're in, the psychological mess that the people of Illinois are in, and I believe that … I have the strength to do that," he said at the state Board of Elections office in Springfield.
Cohen quit the ballot in February after news of his personal problems - including allegations of drug use, domestic violence, and unpaid child support - came out. He now says his past is in the past and won't discuss it.
Also, the Libertarian Party boasts a full slate of statewide candidates, including Lex Green for governor and Mike Labno for U. S. Senate. Both men say there is no civil rights guarantee in the U. S. Constitution and, like Tea Party Republican Rand Paul of Kentucky , believe a business owner has the right to refuse service to potential customers based on race or sex.
Green says the racial aspect of that debate is not the only one; he says the same argument applies to Illinois' ban on smoking cigarettes in public, which he says he will work to repeal if elected.
(Illinois Radio Network) |
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| 06 22 10 by Newsroom |
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