Senator Terry Link Unhappy He Has to Defend His Nomination Petitions

UPDATED 11/27/07 7:00 a.m.: I wasn't able to get anything better than third-hand information yesterday, so this is all subject to further clarification. As I understand it, the Johnson v. Link preliminary hearing was held yesterday down in Springfield. The impression I got was that Link's crew rolled over on the signatures that Johnson contested on very obvious grounds like not living in the district.

Note to Pete Couvall: Next time, before notarizing the petitions, you might at least look for people obviously out of the 30th District who live in places like FOX LAKE, ANTIOCH, INGLESIDE, GRAYSLAKE, ZION, etc., and strike them before your opponent does it for you and embarrasses your boss in the press.

It appears that Johnson was successful at eliminating over 1500 signatures off the bat, but at the end of the hearing, Link still had 1490 "good" signatures left. It is my understanding that Johnson now has a few days in order to pull together his affidavits and other evidence the remaining signatures are not those of the specific voters that appear on the petitions, but I am checking on that this morning. It will be an interesting challenge to see if Johnson can put on a case to strike almost 500 additional sigs to get Link kicked off the ballot.

Link's minions that are contesting Johnson's signatures on Link's behalf begin to put on their case at 1:30 today in Springfield. More later as it becomes available...

PRIOR POST:

The story about allegations of nominating petition fraud against State Senator Terry Link (D-Waukegan) refuses to die, despite the attempts of some to diminish its importance and validity.

This week's Pioneer Press picks up the Link story and comes up with some new quotes, some of which I found especially interesting. The Pioneer Press article quotes Link as saying that he hates to even have to respond to the allegations made by opponent Jerry Johnson concerning fraud on Link's nominating petitions, which are "nonsense in a lot of ways." Link also begs for sympathy, claiming that his opponents have always taken pot shots at him and his family. Perhaps Link is referring to the issue of his wife's position as an SBC lobbyist and Link's refusal to recuse himself from critical votes as to SBC issues. Chuck Fitzgerald sent out a well-researched mailer on this during the last senate race, but it appeared to not resonate with the electorate in the 30th District. But that's a story for another post.

But what Link still has not addressed is the allegations that the names of dead folks have appeared on his petitions, as well as other confirmed forgeries, such as former opponent Chuck Fitzgerald. Link wonders why he "continues to give validity to this whole thing" by even discussing it, but what he has not yet addressed is how the heck DEAD guys got on his petitions. Is this the "nonsense" he is referring to, or is it the part of Johnson's allegations that is NOT "nonsense in a lot of ways"???

Until Link explains, voters will have little sympathy for him and the political fire that has rained down upon him lately.

TA understands that the first hearing in Johnson v. Link is scheduled for 1:30 p.m. today in Springfield, but this may be inaccurate. We'll try to have the scoop up here as soon as possible. We'll see if any more "nonsense" is revealed, and we'll see if we can expect Link to be on the ballot this coming February.