Terry Link's Fishing Expedition to Knock GOP Opponents Off Ballot Ends Today (Hopefully)

As we reported a few weeks back, State Senator Terry Link's Lake County Democrats filed a pretty desperate set of objections against slated GOP candidates Keith Gray, a Mettawa resident who owns a business in Waukegan (running against Link), and Dan Sugrue, a Green Oaks attorney (running against State. Representative Kathy Ryg). See the foregoing link for the objections and responses, etc.

Today, hearings on both cases will be held downtown at the James R. Thompson Center. As a lawyer, you never like to predict how the hearing officer (or judge, or jury as applicable) is going to rule, but I have to say that Link's case is essentially non-existent. Link's objector (his disciple Cynthia Alexander) claims on behalf of Link that the Lake County GOP could not have met in a Waukegan law office on April 1 to slate Gray, since they also claimed they met in Green Oaks later that day at the home of Dan Sugrue to slate him. Guess the Dems cannot conceive of having more than one meeting in a day.

It's clear that they have heard something about the Tri-State Tollway, however, since they subpoenaed the attendance of every person who was at the meeting, along with their I-Pass records. TA assumes this is to check to see if someone's I-Pass records might reveal that they were somewhere else on the tollway system when the Lake County GOP claimed they were at the meeting, but if you've never heard of the phrase, "Fishing Expedition," this is the classic example.

As to Sugrue, the Dems appear to claim that the slating meeting was not held in the 59th District, which is a requirement (Sugrue lives in Green Oaks but has a Libertyville mailing address, which is somewhat misleading, but pretty easy to check on). Since the meeting was held at Sugrue's Green Oaks home (which IS in the District), if in fact the home was NOT in the District, Sugrue would have a bigger problem, since he would not be eligible as a candidate in the first place. TA expects this objection will also be quickly dismissed.

I think it is telling that Link, especially, would file such a pathetically thin objection, just in the off chance that he might prevail. It's clear to me that Link is desperate to avoid putting himself up to the judgment of the voters in the fall, in any case where there is actually an alternative.

Stay tuned during the day for further developments...