State rep candidate risks being kicked off ballot for not filing reports

A Republican candidate for state representative has a little more than a month to pay fines levied by the State Board of Elections, or his name won’t appear on the ballot.

Jason Madlock, of Centreville, was fined $2,700 for not filing quarterly fundraising and expense reports for his campaign by certain deadlines. One report was 16 days late. One was 76 days late.

If he doesn’t pay the fines by Aug. 24, the GOP candidate in the 114th Illinois House District will not be allowed to be on the November ballot, said Matt Dietrich, a spokesman for the elections board.

Madlock has since shut down his campaign committee.

In an interview on Friday, Madlock said he plans to pay the fines by Monday out of his own pocket.

Madlock said the quarterly reports were not filed in part because of “user error” and because a former campaign team member didn’t file the necessary paperwork.

The oversights led to changes to his campaign team, Madlock said.

“The purpose of me having a team is, I cannot do every single thing by myself. As the person who is running, my job is to go out, meet the people, and find out what the issues are. As far as the paperwork, that’s why I have a team,” Madlock said. “My team didn’t process the information, that’s why I’m in this situation now, which is about to be taken care of.”

Candidates must start a formal committee once they raise more than $5,000 in a 12-month period.

According to State Board of Elections records, Madlock filed paperwork to establish his campaign committee on Aug. 28, 2017, with $50 in the campaign’s bank account.

During the final two quarters of 2017, Madlock reported no contributions and no expenditures, but the required quarterly reports must be filed once a committee is established.

Madlock shut down the committee in February.

In March, the State Board of Elections levied the fines.

Even though Madlock initially thought he would promote his name with signs and fliers, he said he decided against taking contributions in his bid to unseat state Rep. LaToya Greenwood, D-East St. Louis, and would use a “grassroots” campaign of knocking on doors to promote his candidacy.

“After really getting in and meeting people, I realized asking for money should be the last thing a candidate should want, especially with the state Illinois is in right now,” Madlock said. “The job is to represent the people, (and do) right by the people. On top of that, not taking any money from anybody means I don’t owe anybody, anything.”

The 114th House District includes East St. Louis, parts of southern St. Clair County, and swings northeast to include Mascoutah, Shiloh, and O’Fallon.

This story was originally published July 20, 2018 at 2:51 PM.