Deceased candidate holds lead in Belleville committeeman race

The late Janet Schmidt had the lead Tuesday night in the Democrat race for Belleville Precinct 7 committeeman post.

Although Schmidt died on Nov. 30, St. Clair County officials said state election law did not allow them to remove her name from the ballot.

Schmidt, who was a Belleville alderwoman and the Precinct 7 Democrat Party precinct committeeman at the time of her death, had filed to be on the ballot on Nov. 23.

Schmidt had 66 votes as of late Tuesday, the “write-in” spot had 58 and Ward 2 Alderman Mike Buettner had 42, but not all results had been reported by St. Clair County. Dave Pusa ran as a write-in candidate.

Buettner has said he expected party officials to appoint someone to the post if Schmidt were to receive the most votes in the primary.

This story was originally published March 15, 2016 at 11:30 PM with the headline "Deceased candidate holds lead in Belleville committeeman race."