Why did Republican-controlled board cut 2 Madison County judge candidates from June ballot?
Two Democratic judicial candidates in Madison County won’t be on the primary ballot this June because a Republican-controlled board knocked their names off.
The candidates for the Third Circuit, Ebony Huddleston and John Barry Julian, say the decision was political, while members of the Madison County Electoral Board said the candidates made basic errors when they gathered signatures.
The board’s members are mandated by state law to include the county clerk, circuit clerk and state’s attorney. Madison County Circuit Clerk Tom McRae and State’s Attorney Tom Haine are both Republicans.
Democratic County Clerk Debra Ming-Mendoza recused herself from the decision because she circulated petitions for the candidates. Treasurer Chris Slusser, a Republican, replaced Ming-Mendoza as outlined by law.
The board’s job is to rule on candidacy objections for certain county-level elections such as for circuit court. When someone objects to a candidate’s place on the ballot, the board holds a hearing and then makes a decision. The candidate has the right to challenge that decision in court.
Huddleston, an attorney from Alton, and Julian, a retired associate judge from Edwardsville, gathered well beyond the 334 signatures required. But the objector, Republican Madison County Board member John “Eric” Foster, alleged the signatures were collected outside of the allowed time frame — Jan. 22 to March 14.
The candidates later filed affidavits saying they actually did collect signatures within those dates, but the board said it could not verify that claim.
“This is a clear miscarriage of justice,” Julian said in a prepared statement. “All of our petitions were circulated in the proper timeframe.”
Because the petitions “completely lacked” proof of when they were circulated, they did not meet requirements, the board wrote.
The candidates argued Haine’s opinion would be biased because he was opposed to recent changes to judicial elections in Madison County. He filed a lawsuit to try to stop the changes.
“Confusion over the dates was caused by Haine’s frivolous lawsuit opposing the legislation,” Julian said, “and his refusal to recuse himself from the board’s vote, despite having taken a strong position against the sub circuits. He then sat on the very board that tossed the candidates off the ballot, despite that blatant conflict of interest.”
Haine declined to recuse himself because law only prevents board members from participating if they are a candidate for the office under consideration, according to the opinion.
Huddleston and Julian will run as write-in candidates for the Democratic primary on June 28 rather than appeal the board’s decision to a judge.
“Access to the ballot should not be taken lightly. The voters should have the right to determine who they want on the ballot. By filing my intent to run as a write-in candidate, I am ensuring that the voters have an opportunity to have their voices heard,” Huddleston said.
If she wins the primary, Huddleston would run against Republican Amy Sholar, who was appointed to the seat vacated by retired Judge Richard Tognarelli. Julian would run against Republican Christopher Threlkeld to fill the vacancy left by David Dugan, who left the post to serve in southern Illinois’ federal court.
This story was originally published April 26, 2022 at 12:13 PM.
