Belleville write-in candidate for mayor has a Shiloh address, clerk says

The home address for a write-in candidate for the Belleville mayor’s race in the April 6 election is located in Shiloh, according to St. Clair County Clerk Tom Holbrook.

J.D. Dixon on Jan. 19 filed a “declaration of intent to be a write-in candidate” form with the county clerk’s office and listed his home address as 2303 Rockwood Drive in Belleville.

Holbrook, however, said this Rockwood Drive address is in Shiloh. Also, the certification of Dixon’s voter registration and St. Clair County property map records show this address is located in Shiloh near Belleville’s city limits.

State law says “a person is not eligible for an elective municipal office unless that person … has resided in the municipality at least one year” prior to the election.

An objection to Dixon’s candidacy was filed, but Holbrook said state law does not provide a process by which a write-in candidate’s residency can be challenged, as it does for those whose names will actually appear on the ballot.

Dixon, 33, said he plans to continue his campaign and ask people to write in his name.

His own ballot in St. Clair Precinct 26 will include the Shiloh mayor’s race, meaning Dixon won’t be able to vote for himself.

Dixon said he will ask his attorneys to look into cases where a candidate who lived outside a city and moved inside city limits after being elected.

Dixon’s Rockwood Drive address is east of Hartman Lane, near the intersection of Hartman and Lebanon Avenue. According to Google Maps, he lives about .8 miles to the nearest section of Belleville along Lebanon Avenue.

When asked about the location of his home being near the border with Belleville, Dixon described it as a “unique” situation, but would not acknowledge that his home is in Shiloh.

Dixon sent the News-Democrat a copy of his Ameren power bill that lists his address as Belleville with a ZIP code of 62221. The village of Shiloh’s website notes that Shiloh residents with the 62221 ZIP code in their mailing address receive their mail from the Belleville Post Office.

Dixon, who is seeking to be the first Black mayor of Belleville, is a machine operator at Belleville-based Empire Comfort Systems and last year helped organize demonstrations to protest the company’s treatment of Black employees and the company’s workplace safety calendar that featured a drawing he called “racist satire.”

“I’m bringing my activism into the local government because the people need it,” Dixon said. “I mean working class citizens need it. The Black community needs change.

“Change is needed and that’s why I’m running and that’s why I will still run is because I’m running for the people for change.”

The two previously announced candidates in the Belleville mayor’s election are Mark Eckert, who has been mayor since 2004, and Patty Gregory, the founder of Art on the Square.

Belleville residents will see Eckert and Gregory’s names listed on their ballots along with a blank line for write-in candidates.

Early voting for the April 6 election is scheduled to begin Feb. 25.

Since Dixon filled out his write-in declaration with his first name as Jeffrey, Holbrook recommended that people who want to support Dixon write-in his name as “Jeffrey Dixon” instead of J.D. Dixon. Holbrook, who acknowledged it is rare for write-in candidates to win an election, said it would be up to election judges to decide which write-in ballots would be counted.

Objection filed

Before Dixon filed his write-in declaration with the county on Jan. 19, he had filed one with the city on Dec. 28. Michael Hagberg of Belleville filed an objection to the second declaration on the basis of Dixon’s Shiloh residency.

But Belleville City Clerk Jenny Gain Meyer sent Dixon a letter instructing him to file his declaration with the county and another to Hagberg stating that he would have to take up the residency issue with the county clerk.

Holbrook said he checked with the state election officials and the St. Clair County State’s Attorney’s Office and confirmed that there is no a state law regulating the objection to write-in candidates.

“There is no objection process prior to the election since a write-in candidate is not seeking to appear on the ballot,” Matt Dietrich, spokesman for the Illinois State Board of Elections, wrote in an email to the BND.

Hagberg, who previously served on the Belleville Township board as a trustee and has run unsuccessfully for Belleville City Council, said he filed an objection to Dixon’s write-in declaration “after I learned that Mr. Dixon didn’t live within the city limits.”

“I was hoping that he would withdraw his intent once he learned about the residency rule,” Hagberg wrote in an email to the BND. “I don’t think it’s fair to the voters” to have a candidate who is “unable to hold the office.”

Dixon said he was surprised by Hagberg’s objection.

Dixon said he has lived in townhouses on Rockwood Drive since he was about 8 years old.

“I went to Whiteside School, Belleville East High School, all from Rockwood townhouses,” Dixon said in an interview. “When he said I’m not in Belleville, it’s like everything I’ve ever done is in Belleville. I advocate for Belleville. I protest in Belleville. I’m in tune in the community with the issues of Belleville.

“And so it was just weird when I heard it. My address is Belleville, Illinois. It was just weird. It was definitely not something I was expecting.”

Candidate’s address

Both Dixon and Hagberg posted comments on social media debating Dixon’s address and his candidacy.

“I knew running to become the first Black Mayor of Belleville would come with obstacles especially since I’m running in true activist fashion as an Independent write in candidate,” Dixon wrote on Facebook.

“I have no idea who Michael Hagberg is and why he has an agenda against me.”

Dixon noted he was used “to facing opposition when fighting for the people in Belleville.”

Hagberg said his reply was taken off Dixon’s Facebook page, but he posted on his own page that he had “no agenda” against Dixon.

“You questioned my ‘agenda’ against you. Let me be very clear, I have no agenda against you personally,” Hagberg wrote. “This is a matter of all candidates following the State of Illinois Election Laws that state that a candidate must reside within the voting district for one year” preceding the election.

Residency requirement

Speaking in generalities and not in specific regard to Dixon’s candidacy, Dietrich, the state elections board spokesman, said there are two likely scenarios that could occur should a non-resident garner enough write-in votes to win city-wide political office.

In the first case, the city council could vote to not swear that candidate into office and request the state’s attorney to take the matter to court for legal determination.

In the other scenaria, the local state’s attorney could take the matter to court without a request of the city council.

And if that process ended up with that candidate’s removal, Dietrich said “the city council would elect a replacement to serve until the next consolidated election, so that person would serve a two-year term.”

This story was originally published February 7, 2021 at 6:00 AM.

Mike Koziatek

Belleville News-Democrat

Mike Koziatek is a former journalist for the Belleville News-Democrat