Senate President John Cullerton and his political hit team have found a Streamwood Democrat to file an objection to the nominating petitions of Steve Rauschenberger, who is running for Illinois State Senate in the 22nd district.
The basis for their objection is NOT the number of signatures or the qualifications of the signers or circulators. And it is not the signatures of the notaries or the notary seal.
No, the charge is that Steve Rauschenberger is not qualified to petition as...a Republican!
For those of you who don't know, Rauschenberger served for 15 years as Republican state senator in Springfield where he was chairman of the Senate Appropriation Committee (1994-2002) and assistant Republican Leader (2002-2006). In 2004 he ran statewide in the Republican primary for U.S. Senate, and in 2006 he ran in the Republican primary for Governor and the Lt. Governor. And since 2006 he's served as President of the United Republican Fund.
So, how can Rauschenberger not be a Republican?
Well, the Senate Democrats are trying to expand a DuPage County court ruling used last cycle to bump an opponent off the ballot against Sen. Carol Pankau. In the case of Rauschenberger, they claim that because he pulled a Democrat township election ballot last cycle in order to vote for his sister for Elgin Township Trustee (there was no Republican primary), that he is now ineligible to run for office as a Republican.
This is the kind of tortured election process the political hacks in Springfield have given us. Time to throw them all out.
