Bill Scheurer, the nominee of the Moderate Party for U.S. House in the 8th district of Illinois, is safely on the ballot. Even though Democrats fraudulently tricked him into hiring a paid petition circulator who then deliberately failed to produce any signatures (so that he didn’t have enough signatures to meet the requirement of 13,950 signatures), no one challenged his petition. Scheurer has received $35,000 in contributions from labor unions. Labor unions have refused to endorse the Democratic nominee, Melissa Bean, since she voted in favor of CAFTA (Central American Free Trade Agreement). Scheurer is also opposed to U.S. involvement in Iraq, whereas Bean favors it.

If Scheurer gets as much as 5% of the vote, the Moderate Party will then be ballot-qualified for 2008 (but only for the purpose of running a nominee for U.S. House in the 8th district in 2008).

It seems likely that Scheurer wasn’t challenged, because he sued the individuals who tricked him, alleging fraud. Now that he is on the ballot, he will drop that lawsuit, Moderate Party v Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee. However, other co-plaintiffs who were challenged will carry on the lawsuit.