On April 30, Dr. David Gill, an emergency room physician, said he will be an independent candidate in 2016 for the U.S. House in the Illinois 13th district. He had been the Democratic nominee for U.S. House in the 15th district in 2004, 2006, and 2010, and he had been the Democratic nominee in 2012 in the new 13th district.
See this story, which explains why he has left the Democratic Party. When he was the Democratic nominee in 2012, the party leadership opposed him but he won the primary anyway. In the 2012 general election, he lost to Republican Rodney Davis by only 1,002 votes. The old 15th district in the 2000’s decade included Champaign, Bloomington, and much of east central Illinois. After the 2011 redistricting, the new 13th district still includes Gill’s home area of Bloomington, but otherwise it is a very different district, extending to the west, all the way to the Mississippi River, and including Springfield.
Gill considered running as an independent in 2014, when he would have needed 15,205 valid signatures. For 2016, he will need 10,514. The number is lower because turnout in 2014 was much lower than in 2012.
It’s disgusting when party leaders will not support their nominee, especially when the nominee was a strong challenger, coming within a 1000 plus votes of winning. But as the article revealed, this is a classic case of professional politicians who don’t care if their nominee loses, if they know they can’t control him or her. This sounds like the controlling factors behind Dr. Gill’s frustrating campaign efforts.
I trust he can raise the money that it will take to win as a Independent – which will be at least 1 million dollars. Richard may have to correct me, but I think the Illinois ballot is a party row/column ballot, which – if it is – makes it harder for an Independent to blend in with the other candidates, when the “office box” ballot is used.
May not agree with you philosophically, Dr. Gill, but I trust this time you are victorious.
Thanks Alabama Independent. Without the Democratic machne organization, we have an uphill battle. However, we are also not beholden to the leaders (who are at present not very popular these days). David feels more in control of his campaign this time. We are bolstered by having so many volunteers signed up so early. Being independents, we are building everything from scratch but need far less money than a million dollars to slay Goliaths.
Watch this race! It will make history when we pull this off!
Don Necessary
Treasurer