Illinois permits a party to be ballot-qualified in particular districts or counties, even if it isn’t qualified statewide. The Green Party polled enough votes last month for U.S. House, 12th district, to retain its qualified status. It has had that status ever since it went off the ballot statewide in November 2010. In 2016, its nominee Paula Bradshaw polled 6.00%, more than the needed 5%.
However, the party lost qualified status in the other U.S. House it had enjoyed since 2010. In 2016, its nominee Rob Sherman in the 5th district polled 4.67%, below the needed 5%.
If one positive thing has come out of losing Established Party status in IL-5, it’s that Rob Sherman received a much needed rebuke, this time from the voters themselves. I suspect the Chicago area Greens will regroup after this loss and get re-Established up there in the next election.
Still, 4.7% wasn’t bad.
Joshua, I agree that he needed a rebuke, but if any of the news I’m reading is correct, you won’t have to worry about him anymore, as he likely died in a small plane crash recently. I followed him more for his separation between church and state activism more than his politics, but it is disappointing to see him use the tactics he did.
I’m pretty plugged into the ILGP e-mail lists (public and organizational), but I haven’t heard anything about Rob dying in a plane crash. That would have been news despite our recent disagreements. I’ll have to see if I somehow missed such an event. If he is dead, that’s not the way I would have wanted to not have to worry about him anymore, that’s just sad.
And I have to agree Richard, he did better than I thought he would have (I was thinking more like 2-3%), considering he just about pissed off much of the Green Party base and then some of the Socialist and other third party and independent voters who might have otherwise voted for him when he challenged the ballot access petitions earlier this year. Paula getting 6% of the vote was significant because she ran a more traditionally Green campaign, ie, left-wing economics, peace, solidarity with other third parties, and civil libertarianism; Sherman railed against the party for its left-wing economics.
I’m not sure on this sites link policy, but his crashed airplane was found in a field with the pilot dead, though it hasn’t been officially confirmed it’s him.
Damn…you were right James. Well I feel just awful now having ripped into a dead person.