4 ms·

A friend of mine (and my successor as chairman of the Chicago Republican Party) filed a case in the U.S. Supreme Court this week over the same tactic right here

by ccleve 5y ago

A friend of mine (and my successor as chairman of the Chicago Republican Party) filed a case in the U.S. Supreme Court this week over the same tactic right here in Chicago. https://www.chicagotribune.com/politics/ct-michael-madigan-candidate-lawsuit-20210902-wagpy3bdznfr5ifsm7baqnmzdu-story.html https://www.chicagotribune.com/politics/ct-michael-madigan-c... If we win this thing, then filing sham candidates will become illegal in the U.S. It's an utterly corrupt practice.

deleted 5y ago
[deleted]
sct202 5y ago
Not this particular case but just to give context on why padding the primary with sham candidates of the same ethnic group is an issue, but also in Chicago it has happened that people change their names to imply certain ethnic/heritage/characteristics like Phillip Spiwak (R) became Shannon P. O’Malley (D) to win an elected judge position in 2018 https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/illinois-judge-candidate-insists-he-s-o-malley-critics-call-n845651 https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/illinois-judge-candidat...
- lrem 5y ago
  There was a movie about a person searching their Irish ancestors. Ended with the protagonist confronting their father, who admitted they made it up to win votes. The movie must be decades old now.
- rory 5y ago
  John Kerry comes to mind here, although at least the official story states that his grandfather chose an Irish name essentially through dumb luck.
- juped 5y ago
  Warren "Bill de Blasio" Wilhelm.
- sangnoir 5y ago
  "Bobby" Jindal, "Ted" Cruz, etc.
noneeeed 5y ago
Sorry, not from the US so I might be missing something, but the link you posted was about someone from the Democrats. Did your friend switch parties after that election (I wouldn't be surprised if that kind of thing had happened)?
- gogobandang 5y ago
  It's a marriage of convenience. Until Madigan is indicted by the FBI (probably happening in the next 12mos, his underlings are helping the FBI now), if you are a (D) on his bad side, your choices are to exit Chicago politics or switch parties.
  - noneeeed 5y ago
    Right, that makes sense. Also, that sucks. Capital "P" politics really is a grubby business.
cguess 5y ago
Why are Republicans suing over a Democratic primary? I'm doubting good faith. Also this seems to be civil case, not a criminal one, so I'm not sure how it'd make anything illegal?
- ccleve 5y ago
  "Illegal" means contrary to the law. Plenty of things that are illegal but carry no criminal penalties. As a practical matter, the court would rule that sham candidates are impermissible, and then their opponents would have an opportunity to remove them from the ballot via a civil lawsuit, or seek sanctions again whoever put them up, or collect civil damages, or in an extreme case overturn an election altogether.
  - cguess 5y ago
    This more seems like the Republicans are trying to tar a democratic candidate who will definitely win with some very slight of hand statements about "hispanics." Most likely it seems like there were two other people with historically-hispanic last names who also entered the election. Chicago is pretty damn hispanic if you haven't been there before and Chicago Democratic politics are especially contentious and nasty. This feels like a rat-f** job
- MeinBlutIstBlau 5y ago
  Maybe because having a political affiliation you disagree with by no means incriminates you of having no morals or ethics.
  - cguess 5y ago
    Sure, in a perfect world. In the world of politics you let your opponents eat themselves.

by ccleve 5y ago

deleted 5y ago

[deleted]

sct202 5y ago

Not this particular case but just to give context on why padding the primary with sham candidates of the same ethnic group is an issue, but also in Chicago it has happened that people change their names to imply certain ethnic/heritage/characteristics like Phillip Spiwak (R) became Shannon P. O’Malley (D) to win an elected judge position in 2018 https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/illinois-judge-candidate-insists-he-s-o-malley-critics-call-n845651 https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/illinois-judge-candidat...

lrem 5y ago
There was a movie about a person searching their Irish ancestors. Ended with the protagonist confronting their father, who admitted they made it up to win votes. The movie must be decades old now.
rory 5y ago
John Kerry comes to mind here, although at least the official story states that his grandfather chose an Irish name essentially through dumb luck.
juped 5y ago
Warren "Bill de Blasio" Wilhelm.
sangnoir 5y ago
"Bobby" Jindal, "Ted" Cruz, etc.

noneeeed 5y ago

Sorry, not from the US so I might be missing something, but the link you posted was about someone from the Democrats. Did your friend switch parties after that election (I wouldn't be surprised if that kind of thing had happened)?

gogobandang 5y ago
It's a marriage of convenience. Until Madigan is indicted by the FBI (probably happening in the next 12mos, his underlings are helping the FBI now), if you are a (D) on his bad side, your choices are to exit Chicago politics or switch parties.
- noneeeed 5y ago
  Right, that makes sense. Also, that sucks. Capital "P" politics really is a grubby business.

cguess 5y ago

Why are Republicans suing over a Democratic primary? I'm doubting good faith. Also this seems to be civil case, not a criminal one, so I'm not sure how it'd make anything illegal?

ccleve 5y ago
"Illegal" means contrary to the law. Plenty of things that are illegal but carry no criminal penalties. As a practical matter, the court would rule that sham candidates are impermissible, and then their opponents would have an opportunity to remove them from the ballot via a civil lawsuit, or seek sanctions again whoever put them up, or collect civil damages, or in an extreme case overturn an election altogether.
- cguess 5y ago
  This more seems like the Republicans are trying to tar a democratic candidate who will definitely win with some very slight of hand statements about "hispanics." Most likely it seems like there were two other people with historically-hispanic last names who also entered the election. Chicago is pretty damn hispanic if you haven't been there before and Chicago Democratic politics are especially contentious and nasty. This feels like a rat-f** job
MeinBlutIstBlau 5y ago
Maybe because having a political affiliation you disagree with by no means incriminates you of having no morals or ethics.
- cguess 5y ago
  Sure, in a perfect world. In the world of politics you let your opponents eat themselves.