PRESS RELEASE

For Immediate release

Contact: Gayl Ferraro, Chair

Democratic Party of DuPage County

630-495-3969

Gabigayl2@aol.com

 

DuPage Republicans Worried - Senator Cronin and Representative Biggins Try Legislative Chicanery

 

DuPage Democrats to Challenge Constitutionality of Election Legislation

 

Gayl Ferraro, Chair of the Democratic Party of DuPage County, today slammed Republican State Senator Dan Cronin and Republican State Representative Biggins for introducing legislation that requires only candidates for DuPage County elected office to gather three times as many signatures as any other county in the state.

“The DuPage County Republicans must be plenty worried about the Democrats,” said Ferraro. “They are panicking if they have to resort to legislative chicanery to keep their weakening grasp on elective politics.”

House Bill 1752 was amended by Republican Senator Cronin, with wording added by Republican State Representative Biggins, which then became Senate Bill 662. Cronin and Biggins amendment requires that candidates circulating petitions in all counties in the state must get 0.5% of their party’s signatures. Only in DuPage must they get 1.5%.

“It is far easier for incumbents to generate signatures than challengers,” added Ferraro. “This is nothing more than arrogant political trickery, which we have come to expect in both the White House and now our state legislature, to give DuPage Republicans an advantage in recruiting candidates.”

While Republicans have seen their influence shrink nationally and statewide, DuPage Republicans saw the writing on the wall and scrambled to elect Senator Cronin as their new leader in April.

The Republicans’ top goal, according to Cronin, is to throw out their underperforming Precinct Committeemen, the bad apples who have lost ground to the Democrats, and refill their ranks with new blood. "I'd like to build from the ground up," Cronin was quoted as saying. Apparently, legislative hocus pocus is, too.

After spending five days talking to legislators in Springfield, Ferraro discovered that the only reason this legislation will pass both the house and the Senate, was because the Republicans were holding up the election legislation, which needed to be passed if the earlier primary date in February was to be met.

“This legislation will more than likely be signed by the Governor,” concludeeed Ferraro. “But, we will challenge the wording by Senator Cronin and Representative Biggins. We will likely win. It is unfortunate that Cronin and Biggins are wasting everyone’s time and energy. Rather than play by the rules, they want to change the rules.

 

To find out more about the energy of The Democratic Party of DuPage County, call 630-629-1125, the email is info@dupagedemocrats.org and the web site is http://www.dupagedemocrats.org/ .

The headquarters of the Democratic Party of DuPage County is located at 1000 Rohlwing, unit 7, in the North Gate Mall on the northwest corner of North Avenue and Rohlwing in Lombard. The headquarters is in the middle of the south side of the mall and faces North Avenue.