Whether Governor Pat Quinn will have a primary opponent is still undecided. But there's one fewer candidate seeking the Republican nomination.
There's a way to win an election long before election day: get your opponent knocked off the ballot -- challenging their paperwork for not meeting the rules.
That helped clear the way for Barack Obama when he was trying to begin his political career in the Illinois Senate.
No such luck for former Ceasefire Director Tio Hardiman, who's running for the Democratic nomination for governor and objected to Gov. Pat Quinn's petitions.
The State Board of Election's Jim Tenuto says Quinn turned in plenty of legitimate signatures.
"They did a record exam and found out he had more than enough sufficient signatures," Tenuto said. "In fact they suspended the record exam after a certain portion, when it became apparent that he was going to have more than enough, it was suspended."
An objection to Hardiman's own petitions is still pending. The board delayed a ruling on that case because it's so complicated.
Elections authorities did kick off a little-heard-of Republican trying to run for governor: Peter Edward Jones, of Franklin Park. That leaves Sen. Bill Brady of Bloomington, Sen. Kirk Dillard of Hinsdale Tres. Dan Rutherford and venture capitalist Bruce Rauner on the GOP ballot.
The elections board also voted to remove two Republicans from the race for U.S. Senate: neither Chicagoian Armen Alvarez nor William Lee of Rockton were well-known.
That leaves State Sen. Jim Oberweis, the dairy magnate, and Doug Truax, a West Point graduate from Downer's Grove who owns a risk consulting firm, to face off for the GOP nomination. Incumbent Senator Dick Durbin is unopposed on the Democratic side.
