Bush, six Dems file for Illinois primary ballot spots
Originally published in the Chicago Sun-Times
Bush, six Dems file for Illinois primary ballot spots
January 8, 2004
BY DAVE MCKINNEY, LESLIE GRIFFY AND SCOTT FORNEK Sun-Times Springfield Bureau
SPRINGFIELD -- Opening this year's presidential campaign in Illinois, six of nine Democrats seeking the White House joined President Bush in filing for spots on the state ballot Wednesday.
Presidential hopeful and former Sen. Carol Moseley Braun did not submit nominating petitions to the Illinois State Board of Elections with the others on the opening day of filing, but a campaign aide said she will do so by the Jan. 14 deadline.
Included among Wednesday's logjam of Democratic presidential aspirants were retired Army Gen. Wesley Clark, former Vermont Gov. Howard Dean, North Carolina Sen. John Edwards, former House Minority Leader Dick Gephardt, Ohio Congressman Dennis Kucinich, and Connecticut Sen. Joe Lieberman.
State election officials will hold a Jan. 23 lottery to determine who will receive the coveted top ballot spot, a position many political observers believe holds an advantage in crowded contests.
Besides Braun, Democratic activist Al Sharpton and Massachusetts Sen. John Kerry did not file their nominating petitions. A Kerry spokesman said his campaign would meet next week's filing deadline. Sharpton's campaign could not be reached.
Trying to tout their organizational strength, Dean and Kucinich each filed full slates of delegates to the Democratic convention. [ed. note: so Kucinich's ground organization in Illinois is equivalent in strength to Dean's and surpasses that of other "serious" candidates? Just who are the front-runners again?] Dean's list included the wife of Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr., who has endorsed Dean, and several other members of Jackson's political organization.
Bush, meanwhile, also filed his delegate list, which included a dose of glamor. One of his delegates who filed for a place on the ballot is Erika Harold of Urbana, who is Miss America 2003.
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