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Huckabee supporters happy with last spot on primary ballot

Posted December 05, 2007 10:00 pm

Bernard Schoenburg

Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee will be the last name listed on the Feb. 5 Republican Illinois primary ballot for presidential preference, and that's just fine with his campaign organizers.

As the eight-day filing period came to an end Wednesday for GOP presidential candidates and people seeking election to be Republican National Convention delegates or alternates, petitions for four candidates for president were filed - with Huckabee's just four minutes before the 5 p.m. deadline.

Petitions for former New York Gov. Rudy Giuliani were filed just three minutes earlier.

In mid-afternoon, petitions were filed for U.S. Rep. Tom Tancredo of Colorado, and just before noon, a little-known candidate, James Creighton Mitchell Jr. of Lindenhurst, filed petitions.

While all 8 a.m. filers on the first day of filing - Nov. 28 - will be in a lottery for top ballot position, all who filed later are listed on the primary ballot in the order they filed.

"Many of the communications experts believe that people see the first and last thing most clearly in any list or group, so we think it's quite a gamble to come in the first day for the lottery, and we thought we could nail the last spot, so that's what we did," said Shane Henry, a lawyer and ballot-access delegate coordinator with the Huckabee campaign who filed 5,000 signatures for the candidate at the State Board of Elections. Presidential candidates need 3,000 valid signatures.

Jarrod Agen, a spokesman for the Giuliani campaign, predicted his candidate would win the Illinois primary regardless of ballot placement.

"Our intention was to file before the deadline, and that's what we did," he said.

State Reps. Bill Mitchell, R-Forsyth, and Chapin Rose, R-Mahomet, were on hand just before the deadline to support Giuliani. Both are delegate candidates for him.

"I think we wanted to make sure we had all of our I's dotted and our T's crossed, and get everything in order and file correctly," Mitchell said of the Giuliani filing on the last day.

Joe Wiegand of DeKalb County is a Huckabee delegate candidate in the 16th Congressional District. He said conservative swing voters in southern Illinois could help Huckabee.

"There's an awful lot of southern Illinois that's an awful lot like Missouri, Arkansas," he said.

Republicans who filed the first day for president are John McCain, Ron Paul, Mitt Romney and Fred Thompson. Two days later, Alan Keyes filed.

Petitions for delegate and alternate candidates were filed for Huckabee and Giuliani in districts across the state Wednesday, as were some congressional district slates for other candidates not filed earlier.

Democratic presidential and convention delegate candidates filed in a period that ended Nov. 5.

New filers Wednesday in districts that include part of Springfield are:

--17th Congressional District - Huckabee delegate candidates Louisa Hulett, Galesburg; Evelyn Campbell, Moline; Michael Nadeau, Moline. Huckabee alternate candidates Carrie Clark, Rock Island; Russell Christ, Moline; Chris Spencer, Macomb. Giuliani delegate candidates Susie Carpenter, Rock Island; Andrea Zinga, Coal Valley; C. David Nuessen, Quincy. Giuliani alternate candidates Don Welvaert, Moline; Charlie Johnston, Galesburg; Michael Bertelsen, Aledo.

--18th Congressional District - Thompson delegate candidates Don Adams, Springfield; Katherine Coyle, Peoria; Irv Smith, Springfield; Rudy Lewis, Peoria. Thompson alternates Patrick Nichting, Peoria; Steve Dove, Springfield; Mel Stanford, Mackinaw; Matthew Jones, Peoria. Giuliani delegates Rep. Mitchell, Forsyth; Demetra Demonte, Pekin; W. Eric Turner, Peoria; Jim Montelongo, Peoria. Giuliani alternates Paul Kouri, Metamora; John Birch, Griggsville; Jim Donahue, Pekin; Kim Clarke Maisch, Springfield. Huckabee delegates Jonathan Wright, Hartsburg; Mike Mangold, Eureka; David Kurfman, Rushville; April Hohimer, Springfield. Huckabee alternates Katie Roat, Havana; Mark Moehlenkamp, Peoria; Judy Kurfman, Mount Sterling; Elizabeth Eilers, Riverton.

--19th Congressional District - Huckabee delegates Steven Barker, Vandalia; Beverly McDowell, Olney; Les Sinks, Mount Vernon; Steve Smith, Albion. Huckabee alternates Larry McGill, Vienna; Edward Ragsdale, Alton; Beverly Ann Stein, Marion; Kenneth Wiggs, Vienna. Giuliani delegates Gwenn Klingler, Springfield; Allen Adomite, Troy; Andy Goleman, Divernon; Joe Powell, Auburn. Giuliani alternates Bruce Kettlekamp, Taylorville; Don Barber, Springfield; Ron Jedda, Collinsville; Jean Myers, Troy.

Meanwhile, candidates for 19th Congressional District alternate for Ron Paul who filed Tuesday are Daniel Lairson, Alhambra; Monica Sergfreid, Assumption; Merrill Upchurch, Dahlgren; and John Metcalf, Mount Vernon.

Bernard Schoenburg can be reached at (217) 788-1540 or bernard.schoenburg@sj-r.com.

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