Niemerg, Wilhour nominating petitions challenged

Jan. 9—Objections have been filed against the nominating petitions of two local legislators running in the March 19 Primary that could result in Adam Niemerg's name being left off the ballot based on an Illinois State Board of Elections hearing officer recommendation.

The objections, filed separately, are against statements of candidacy filed by incumbents Niemerg, R-Dieterich, and Blaine Wilhour, R-Beecher City. Candidates are required to file the paperwork as part of their nominating petition.

Germaine Light of Danville is challenging Niemerg's Statement of Candidacy. Light resides in the 102nd District that Niemerg represents and is a retired teacher and former Vermilion County Democratic chairwoman. Light charges Niemerg's statement of candidacy was never notarized as required by Section 8-8 of the Election Code. The objection states Niemerg failed to fill the mandatory requirement because the Statement of Candidacy "is not subscribed and sworn before a Notary Public or some other officer authorized to take acknowledgment of deeds in Illinois."

The objection also states the document does not contain language indicating, under oath, that he has filed a statement of economic interests as also required by Election Code Section 8-8.

Niemerg testified during a hearing before the Illinois State Board of Elections last week that he signed the Statement of Candidacy at his home in front of Collin Moseley, who Niemerg noted in motion documents is an Illinois Notary Public. However, he admitted Moseley never administered an oath or had him sworn. Rather, Niemerg merely signed the statement of candidacy and loyalty oath in the presence of Moseley.

According to hearing documents, Niemerg believed that signing in Moseley's presence was all that was needed for him to be sworn, even though Moseley administered no oath.

While Moseley testified he did witness Niemerg sign the statement of candidacy, he further testified he did not sign the statement of candidacy and did not place his notary seal on it.

According to his motion to strike and dismiss, Niemerg acknowledges that his Statement of Candidacy does not contain a notarial jurat (i.e., a notary's signed statement of when, where, and before whom a document was sworn) but, instead, argues Section 8-8 only requires the averment within the Statement of Candidacy be "subscribed and sworn to by such a candidate before [a Notary Public or other such officer]," without expressly requiring the notarial jurat. Niemerg contends he fulfilled that statutory obligation by subscribing and signing his Statement of Candidacy at his home in the presence of an Illinois Notary Public, and understood himself to be under oath and attesting to the statements within the statement of candidacy.

Niemerg's motion further states, "It was only through inadvertent error or omission by Mr. Moseley that he failed to complete the notarial jurat."

Hearing Officer David Herman noted the document does not identify the name of the official/notary who purportedly witnessed the signing and swearing to the document or that person's qualifications. Instead, he said the filed document simply contains a blank Notary jurat with a blank line for a "Signature of Notary Public" and a space for the Notary to apply his or her stamp.

The hearing officer further concluded that the provisions of the Illinois Notary Act require "at the time of a notarial act, a notary public shall officially sign every notary certificate and affix the rubber stamp seal clearly and legibly using black ink."

The hearing officer concluded that because Niemerg was not sworn when he executed his statement of candidacy, it does not comply with Section 8-8.

The hearing officer concluded that Niemerg's statement of candidacy did not contain language indicating, under oath, that he has filed a statement of economic interests. But the officer noted Niemerg's nomination papers did include a receipt from the Secretary of State that shows he filed it.

The General Counsel with the State Board of Elections agreed. But despite finding Niemerg did ultimately comply with the requirements of Section 8-8 concerning his statement of economic interests, both are recommending to the full State Board of Elections that Niemerg's name not be placed on the ballot because he has failed to strictly or substantially comply with the provisions of Section 8-8 that the statement of candidacy be "subscribed and sworn" before a Notary Public.

The full board is scheduled to vote on the objection on Thursday.

Niemerg, who is unopposed in the primary, has not responded to emails to his campaign address seeking comment. An email seeking comment from his attorney also was not immediately returned.

Wilhour

Wilhour's statement of candidacy is being challenged by Trevor Kious of Ramsey, who resides in the 110th District Wilhour represents, because it also lacks language indicating, under oath, that he has filed a statement of economic interests.

However, Wilhour said his legal team is confident that he has "more than substantially complied" with the statutory requirements to get on the ballot.

"Their frivolous argument is that my statement of candidacy is fatally flawed because instead of pledging an oath that I would file a statement of economic interests, I instead literally filed the official statement of economic interests and a receipt of such from the Secretary of State as part of my petition package," he said.

Wilhour believes the objection is a political move funded by the teachers' union in an attempt to get him off the ballot.

"I'm one of the biggest champions of education choice in the General Assembly, and I publicly exposed their cold-heartedness and hypocrisy when they and their political allies killed the successful Invest in Kids program, which will callously rip away education scholarships from nearly 10,000 low-income students in this state," he said.

The state's largest teachers union, the Illinois Education Association, notes Kious is not an IEA member but believes the objection has merit and pointed to Wilhour's past attempt to secure their support during the 2018 election.

"He completed our questionnaire and came to a recommendation meeting, but our members saw, even then, that Wilhour would be an ineffective legislator in the General Assembly. His actions are deceitful and duplicitous: publicly attacking IEA while also being on record attempting to garner our support," said spokesperson Bridget Shanahan.

Wilhour is being challenged in the primary by newcomer Matthew Hall of Vandalia, who is a 27-year veteran of the Illinois Department of Corrections and Fayette County Republican Chairman. Shanahan said IEA members have decided to support Hall for this seat because they believe he is the best person to represent the citizens of the 110th District.

Hearing Officer David Herman concluded that Wilhour also complied with Section 8-8 of the Election Code requirements because he filed the required receipt of the statement of economic interests as part of his nomination papers. Herman recommended the objection be denied, and Wilhour's name be placed on the ballot.

The Illinois State Board of Elections is also expected to rule on the objection Thursday.

Cathy Griffith can be reached at cathy.griffith@effinghamdailynews.com or 618-510-9180.