Tom Kacich: Write-in votes will have significance in primary

Feb. 18—Write-in candidates hope to have a major impact on two local contests in next month's primary election. Both affect districts that touch parts of Champaign County.

In the 15th Congressional District, where U.S. Rep. Mary Miller, R-Humboldt, has no Republican or Democratic opposition, Charleston Democrat Kevin Gaither hopes to get enough write-in votes to qualify to be placed on the November ballot.

And in the 102nd Illinois House District, where incumbent state Rep. Adam Niemerg, R-Teutopolis, was booted off the ballot on a technicality last month, he and two other Republicans are involved in an unusual three-way write-in contest. As it stands, no name — for either party — is listed on the ballot in the politically conservative district that includes parts of Champaign, Coles, Edgar, Vermilion, and six other counties.

Among those challenging Niemerg is Jim Acklin, a former St. Joseph-Ogden High School teacher, coach and superintendent, now serving as part-time interim superintendent of the Chrisman school district in Edgar County as well as village president of Ogden. The third candidate is Edward Blade of Toledo, who failed to return numerous emails and calls seeking comment.

Casting a write-in ballot now is simpler than it was a generation ago in Illinois.

"It's not as difficult as it seems," said Gaither, who needs 511 write-in votes to become the Democratic nominee against Miller. "There is an oval with a line for write-ins. I'm the only person (who is a declared candidate) that people can write in. They have to fill in the oval and then write in my name. If they put in 'Kevin' or any kind of facsimile of that, it should be good enough to get it across the finish line. It's all about the voter's intent."

Champaign County Clerk and Recorder Aaron Ammons said the spelling of a write-in candidate's name "does not have to be exact if the voter intent is clear."

"The voter is supposed to fill in the oval and do their best attempt at writing the name. As long as the intent is clear, the vote will be counted," he said.

15th Congressional District

Gaither's write-in candidacy was so last-minute — devised 36 hours before the filing deadline for write-ins — that he was only able to file in fewer than one-third of the 35 counties in the massive congressional district that stretches across the state and runs almost from the Quad Cities to Collinsville. Among the counties where his name can be written in on Democratic ballots are Champaign, Coles, Macon, Moultrie, Piatt, Sangamon and Shelby.

"We'll see what happens. All you can do is give people an option. That's what I'm doing," said the 47-year-old manager of a family-owned storage facility in Coles County. "It was all done pretty quickly."

Gaither said he's running against Miller "because she's more interested in retributive politics instead of politics about people and getting things done." He criticized her "for bringing zero dollars back to her district" by way of federal community funding projects. Miller was the only member of Congress from Illinois to not participate in the program that brought federal dollars to local projects.

But he said he agreed with the conservative Republican on a number of issues, including gun rights, border security and her vote to not boot former Rep. George Santos, R-N.Y., out of the House.

"I thought it was a mistake for Democrats to join in and get rid of him, even though they just elected a Democrat to replace him," Gaither said. "I agree with her on that vote. I don't think it's the job of any representative to oust a duly elected person just because you disagree with everything about them.

"I agree with her in some respects on the border, the seriousness of it. But unfortunately, she will not do anything to solve it."

"I'm very supportive of the Second Amendment," Gaither said. "I cannot support this assault-weapons ban. It doesn't make any sense at any level. Gun violence is terrible and we need to do everything we can to limit it, but we are not going to be able to get rid of all of these weapons.

"The Democratic Party should really focus on being a rights party, and that means all of these rights. You have to protect all of these rights. If you're protecting rights for some people but not for others, it makes no sense. We need to allow people to make choices for their own lives."

Gaither has run for Congress twice before, falling in 2018 to former U.S. Rep. John Shimkus, R-Collinsville, 71 percent to 29 percent. Two years later, he lost in the Democratic primary to Erika Weaver of Mattoon. She got 52 percent to his 22 percent.

102nd Illinois House District

Meanwhile, the Republican primary in the 102nd Illinois House District — one of the largest, running 125 miles from Interstate 74 on the north to Saint Francisville on the south — promises to be a heated one.

Munificent support to Acklin's campaign from labor groups has already prompted Niemerg, 39, to complain of "evil, evil teachers unions and the evil Democrat Party" that he claimed in a Facebook post is behind Acklin's candidacy.

Acklin last week reported $98,500 in contributions to a campaign that had only been officially created on Feb. 8. The biggest share of funding, $68,500, came from the Illinois Education Association, with $20,000 from the Illinois Federation of Teachers and $10,000 from the Illinois Laborers' Legislative Committee.

Niemerg was bounced from the ballot after Germaine Light, vice chair of the Vermilion County Democratic Party, filed an objection to his candidacy petitions, saying they weren't properly notarized. Light is also an IEA member.

"When I say we're in the fight of our life here and that they're going to come after us, they're coming after us," Niemerg said in a Facebook video. "These people don't represent your best interests, and they're trying to buy this seat with 34 days to go after getting me kicked off on a technicality. This is not a primary election. This is a woke propaganda movement by the radical left."

Acklin acknowledged he was approached by the IEA and encouraged to run a write-in campaign.

"I didn't immediately say yes," said Acklin, 66. "I had to think about it. I'm in a position where I'm retiring from the superintendency on June 30. My wife is retiring. She's worked in public schools for the last 15, 20 years. But in conversations with her, she's totally behind it."

He said he would continue to serve as village president and interim superintendent during the campaign.

"I expect to be painted as left-wing, woke-mob, based on the support that I'm getting," Acklin said. "But I've spent my whole career, 43 years, in public education. I very strongly believe in public education. To me, it seems very natural that I would have a teachers group supporting me. I don't see that as odd at all, but I'm sure that that's where they're going to come after me."

If elected, Acklin said he would hope to serve as a spokesman for public education in the House.

"I think I can make a positive difference; otherwise, I wouldn't be running," he said. "I'm not delusional. I know I would be part of a superminority party, but I think I could at least attempt to carve out a niche similar to the one that Roger Eddy (a teacher and school superintendent from Hutsonville who served in the House from 2003 to 2012) carved out where you could be the go-to person in the Legislature on things that have to do with K-12 education.

"I think that well-meaning legislators push out a lot of legislation that they think will help, but they don't know how it's going to affect the people in the trenches."

Acklin, who ran for the old 102nd Illinois House District in 2016 and lost to state Rep. Brad Halbrook in the Republican primary, said he talked to a number of local Republicans, including former state Rep. Chad Hays and former Champaign County Clerk Gordy Hulten, before committing to the race. His campaign chairman is former Champaign County Board member Greg Knott and his treasurer is current county board member and former county Auditor John Franey, both of St. Joseph.

He said voters will soon see the fruits of his nearly $100,000 in labor-union contributions.

"There's going to be a media blitz that you'll see in the next few days. There will be a lot that's pushed out in electronic media. This isn't going to be like the last (campaign), which was a seven-month grind that could be compared to a marathon," said the longtime cross country coach. "This is more like a sprint to the finish."