Five third-party races to follow in Tuesday’s election

The political variety bag

Moreover, there are interesting races taking place at lesser levels of government. For example, we’re going to use Illinois as an example of these races.

In the Illinois Senate, Mary Ellen Brown of the Democracy In America banner is hoping to unseat Democrat Celina Villanueva. However, Brown is the only third-party candidate who made the ballot in state senate races.

The Green Party has two opportunities to unseat state reps from both sides of the aisle. First, Christopher Kruger is campaigning to rout out Democratic incumbent Rep. Jennifer Gong-Gershowitz in House District 17 in the Chicagoland region. Then, in the 87th district inside west-central Illinois, Angel Sides would like to get in the seat currently held by Republican Tim Butler.

Libertarians also on the move

Outside of the previously mentioned Flynn race, Libertarians are quite prevalent in legislative races as well.

Glenn Olofson, Clayton Cleveland, Chad Grimm, Brad Bielert, and Mark Elmore are trying to rout out prominent Democrats in the corrupt regime of Michael Madigan. The lone incumbent opponents are Martin Moylan (District 55), Anthony DeLuca (District 80), Jehan Gordon-Booth (District 92), Carol Ammons (District 103), and Jay Hoffman (District 113).

Libertarians aren’t limiting their prospects either: two Republican seats are at play.

The first is in District 88 in the greater Peoria area. An embattled Republican incumbent, Keith Sommer, is in a three-way battle involving Democrat Karla Bailey-Smith and Libertarian Ken Allison. Sommer, a representative for 21 years, is the main focus of complaints this year due to his inability to return calls and emails to constituents regarding the COVID-19 pandemic. Bailey-Smith has done very little to nothing except waste a ballot spot. Meanwhile, Allison is relating to suffering business owners. Just before the election, Allison, the owner of multiple businesses, said he would fight for his employees. This was in response to mitigation plans by Gov. JB Pritzker and IDPH to shut down bars and restaurants.

The other is a Republican seat, but there is no incumbent on the ballot District 115. That would be because its current occupant, Terri Bryant, is running for state senate. Add Libertarian Ian Peak into the mix. Then add a nobody Republican, Paul Jacobs, and a familiar face in Green Party politics, Randy Auxier. Voila – you have a three-way bout for an open seat.

Further down-ballot comes a rare occasion: two-way races for county-level races. However, this three-way race is still notable enough to mention.

Cook County State’s Attorney

It’s not very often Cook County sees an alternative to duopolical choices, but it’s 2020 and it’s been proven that anything can happen.

Enter Libertarian attorney Brian Dennehy. The tax attorney did not quite turn in enough signatures to make the ballot, but did not go noticed in objections. Objectors filed against his only other county-wide candidate, Theresa Benjamin, who was seeking election as circuit clerk. A check with the Chicago Board of Elections after objection hearings confirm that Dennehy did indeed get certified for this election.

Dennehy faces off against embattled Democratic incumbent Kim Foxx, whose most notable screw-up was the handling of the Jussie Smollett case. Additionally, he faces off against Republican attorney and judge Patrick O’Brien.

For more local and Illinois state news, follow Jake Leonard @JakeLeonardWPMD, Ben Cox @Cox4Liberty and Heartland Newsfeed @HLNF_Bulletin on Twitter.

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Jake Leonard

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Jake Leonard, a broadcast media and journalism veteran, is the editor-in-chief of Heartland Newsfeed. Leonard is also GM and program director of Heartland Newsfeed Radio Network, wrestling editor and contributing writer for Ambush Sports, a contributing writer for My Sports Vote and Midwest Sports Network, and a former contributor to Bleacher Report and Overtime Heroics. He resides at home in Nokomis, Ill. with his dog Buster.

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