A Danville alderman will be staying on the April 2nd General Election ballot. Vermilion Circuit Judge Derek Girton ruled in favor of the Danville Election Commission this afternoon keeping Ward 2 Alderman Rick Strebing on the ballot.
Strebing’s opponent, Jerry Hawker, had attempted to get him tossed off the ballot by claiming Strebing’s petitions contained the wrong date and were not properly stapled.
Judge Girton said that Hawker was essentially asking him, instead of the voters of Ward 2, to decide the election. And the judge found that although there are requirements on how petitions are to be filed, he does not see where there was a failure to substantially comply with those rules. The judge’s ruling sided with a similar finding that had been made by the Danville Board of Election Commissioners.
Strebing had said earlier that he was merely following the directions given him by the Election Commission office when he wrote the date of April 2, 2019 on his petitions. Hawker had maintained the petitions should have contained the date of the February 26th Primary Election.
Since one of five Danville mayoral candidates recently pulled out of the race there will be no need for a city primary election this year.
