With a nonbinding recount scheduled in the Democratic primary for Kane County Board District 3, the candidate behind in votes says he would not accept his party’s nomination for the seat if the election result is overturned.
There’s a long way to go before any decision about overturning the election could be made, and it might never come to that. But if it does, and if the decision about who should run for the board seat in the November general election falls into the hands of the local Democratic party leadership, Don Ishmael said he would turn down a nomination.
“I don’t want to make it look like I’m a sore loser,” he said. “I don’t want a position that is going to have a cloud of— an asterisk next to it.”
When all ballots cast during the March primary were counted, Ishmael fell six votes short of Anita Marie Lewis in the Democratic race for Kane County Board District 3, which covers a portion of Aurora’s south side. Ishmael, the incumbent, requested a certain type of recount called a discovery recount, which will be conducted by the Aurora Election Commission Wednesday.
The recount includes only two of the precincts in District 3, and will have no effect on the official election results, Aurora Election Commission Executive Director Linda Fechner said. After the discovery recount, Ishmael can choose to go to Kane County court to ask for a full-blown recount or to challenge the election results.
Ishmael said he doesn’t yet know if he would file a legal challenge after the discovery recount. It would likely mean hefty attorney’s fees, he said.
Still, he asked for a recount in case he does go to court.
“It’s been really bizarre, some of the things we think we found,” he said.
Ishmael called the Aurora Election Commission on the day of the March primary with some questions about addresses, so the commission instructed judges to double check that ballots were being given out correctly, Fechner said. Tuesday, Ishmael said he was concerned some people were given the wrong ballots on election day.
If Ishmael does go to court, his case could have a number of outcomes or there could be no change in the election result. He could be declared the winner, or the entire election could get tossed out.
In the event it gets tossed out and comes down to the party leadership selecting a nominee — a scenario Illinois State Board of Elections General Counsel Ken Menzel said he can’t recall ever seeing, and one he could see reasonable arguments against — Ishmael said he would turn down any nomination.
Ishmael said he has also taken a step back from his involvement in the Aurora Democratic party, though he is still a precinct committeeman.
“Yeah I want the seat, absolutely,” he said. “I know I can continue doing good work, I know I can continue serving the people in my district and I love doing it. It’s just the way everything went down in the election, the way my opponent ran against me, because the opposition party was involved in this, there’s just too many variables going against it.”
Ishmael’s opponent, Lewis, was one of three candidates recruited by Republican Kane County Board Chairman Chris Lauzen to run on the Democratic ballot. Lauzen has said he sent an email supporting Lewis and the other candidates and placed phone calls to his own supporters urging them to back the three candidates. He has said he did not want the candidates to run as Republicans, because those districts fall in the Democratic stronghold of Aurora.
Lewis has acknowledged being approached by Lauzen and others to consider running.
No Republican candidates ran for the District 3 seat in the primary election, so the winner of the Democratic primary is unlikely to face a Republican challenger in the general election.
Twitter @srfreish
