Cambridge Chronicle recently issued the following announcement.
(PEORIA) The campaign for Republican candidate for State Senate to succeed Senator Chuck Weaver, Win Stoller, called out Independent challenger Marcus Throneburg for violating his own principles that he just sent to voters.
This past week Throneburg’s campaign sent out a fundraising appeal with a list of his ethical standards as a candidate. Among them are: “admitting mistakes; direct with hard truths; communicates authentically; and invites accountability.”
But Throneburg’s candidacy as an Independent was compromised by his voting in the Democratic Primary Election on March 17. Based on Illinois election law, the Illinois State Board of Elections has a long history of disqualifying Independent candidates who just voted in the Democrat or Republican primaries in the same election. State law maintains that Independent candidates must truly be independent. If that precedent is upheld in this case then Marcus Throneburg will be removed from the ballot for a fundamental blunder.
“Marcus Throneburg just sent voters a list of his principles and in the same week violated those same principles the first time he faced heat in this election,” said Stoller campaign manager Karen Disharoon.
“Marcus Throneburg did not admit his mistake, was not direct with hard truths, did not communicate authentically and is ducking accountability for his failure to determine basic rules to get on the ballot.”
On Sunday, Throneburg abruptly cancelled a scheduled Facebook Live session saying “I am spending several days focused on family time, as well as reading and reflection, so I will not be doing a Facebook Live video this evening.” The Stoller campaign faults Throneburg for not leveling with voters and neglecting to remove fundraising pleas from his website, though his campaign will likely soon be over.
The complaint filed against Throneburg’s petitions filed July 20 also maintains Throneburg did not secure enough valid signatures of registered voters in the district despite a court ruling allowing Independent candidates to collect only about half the signatures that Democrats and Republicans had to gather last fall to get on the ballot, and that court decision allowed Independent candidates to more easily gather signatures online instead of in person.
Throneburg first flirted with running as a third-party Alliance Party candidate but then decided to run as an Independent. He publicly announced his Independent candidacy early last winter. Yet he committed a disqualifying act by voting in the March 17 Democrat Primary even though he was running as Independent candidate in the same election.
Original source can be found here.
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