Objection filed vs. 'mystery' candidate

An Evanston man's run for Congress might end up being a short one.

Late Tuesday afternoon, the State Board of Elections received an objection claiming that petitions submitted by 14th Congressional District Republican candidate Michael J. Dilger contain invalid signatures that, if removed, would put him below the required 793 to be placed on the Feb. 5 ballot.

For now, Dilger joins state Sen. Chris Lauzen, dairy owner Jim Oberweis and Geneva Mayor Kevin Burns as the Republicans vying to replace retiring Rep. Dennis Hastert.

An initial hearing on Dilger's petitions is scheduled for Monday, according to a Board of Elections spokesman, who said the case would then move to a hearing officer.

The petition challenge comes from consultants Jon Zahm and Jeff Davis, who are working on the Lauzen and Oberweis campaigns, respectively.

Dilger has not responded to repeated phone messages since submitting his petitions on Nov. 1. On Wednesday, he was not at the McGaw YMCA in Evanston, which is listed on campaign documents as his home address.

The variety of addresses connected to Dilger's 927 signatures makes Zahm believe they were collected at a public location and not based on voter-registration logs or neighborhood campaigning. If the challenge is successful, Dilger would be left with less than 600 signatures, Zahm estimated.

"Dilger has not complied with laws," Davis said Wednesday, referring to why he joined Zahm in the challenge.

Although Dilger's candidacy remains a source of mystery in political circles and blogs, it hasn't really fazed other candidates.

"I don't know anything about him," Davis said. "To be honest, I haven't really looked."

Burns said his campaign remains focused on voters and issues, not chasing the validity of candidate petitions. Overall, he has not given a second thought to Dilger.

"We're not going to waste our time," Burns added.

Zahm described Dilger's entry into the race as "concerning" because he apparently lives outside the 14th District and has not indicated a connection to the area served by Hastert for more than 20 years.

While Zahm said Dilger's run is "technically legal," in that residency is not required during the campaign, "it's really against the spirit of good government."