Free Republic

Chicago Republican Party Chairman Steve Boulton has lost the election to save his 27th Ward Committeeman seat after he was originally knocked off the ballot for submitting an “insufficient number of valid signatures,” after receiving just 24 votes as a write-in candidate – falling far short while facing no opponent, and bringing a humiliating end to a term marked by controversy and losses. 111 signatures were required to appear on the March Primary ballot as a candidate for 27th Ward Committeeman. Boulton submitted a total of 310, but after careful review, it was discovered that only 103 signatures were valid...

‘Thousands of dollars” in state grants awarded to bolster health care in minority communities instead went to pay campaign workers for former state Sen. Rickey Hendon and Democratic candidates Hendon supported, a Chicago nurse has told investigators. The nurse, Tonja Cook, 44, detailed her allegations in four interviews with state and federal authorities between October 2010 and May 2011, records show. In June 2011, federal prosecutors in Springfield charged Cook and another Chicago nurse, Margaret A. Davis, with siphoning $500,000 from state grant funds for Davis’ “personal use.” Hendon, 58, a West Side Democrat who unexpectedly retired from the Senate...