Records filed this month with the Illinois State Board of Elections (HERE) show that Democrat State Senator Dan Kotowski (photo right) made robo calls on Sandack’s behalf and declared them as an in kind contribution to Sandack’s campaign.
Kotowski, who has a reputation as a left-wing lawmaker especially interested in gun control, urged Democrats in the 81st House District to pull Republican ballots and vote for Sandack.
In fact, records show 705 individuals who voted Democrat in 2012 pulled a Republican ballot in the 2014 Primary for the 81st House District. Of those 705 who pulled a GOP ballot in 2014, 459 of them voted Democrat in 2012 and 2010.
There are more than enough reason to be skeptical here.
First, no one really has any idea exactly why those Democrats chose to pull a GOP ballot or exactly for who they voted. Illinois Review is just assuming based on the way they want to see this race having played out — that their preferred socially conservative candidate lost to a guy who voted for gay marriage only because a bunch of dastardly Democrats voted for him, foiling the True Republicans™.
There was also a state-wide effort by Illinois’ public sector unions to get Democrats to pull GOP ballots in the primary to vote for State Sen. Kirk Dillard and block Bruce Rauner from winning the nomination. Some, even a lot, of these Democrats could have been pulling GOP ballots for that reason alone. They might not even have voted in any down ballot races. Again, we just don’t know.
Matune was arrested in 1991 on a fugitive warrant for writing a bad check while a student in Virginia, in 1992 for public indecency for urinating behind a building, and in 1994 for criminal trespass in a vacant building in Indiana where he finished college. The charge arising from the bad check was dismissed, he pleaded guilty to indecency and prosecutors dropped the trespassing case. He is now married with four children and works as a social studies teacher.
It’s perfectly plausible that Democrats other than Dan Kotowski were encouraging Democrats to cross over and vote for Matune, since he was the candidate with the arrest record and, thus, the larger political weaknesses.
It’s also possible that Illinois Review and Matune’s backers are right, and Democrats were the deciding factor for Sandack. But there’s just as much reason to doubt.