Judge Don Weber's volunteers walked the extra mile

Circuit Court Judge Don Weber, appointed by the Illinois Supreme Court in November on the recommendation of Justice Lloyd Karmeier to fill a vacancy, filed his petitions to run for the judgeship in November. While he had more than the legally required number of names (500) on his petitions to submit them to the State Board of Elections on the first filing day, December 12, his supporters asked that he hold off until they could gather even more names. They hoped to send a message to Madison County voters ,and by agreeing, Judge Weber was able to file a petition on the last day, December 19, with 1500 names.

While this may not seem terribly earthshaking to those in other parts of the state, it is an office of interest in southern Illinois and Madison County, especially after the vindictive Supreme Court Justice race in 04. This could shape up similarly, with a republican judge running in an overwhelmingly democratic area. Feelings among many democrats are still raw from the Karmeier victory and it could well be they pull out all the stops in an attempt to elect someone of their party to the Circuit Court. But the message has been sent, Don Weber has support as well.