Just weeks after he was hit with a dismal job appproval rating of 13 percent, more bad news is emerging for Gov. Rod Blagojevich today.
Fed-up voters overwhelmingly backed a Cook County advisory referendum to add a recall amendment to the state constitution enabling lawmakers to send unpopular elected officials packing. The question asked: "Shall the State of Illinois Constitution be amended to establish a recall process for the office of governor and other statewide elected officials?" The measure passed by a 57-43 percent margin in the city and a 63-37 percent margin in the county, according to preliminary election authority results.
It took some sneaky political maneuvering by Lt. Gov. Pat Quinn to get the question on the ballot. He quietly collected 900 signatures in favor of the recall amendment and delivered them to County Clerk David Orr earlier this year. More signatures are typically required, but because the petition flew under the radar, no one posed a challenge.
Ironically, it was the lieutenant governor who recently spearheaded a legal battle over problematic language pertaining to the constitutional convention referendum that made its way through a legislative committee and onto the statewide ballot.
For more on the issue of recall, check out Josh's skeptical thoughts on the subject last April.
Anonymous (not verified) on Thu, 11/06/2008 - 07:52
I searched on msn.com and chicagotribune.com both yesterday and today to see these results. Both sources had nothing. I googled same this morning and found this site and the election results in the referendum on the recall issue. I am not sure why it wasn't mentioned anywhere and why it was so hard to find.
Perhaps it was the only negative about the huge Democratic victory on Tuesday. Let's hope it might arrive on a statewide election ballot very soon. It might be our only hope in Illinois. Anyone who has walked the halls of Congress realize that people in public office are only concerned about two things, their reelection and their campaign funds. The power that accumulates over many terms allows them to continue in office without accomplishing anything. We do need term limits.
Ron Glenn (not verified) on Wed, 11/12/2008 - 10:35
The recall referendum should be nationally and not just statewide.
swish (not verified) on Tue, 12/09/2008 - 13:42
I also had a very hard time finding this information. Today we see, Anonymous, that you were wrong. A recall election *wasn't* the only way out of a bad choice. It looks as if our governor has blown himself up.
Maybe we'll can make better choices from now on. We've had some good, moderate, sensible candidates in past years, but they never seem to get any traction (or campaign funding) and drop out before the general election, leaving only the doofuses for us to hold our noses and vote on.
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