A DuPage County judge ruled Thursday that Villa Park Trustee Tom Cullerton should appear on the November ballot as a Democratic candidate for state Senate.

The DuPage County Officers Electoral Board removed Cullerton from the ballot in May because he voted in February’s Republican primary before the Democratic Party nominated him to run against state Sen. Carole Pankau, R-23rd District, of Itasca.

The board also ruled that the date of Cullerton’s selection was not clearly stated on his nominating resolution.

Cullerton’s attorneys, Courtney Nottage and Mike Dorf, appealed the board’s decision, stating that it ignored Illinois election law and legal precedent.

DuPage Circuit Judge Paul Fullerton overturned the board’s decision on both issues.
“The election law in Illinois does not prohibit a candidate from voting in one political party’s primary and then (running) as a candidate for the other party in the subsequent general election,” Fullerton said.

He also ruled that the date of Cullerton’s nomination was clearly stated on the form Democratic officials filed with the DuPage County Election Commission.

GOP election attorney Burt Odelson said he planned to file an appeal of Fullerton’s decision Tuesday in Illinois 2nd District Appellate Court in Elgin.

Odelson is representing Bloomingdale resident Donna Rozycki, who raised the objection to Cullerton’s candidacy.

“If Mr. Cullerton didn’t vote in the primaries or voted in the Democratic primary, we wouldn’t be raising this issue,” Odelson said before Fullerton made his ruling. “He’s attempting to use the system to go both ways.”

Wheaton attorney Patrick Bond serves as legal counsel for the Election Commission and is representing the three-member board in this case. Bond’s law firm, Bond, Dickson & Associates, has donated more than $900 to Pankau’s campaign, according to state campaign finance records.

He said that Pankau is not directly involved in the case, although he conceded that Cullerton being removed from the ballot would make her re-election easier. His firm’s contributions to Pankau are “perfectly legal,” he said.

 Bond said he has no plans to let another attorney represent the Election Commission in the appeal.

“The Election Commission always has an interest in making sure properly qualified candidates appear on the ballot,” he said.