A judge scheduled to hear the appeal of a Democratic candidate who was removed from the ballot has recused himself from the case after campaign contributions he received from the DuPage County Election Commission’s lawyer came to light.

Patrick Bond, the attorney for the commission, and his law firm have made campaign contributions to DuPage Circuit Judge Kenneth Popejoy and to state Sen. Carole Pankau, R-23rd District, of Itasca. The commission removed her Democratic opponent, Villa Park Trustee Tom Cullerton, from the ballot last month.

Pankau is seeking re-election this year. Cullerton was removed from the ballot in early May after an objection to his candidacy was raised.

Before being slated to run for the Illinois Senate by the DuPage County Democratic Party, Cullerton voted in February’s Republican primary. There also were questions about the date on his nominating petition.

The DuPage County Officers Electoral Board — the body of the commission that rules on candidate objections — is made up of two Republicans and one Democrat. The board split 2-1 along party lines in voting to remove Cullerton from the ballot, a decision Bond recommended.

Cullerton’s attorneys are appealing the ruling. A hearing is scheduled for Thursday, July 3. The case has been reassigned to Circuit Judge Paul Fullerton.

At a hearing June 6, attorneys for the Election Commission motioned to change the judge presiding over the case. DuPage County Circuit Judge Bonnie Wheaton was originally assigned, but the case was reassigned to Circuit Judge Kenneth Popejoy.

Popejoy also has received campaign contributions from Bond and his firm. Bond personally gave $5,000 to Popejoy’s campaign in 2003, and the firm donated $1,500 from 2003 to 2004, according to state records.

Additionally, Bond and his firm have donated more than $75,000 to other DuPage Republican candidates and to the county GOP’s central committee since 2001, according to state records.

Bond did not respond to requests for comment.

While Cullerton’s attorneys declined to comment on the campaign contributions, the candidate said he has no problem with Bond’s financial support of his opponent and other GOP candidates.

“If he’s a Republican committeeman or a Republican supporter, he obviously wants to see Republicans elected, just like I want to see Democrats get elected,” Cullerton said.

But Jean Kaczmarek of Glen Ellyn takes a different view. She is co-chairwoman of the DuPage chapter of the Illinois Ballot Integrity Project, a nonpartisan election watchdog.

“I think it’s a matter of appearances. To my knowledge, this is legal,” Kaczmarek said. “The distinction between Pat Bond and other attorneys giving money is that Pat Bond is well compensated by taxpayers to represent the ... bipartisan Election Commission.

“I realize that attorneys vote,” she said. “But an attorney representing a bipartisan election board should consider not giving large contributions to candidates who are on the ballot in that jurisdiction and to the judges who hear the cases.”

Jay Stewart is executive director of the Better Government Association, a Chicago-based, nonpartisan government watchdog. He said that while Bond’s campaign contributions are “perfectly legal,” they illustrate problems with the state’s conflict-of-interest and campaign-finance laws.

The contributions to Popejoy’s campaign fund also show the flaws in having Circuit Court judges campaign for office with privately raised funds, Stewart said.

“It’s not uncommon for judges to raise money from those who appear in front of them, law firms and lawyers,” he said. “It happens in courts all over Illinois all the time.”

The solution to these apparent conflicts of interest, Stewart said, would be public financing of judges’ campaigns and laws restricting campaign donations by law firms and other companies with government contracts.