Ballot controversy raises profile of candidate Cedra Crenshaw with tea party

Conservative media outlets take up the cause of Cedra Crenshaw after the Republican is removed from Illinois Senate race

By Mary Owen, TribLocal.com reporter

July 19, 2010
A ballot controversy in an Illinois Senate race has transformed a stay-at-home mom into a tea party darling whose story is being heard on conservative media outlets nationwide.

Cedra Crenshaw is a Bolingbrook Republican vying to unseat Democratic state Sen. A.J. Wilhelmi. But after the Will County Electoral Board this month voted 2-1 along party lines to remove her from the ballot over a technical issue with her nomination petition, conservatives have rallied behind her.

"Unfortunately, people are very upset when, in essence, you have politicians who are frivolously taking away people's right to vote," Crenshaw said last week. "People are upset, and they are not going to take it anymore."

The 43rd District has been a Democratic stronghold since 1975, but Republicans believe that Crenshaw, 37, is their best bet in years to win the seat.

"She can do what others haven't done," said Richard Kavanagh, chairman of the Will County Republicans and one of Crenshaw's attorneys. "It's painfully clear that the Chicago Democrats don't want her on the ballot because they are afraid of her."

Wilhelmi said he will respect the court's decision and noted that ballot challenges are part of the electoral process. And Crenshaw's campaign had recruited her neighbor to file a challenge to the petition of the independent candidate running in the same race.

"This is politics as usual," said Jay Rowell, political director of the Illinois Senate Democratic Victory Fund. "This is what candidates do. This is what Republicans do. It's what Democrats do. She is nothing out of the ordinary."

The Electoral Board made its ruling because Crenshaw's nominating petition forms stated that signatures could be collected no earlier than 90 days before the filing deadline. A new state law requires signatures be collected no earlier than 75 days before the deadline. Crenshaw's attorneys have appealed her ballot removal, and a judge will hear arguments Tuesday.

In the meantime, the controversy has landed Crenshaw interviews with radio stations in Chicago, Florida, Missouri and South Carolina, in addition to a mention on the Fox News Channel's "The Sean Hannity Show."

As an African-American with strong tea party support, Crenshaw is in a unique position after the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People passed a resolution last week condemning the tea party for its allegedly racist rhetoric.

"It's very sad," said Crenshaw, who moved to Chicago for a job out of college and then to Bolingbrook 11 years ago. "These are the same people who say there is no diversity in the Republican Party. Well, here I am, trying to bring a diversity of ideas."

Crenshaw was plucked from political obscurity by Adam Andrzejewski, a wealthy small-business owner who lost his gubernatorial bid in February. When no Republicans ran in the 43rd District primary in February, Andrzejewski passed on Crenshaw's name to Kavanagh.

The decision to remove Crenshaw from the ballot has energized tea party members, who have organized protests on her behalf and showed up in patriotic T-shirts to her legal hearings. One activist confronted Wilhelmi last week at a news conference in Chicago, grabbing a microphone and shouting, "Why are you afraid of a mom from the suburbs?"

Wilhelmi, who has held his Senate seat since 2005, was hesitant on Thursday to discuss Crenshaw, instead talking about jobs, public safety and transportation.

"At the end of the day, what each candidate must do is focus on their community and explain what they've done for their community," he said.

Before the political spotlight, Crenshaw was an outspoken parent in Valley View Public School District 365U. With three children, one of whom has autism, Crenshaw said she became involved with educational issues ranging from fiscal responsibility to curriculum. Her husband teaches physical education and coaches wrestling at Glenbard South High School in Glen Ellyn.

In her first foray into politics in February, she was elected precinct committeewoman.

"I was tired of out-of-control spending and encroachment of government," Crenshaw said.

Crenshaw, whose shoestring campaign has raised $12,535 while Wilhelmi's campaign war chest holds $140,000, has billed herself as an independent taking on a powerful Democrat. But Democrats note she has the strong backing of the GOP, which sent Evergreen Park attorney Burt Odelson to represent her in Will County. Odelson represented President George W. Bush in the 2000 presidential election recount in Florida.

"How many moms do you know have George W. Bush's attorney?" Rowell said.

Crenshaw said the GOP may have sent legal counsel, but it hasn't given her significant financial backing and the support won't make her "beholden to the Republican Party."

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/southsouthwest/ct-met-0719-cedra-crenshaw-20100719,0,5039263.story