McCloy alleges ‘forged’ campaign petition signatures, ‘serious concerns’ as governor candidate Corbett says ‘we’re not worried’
Kristina McCloy is pushing back after Illinois gubernatorial candidate Collin Corbett dismissed concerns over his ballot petitions, as scrutiny mounts over a signature-gathering effort that included an unidentified paid outside firm and allegations of widespread irregularities in campaign petition materials.
McCloy, founder of Concerned Parents of Illinois and a petitioner in the challenge to Corbett's nominating petitions, said a multi-county review uncovered significant concerns that prompted the objection now before Illinois election officials.
“For days, I reviewed petition sheets with grassroots conservatives across Illinois, comparing signatures against publicly available voter information,” McCloy told DuPage Policy Journal.
She said the review process identified what she considers significant concerns, including alleged cases of possible fraudulent signing and voter mismatches.
“We found serious concerns," she said. "In one case, I recognized the name of a longtime conservative neighbor of mine, Tom. When I asked whether he had signed the petition, he said he had not. Similar reports came from other individuals around the state who told us their signatures had been forged and that they would never knowingly sign a petition for an independent candidate."
McCloy said the effort combined volunteer review with technical support.
“Jose Durbin helped coordinate the technology and analytical tools used in this effort, while volunteers across Illinois independently reviewed petition sheets and identified recurring irregularities,” she said.
She added that the review flagged additional entries she believes require further scrutiny.
“Throughout our review, we identified numerous entries that raised significant questions and warranted further investigation, including individuals who did not appear to be registered voters at the listed addresses, as well as other irregularities that will be presented through the legal process,” McCloy said. “That is why we filed this objection. Illinois voters deserve confidence that every candidate seeking statewide office has met the same legal standards for ballot access. The evidence will ultimately speak for itself, and we look forward to presenting it through the proper legal channels.”
The formal ballot challenge, alleging irregularities and invalid entries, was filed a week after Corbett submitted his nominating signatures for Illinois ballot access.
Petition sheets filed by independent gubernatorial candidate Collin Corbett show allegedly illegible signatures and repeated handwriting patterns amid a ballot challenge over signature validity. (Facebook / Sarah Miller Frohberg)
The objection was filed on June 2 with the Illinois State Board of Elections by McCloy and Republican lieutenant governor nominee Aaron Del Mar, who say the petitions require further legal review.
Corbett submitted about 37,000 signatures, above the 25,000 required for independent candidates, though all remain subject to verification and challenge under state election procedures. The challenge comes after Corbett, a former Republican strategist and founder of Cor Strategies, launched an independent gubernatorial bid following his departure from the Republican Party.
Corbett is expected to pick off votes from the already slim 8% chance prediction markets are giving Bailey’s campaign.
He has publicly dismissed the challenge to his campaign petitions.
“We’ve completed our initial review of Darren Bailey’s attempt to knock us off the ballot, and we’re not worried,” Corbett said on Facebook.
Independent Illinois gubernatorial candidate Collin Corbett has responded to petition challenges amid allegations of irregular signatures and claims his ballot status is secure. (Facebook / Collin Corbett)
However, concerns over the validity and quality of the petition signatures have also surfaced from other individuals who participated in reviewing the materials and described an intensive review process.
Allentown resident Sarah Miller Frohberg, who reviewed petition materials, said, “I was one of the reviewers of these so-called petitions,” and described “atrocious work on gathering signatures,” citing “poor penmanship as well as the fact that names did not match up with voter registration records.”
Bailey campaign officials, including field director Jessica Franks, said volunteers spent “hundreds of hours” reviewing petitions, while former Effingham County GOP Vice Chair Lisa Tegeler said a team worked “many long hours” carefully sorting signatures and documenting potential issues before the objection was filed.
DeKalb County coordinator Sandra Koehler said volunteers found what she called “deeply troubling and frankly reprehensible” irregularities, and Region Three coordinator Becky Nelson said “Election Integrity depends on dedicated people willing to do the work behind the scenes,” crediting volunteers for what she described as a thorough grassroots review.
According to The Illinoize, Corbett’s campaign hired an unidentified outside firm to collect petition signatures, but the identity of the signature-gathering firm and details regarding its compensation, prior work or specific role beyond petition collection were not disclosed.
The challenge comes amid broader election integrity concerns around signature-gathering, including a Los Angeles County petition circulator who pleaded guilty after an O’Keefe Media Group sting revealed payments to sign petitions, including involving homeless individuals in Skid Row and the use of false addresses.