Independent Illinois governor candidate faces ballot challenge from Darren Bailey campaign

CHICAGO (WLS) -- The race for Illinois governor has taken a new turn with the emergence of an independent candidate whose campaign could draw support from Republican nominee Darren Bailey, prompting Bailey's team to challenge his place on the ballot.

Republican leaders have filed a petition challenge against independent gubernatorial candidate Collin Corbett, seeking to keep him off the November ballot. Corbett, a longtime Republican political strategist who left the party this year, says he is confident his campaign will survive the review process.

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Independent candidates for governor face stricter ballot access requirements than candidates from established parties, needing five times as many signatures on their nominating petitions. Corbett submitted more than 37,000 signatures last month and must have at least 25,000 deemed valid to qualify.

"I just grew fed up who is what I was seeing from both parties, my own party and the other party it was really all just division and hatred," Corbett said.

Corbett said his campaign relied on a broad network to collect signatures.

"We have people all throughout the state, volunteers, family members supporters. We also have paid companies who are supporting us. It's a tremendous challenge to get on the ballot as an independent," he said.

Bailey and his running mate, Aaron Del Mar, argue Corbett's candidacy could siphon Republican votes, particularly from the northwest suburbs, where Corbett is from. Del Mar said Corbett's candidacy is not official until the petition process is complete.

"Well, I think the first thing is he's got to stay on the ballot. Everyone just says he's an independent candidate. Nobody's a candidate until they get on the ballot," Del Mar said.

Corbett rejected the idea that his campaign is aimed at undermining any particular candidate.

"I have no interest in hurting anyone, this is a pro Illinois movement. It is not anti-anything or anyone," he said, adding that he believes his campaign could attract supporters of both Bailey and Democratic Gov. JB Pritzker.

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Bailey's campaign says a review of Corbett's petitions uncovered numerous problematic signatures, leading to a formal objection. Del Mar said the challenge targets a large share of the submitted signatures.

"We're objecting to over 20,000 of the 38,000 signatures, or so-called signatures, that were submitted, because we don't believe they've met the criteria in order to stay on the ballot," Del Mar said.

Corbett said the objections only strengthened his confidence.

"We were heartened to see in the challenge just how sloppy and amateur that it was, all sorts of obvious mistakes and problems in their challenge, which make us even more confident that we're going to make it on the ballot," he said.

The petition challenge process is expected to take several weeks, as tens of thousands of signatures are reviewed. The Illinois State Board of Elections will ultimately decide whether Corbett qualifies for the ballot.