From the Southern

MAAG TO APPEAR TWICE ON NOVEMBER BALLOT
BY NICOLE SACK
THE SOUTHERN
[Thu Oct 14 2004]
SOUTHERN ILLINOIS -- The name "Gordon Maag" will appear twice on the Nov. 2 election ballots of Southern Illinoisans.
Maag is running for the Illinois Supreme Court 5th Judicial District which represents 1.3 million Southern Illinoisans. He is also running for retention for the 5th District appellate justice seat in which he sits at the appellate courthouse in Mount Vernon.
If Maag, a former trial lawyer and associate judge in Madison County, is elected to the state's highest court, the Illinois Constitution directs the Illinois Supreme Court to fill the 5th District Appellate Court position. In this case, the court would appoint a replacement to serve until the next election could be conducted in 2006.
Technically, Maag, 53, is running for retention to the appellate court. In a retention election, voters are merely asked whether a sitting judge should be retained with either a "yes" or "no" vote. For a judge to hold his seat he must receive a super-majority 60 percent "yes" vote.
Brendan Hostetler, Maag spokesman, said Maag wants to continue his public service in any arena.
"He's dedicated his life to public service whether it has been in the Army or else where," Hostetler said. "He enjoys being a judge and he thinks he does an excellent job."
Hostetler said there is always a possibility Maag could lose the Supreme Court race and not be retained on the appellate court. He then would have to wait for a vacancy to get back on the bench.
State election officials say Maag's move is fairly common. But critics, including those supporting Maag's opponent in the Illinois Supreme Court race, say the Democrat is sitting on the fence and leaving voters out of the loop by potentially forcing an appointment to the seat he would be leaving instead of an election.
Maag's opponent, Washington County Circuit Judge Lloyd Karmeier, 64, is not running for retention at his current job. He opted not to run for retention when he decided to run for the state's highest court earlier this year.
"Judge Karmeier is letting the voters pick his replacement," said Steven Tomaszewski, a spokesman for Karmeier.
Karmeier supporters have been critical of Maag's ties to trial lawyers and an area of the state perceived as being overly friendly to plaintiffs and their attorneys. Tomaszewski said the state's high court has a history of appointing judges from that small portion of the appellate district: Madison and St. Clair counties, two of the 37 counties in the district.
"I would imagine if he won, Judge Maag would appoint somebody of his liking. I have no idea who that would be. But if you look at the current consistency of the appellate court, six of seven judges are from Madison or St. Clair counties," Tomaszewski said. "It's a comfort level. They know them. But it provides no balance, no perspective, other than from one region of the district. And usually it provides only one legal mindset from the plaintiff's bar."
Pat Freeman, director of information for the State Board of Elections, said Illinois law states a judge can run for retention at the same time he is running for office. The law reads, "Nothing in this section should be construed as precluding a judge that is seeking retention in office from also being a candidate in another judicial office."
Justices are the only public officials who can run for two offices at the same time.
"For other people on the ballot, it says that you cannot file nominating petitions for two incompatible offices, unless you withdraw from one within five days of the last day for filing," Freeman said. "Judges don't file nominating petitions for retention. They do when they are running against someone. That statue doesn't apply to them."
Asked about the situation Thursday, Maag said he intended to retain his seat on the appellate court before he decided to run for the Supreme Court.
"It is automatic," Maag said.
He was appointed to his appellate seat in 1992. Maag was then elected to the position in 1994 and now, ten years later, is up for retention.
John Jackson, professor of political science who also works through Southern Illinois University Carbondale's Public Policy Institute, said such maneuvering is not unusual.
"I am fairly sure that in the past, several appellate court justices have run and been elected to the Supreme Court," Jackson said. "I'm sure there is always intrigue in maneuvering as to who is going to be appointed to take someone's place. That is usual because these seats are attractive even at the appellate court level.
"I haven't heard anything that indicates anything is going on there," Jackson said.
Appellate court justices are up for retention every 10 years, while circuit court judges are up every six years. The Illinois State Board of Elections Web site shows that Maag filed for retention on Oct. 20, 2003. On Dec. 12, both Maag and Karmeier filed for the Supreme Court race.
Rep. Jay Hoffman, D-Collinsville, who is playing a role in the Maag campaign, said Illinois law ensures justices are able to retain and run for seats.
"He is running for Supreme Court and he is up for retention. They are two different offices, yet under the judicial system in Illinois, you run for office once and then you are retained or not retained," Hoffman said. "I'm sure if the State Board of Elections has certified the ballots, this is covered by the constitution."
Hoffman himself faced such a dilemma in 1996. He ran against John Shimkus for U.S. Congress and was defeated. Glenn Bradford of Glen Carbon successfully ran for Hoffman's seat but then Hoffman reclaimed the statehouse seat after Bradford became embroiled in scandal. Because he had shot for the U.S. Congress and lost, Hoffman wound up sitting on the political sidelines for more than a year.
Mike Lawrence, director of the Public Policy Institute, said Maag is well within his rights to approach the election this way.
"It isn't particularly uncommon for someone to run for retention and promotion at the same time," Lawrence said. "He may just want to stay on the bench regardless of the outcome of the Supreme Court race.
"Unless I heard something more, I don't see anything sinister about this."
But Karmeier supporters remain skeptical.
"Karmeier could have done the same thing, but felt like it was not the right thing to do," said Sen. Dave Luechtefeld, R-Okawville. "If he runs for both, he can't lose. If he can't get the one he wants, he will still have a job."
nicole.sack@thesouthern.com 618-529-5454 x15816