Dist. Ct. did not err in granting defendant-former House Speaker's motion for summary judgment in plaintiff-candidate's section 1983 action, alleging that defendant's plan to run two non-competitive candidates to split Hispanic vote in 2016 race for Illinois House District in which defendant and plaintiff were also candidates violated plaintiff's Equal Protection rights, where defendant won said election. Record showed that plaintiff would have lost to defendant without presence of said candidates, where defendant garnered 65 percent of vote, and Dist. Ct. could properly find that voters were not deceived by defendant's alleged plan to run said candidates, where plaintiff exposed said plan to voters prior to date of election. Ct. further observed that Constitution does not authorize judiciary to upset election outcome or to penalize politicians for employing alleged shady strategy that voters actually tolerate.
Federal 7th Circuit Court
Civil Court
Election Law