Will County Gazette

Veteran republican state Sen. Jim Oberweis has formally filed a “Notice of Contest” in his hotly contested 14th Congressional District race against U.S. Rep. Lauren Underwood.

On the same day Underwood was sworn in for a second term, Oberweis announced he is seeking a redo of the race that was decided by just over 5,000 votes that would take place on April 6.

“The Notice of Contest is the next step in a very long and complicated process,” Oberweris told the Will County Gazette. “Congress has jurisdiction of contested congressional election results. What we are asking them to do is look at the evidence we provided and render the certified elections results null and void and authorize a new election on April 6, 2021.”

In addition to insisting there were “numerous irregularities,” Oberweis is specifically seeking to have nearly 40,000 mail-in votes from Kane County voided on the grounds  they were not properly initialed by election judges. The longtime republican lawmaker filed his notice on the final day that candidates can seek to have results overturned. Back in November, he attended freshmen orientation for new members, which is allowed in instances where candidates are involved in elections where the results are still disputed.

“We provide clear evidence of voting irregularities and hopefully the House of Representatives will do the right thing,” he added.

Illinois law allows a candidate to file a petition asking for a discovery recount where all the votes tallied in at least 25% of all precincts can be reviewed, opening up more than a hundred of the 462 precincts in the 14th District for added scrutiny.

In a statement, Underwood campaign manager Andrea Belknap dismissed all Oberweis’ contentions as sour grapes.

“Regardless of Mr. Oberweis’ legal bluster, the results of this election will not change,” she said.  “Congresswoman Underwood was sworn into the 117th Congress on January 3rd and remains focused on the work the people of the 14th District elected her to do.”