West Central Reporter

Joshua Griffith, Republican candidate for the 93rd House seat, was prohibited by the Schuyler County GOP from speaking at the county Lincoln Day Dinner on Feb. 18 in Rushville. 

The Abingdon businessman is challenging incumbent Rep. Norine Hammond of Macomb in the Republican primary.

Jeff Ervin, chairman of the Schuyler County GOP, said that the Central Committee voted to censor Griffith because of his use of negative ads during the campaign.

Norine Hammond

“I’m sure he’s a good guy, but he’s not showing much in the way moral values by going negative,” Ervin said.

When asked if the party was protecting Hammond, Ervin said they would have prohibited Hammond from speaking if her campaign ads were negative.

But Griffith said that he has nothing to do with negative ads directed at Hammond while her campaign has gone negative on him.

“She put an ad out with a picture of my family, with a Pinocchio nose on me, calling me a liar,” Griffith said. “In another ad, she said I was preying on a victim of sexual abuse for political gain. When I brought these up to Ervin and the others, they claimed they weren’t aware of the ads.”

Griffith added that in a call the Tuesday before the dinner, Ervin told him he wasn’t welcome to the dinner at all. The next day, he received a call from Max McClellan, chairman of the Schuyler County Board, accusing him of taking “dirty money” from Chicago.

“It’s not true,” Griffith said. “I’ve raised all my own money for the campaign.”

Under protests from some local Republicans who spoke on Griffith’s behalf, the Central Committee did backtrack on banning Griffith from the dinner but upheld its decision prohibiting him from speaking. He said he decided not to attend the dinner because “what’s the point of going as a candidate if you are not allowed to speak.”

“It’s unfortunate how they feel that have to protect one another,” he said.

Local Republican and 25-year Rushville resident Cindy Eifert called the GOP’s action toward Griffith “unfair.”

“This is about a primary and a primary is about choice,” Eifert said. “By not allowing Josh to speak, you’re taking away that choice.”

Hammond has been dogged during the campaign for supporting massive income tax increases that won final approval in July in Springfield with a legislative override of the governor’s veto. And she has also had to defend herself against charges that as one of the seven lawmakers on the Legislative Ethics Commission, she -- in violation of state law -- left the legislative inspector general post vacant for nearly three years.

The vacancy led to a reported 27 sexual harassment claims languishing without investigations, including that of crime victims advocate Denise Rotheimer, who last year filed a sexual harassment complaint against Sen. Ira Silverstein (D-Chicago).  

Earlier this year, Rotheimer also filed a complaint against Hammond and the other members of the Commission.

The retired Ervin, 53, worked for the Illinois Department of Corrections as a clinical services supervisor and was a member of public-sector union American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, according to state records. He earned $120,200 in 2016.