PEORIA -- Democratic congressional candidate Colleen Callahan refuses to let her opponent's notary gaffe fade away.
She's demanded that Republican candidate Aaron Schock apologize for backdating documents he notarized to help his father avoid paying taxes, and that he release his tax returns, as she and Green Party candidate Sheldon Schafer have done.
The three candidates are running for the open Congressional seat in the 18th district of Illinois, a seat held by white Republican males since 1917.
At the same time, Illinois Sen. Dick Durbin released a fund-raising letter praising Callahan and asking his supporters for contributions for her campaign.
Durbin has termed the notary-gate incident "game changing" for this race.
Callahan stated that her campaign "has received support from more than 421 new donors and has raised over $75,000 in campaign contributions since news reports broke one week ago that Aaron Schock backdated documents in order to help his father avoid paying taxes."
Also on Oct. 22, Callahan issued this statement:
Colleen Callahan, Democratic candidate for the 18th Congressional seat, released a list of questions to which voters deserve an answer from Aaron Schock before Election Day. Additionally, Callahan sent a letter to Aaron Schock’s campaign asking him again to release his tax returns from 2006 to 2007.
1) Why won’t he release his tax returns? Every candidate in this race including Colleen has released his/her tax returns. Openness, honesty and transparency are essential characteristics in a Congressional candidate. Publicly disclosed tax returns provide an important means in which voters can hold public officials accountable and ensure there are no conflicts of interest.
2) When will Aaron Schock apologize for backdating documents? All experts agree that knowingly backdating documents is a criminal action. Aaron Schock’s father testified in federal court that, as a public notary, Schock knowingly backdated documents to help his father avoid paying taxes. Aaron Schock has offered no explanation for his actions other than claiming that it was a “clerical error”. He owes the voters of the 18th Congressional district an apology. Aaron Schock is already passing the buck and refusing to take responsibility and he hasn’t even gotten to Washington yet.
[text of the letter is below]
October 22, 2008
Schock for Congress P.O. Box 10555 Peoria, IL 61612
Aaron Schock,
This letter is to formally request that you release your personal tax returns for the years 2006 and 2007. It's been nearly two weeks since I released my tax returns. Both Presidential candidates have released their tax returns.
Openness and transparency regarding tax returns allows voters to hold a candidate to the same standards they advocate.
In light of recent stories regarding documents that you backdated in 2001 to assist your father in avoiding taxes, I believe it is even more crucial that you disclose these financial forms to the voting public. As you seek to become a United States Congressman, the public you seek to represent deserves to know your financial dealings.
If you have nothing to hide, I would encourage you to be forthcoming with the voters of the 18th District and release your tax returns for 2006 and 2007. It is the least you can do to assure the public that you have their best interests in mind as you seek to represent them in Washington.
I urge you to reconsider your decision not to release your tax returns and do so immediately.
Colleen Callahan.
Callahan could have gone even further, and asked for a complete explanation from Schock regarding the backdated documents, such as how many documents were backdated, and how much money was involved.
As for the tax return, Schock has stated that he complied with all disclosure rules for candidates and a state representative. He represents Peoria in the Illinois General Assembly's 92nd District.
But where are these disclosures? Not on Schock's website, readily available to voters.
Schock announced on Oct. 21 that 116 central Illinois mayors have endorsed him.
Callahan has been endorsed by more than 40 organizations including the United Auto Workers, the Sierra Club and the Illinois Federation of Teachers, all listed on her website.
-- Elaine Hopkins
UPDATE: Oct. 23, 2008. Check out the post from Bill Dennis on Peoria Pundit from a year ago about how Schock has a long habit of bending the rules. Very troubling.
And here's a juicy column from the Springfield newspaper columnist Bernie Schoenburg about Schock and an ad featuring a female Democratic state rep who praises him. Bad move. She was the youngest state rep until Schock was elected.
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