Announcements draw some press

The Galesburg Register-Mail has a couple articles dealing with candidate announcments in the wake of their filing for office Monday.

Judge Vicki Wright on Monday announced her candidacy for the Appellate Court of the Third Appellate District during a stop in Peoria on a multi-city tour. Also filing to fill the Kent Slater vacancy were two other Democrats and a Republican.

Judge Wright, a Tampico Democrat, brings nearly 15 years on the bench as a judge in the Fourteenth Judicial Circuit. In 1991, she was appointed as the first female Associate Judge in the Fourteenth Judicial Circuit.

Others filing Monday were Democrats Tom O'Neal of Peoria, and Lance R. Peterson of Morris. Republican Michael T. Powers, a Naperville Republican, also filed his nominating petitions Monday, the first day of filing for the March 21, 2006 primary.

The Third District Appellate Court, based in Ottawa, covers 16 counties, including Knox, Warren, Henderson, Henry, Fulton, McDonough and Mercer.

An alert reader sent me another piece in the Register-Mail, though despite a thorough search of their website, it was not found online as yet. It's now posted here.

Congressman Lane Evans, D-Rock Island, announced his candidacy for re-election in the 17th Congressional District Monday.
Evans spokesman Steve Vetzner said Evans will be in the district to make a formal announcement when there is a break in business in Washington, D.C.
"It will be in January," Vetzner said. "Certainly we'll be in town for that. It will be after the first of the year."
"I'm running so I can continue to fight for the interests of the average citizens of this area - the people who built this country and defend it and make it what it is today," Evans said in a prepared release. "I am running on my experience and my record of getting things done. I am running to secure our children's future and achieve a brighter tomorrow for working families."
Evans is serving his 12th term in the House of Representatives and is the senior Democrat in the Illinois delegation. He is the ranking member of the House Veterans Affairs Committee.