Marc Parker
MADISON COUNTY — Democratic Madison County judge candidate Marc Parker has been hit with an official complaint, accusing him of allegedly attempting to skirt state campaign finance laws, even as he enjoys big money support from powerful Illinois state Democrats.
Parker denies the claims.
On Oct. 29, Madison County Board Member Paul Nicolussi, a Republican, filed a complaint with the Illinois State Board of Elections, accusing Parker of potentially illegal failure to properly set up a campaign committee to document and disclose his campaign spending.
Parker is running for a judgeship in the Second Subcircuit of Madison County's Third Judicial Circuit.
He is running against Madison County Circuit Judge Patrick King, a Republican who was appointed to the seat in 2025 by the Illinois Supreme Court to temporarily fill the vacancy following the retirement of former Madison County Judge Stephen Stobbs.
In the race, judicial candidate evaluations the Illinois State Bar Association reveal that King is highly regarded by his colleagues in the practice of law. He received an overall grade of "Recommended," with scores between 91-97 on all measures assessed in a poll of 85 respondents in the ISBA's advisory poll.
Parker also earned the rank of "Recommended" by the ISBA. Respondents assigned Parker marks of between 83-89 on the same questions, including integrity, impartiality, temperament, legal ability and court management, among others.
While King was appointed to serve countywide, not all Madison County voters will get a voice in selecting the winner in the contest.
Rather, King and Parker are facing off in the Second Judicial Subcircuit, essentially one of three judicial districts drawn within the overall Third Judicial Circuit. The Second Subcircuit roughly centers on Glen Carbon, and runs from Edwardsville in the north to Collinsville on the south, Pontoon Beach on the west to Maryville on the east.
None of the three subcircuits are rectangles, but rather the result of what critics called "gerrymandering" carried out by Democratic state lawmakers in Springfield in 2022. Madison County Republicans challenged the "gerrymandering" in court, asserting it was done solely to attempt to tilt the playing field to carve out potential judgeships for more Democratic judges in the overall Republican majority county.
Madison County Judge Patrick King
The law, however, was upheld, setting the stage for the Second Subcircuit race this year.
The race has drawn heavy interest from powerful political players in Illinois.
Backers of King, for instance, note that Democrats, led by Illinois State Rep. and Assistant House Majority Leader Jay Hoffman, D-Swansea, have chipped in $170,000 into a campaign commitee, dubbed "Working Families for Madison County," which is supporting Parker's campaign.
Backers of King have also noted Hoffman played a leading role in carving up Madison County into the three judicial subcircuits.
Hoffman has donated $135,000 to "Working Families for Madison County" political action committee (PAC), while State Rep. Katie Stuart, D-Edwardsville, has also donated an additional $35,000.
However, despite that support, King's supporters say Parker hasn't set up his own campaign committee, despite his campaign producing all the trappings of a normal political operation, including candidate signs, printed mailings and other campaign elements which collectively typically cost thousands of dollars, they said.
According to the complaint filed by Nicolussi through his attorney Michael Wesley, of Wood River, said Parker's only listed campaign committee shut down in 2018, the last time he ran for a Madison County judgeship, losing at the time to David Dugan. Dugan has since been appointed as a federal judge in the District of Southern Illinois.
Further, Nicolussi asserts that campaign committee, "Friends for Marc Parker," ceased operations ostensibly still owing Parker and his wife $51,000.
Nonetheless, Nicolussi asserts Parker appears to be continuing to fund a campaign, producing some signs which include the words "Paid for by Marc Parker," and other signs with no indication of who paid for them.
All in all, Nicolussi asserts the circumstantial evidence indicates Parker has almost certainly paid more than $5,000 to support his campaign. And if so, Nicolussi asserts, Illinois state law requires Parker to have formed a campaign committee to disclose where the money came from and how it was spent.
Yet to date, Parker has not formed such a campaign committee, even though Nicolussi asserts Illinois state law gave him just two days to do so.
Nicolussi notes that Parker has stated Illinois law prevents people who serve in state-appointed, Senate-confirmed posts from forming campaign committees. Parker currently serves as an appointed member of the Workers' Compensation Committee.
But Nicolussi asserts the campaign finance laws requiring the creation of campaign committees for candidates spending more than $5,000 "makes no exception for commissioners."
“Springfield drew the lines for this judgeship. Now Springfield money is trying to win it,” Nicolussi said in a statement announcing the filing of the ISBE complaint. “A Swansea legislator has put $135,000 into choosing a Madison County judge, and the candidate himself hasn’t filed a single report. Something isn’t right about that.
"... “He can keep his state appointment, or he can run a full campaign and show voters the receipts," Nicolussi said. "The law doesn’t let him do both in the dark.”
Parker has publicly denied the claims.
In a post on his campaign Facebook page, Parker said: "Folks, I have NOT spent $5,000 on my campaign. PERIOD. The complaint filed against me is a desperate measure by my opponent, while he continues to take thousands upon thousands of dollars from lawyers and law firms appearing before him."
The ISBE has not yet held a hearing on the complaint. According to state law, they have seven days to rule in the matter.
The ISBE has scheduled a special board meeting for Nov. 2. The agenda posted on the board's website did not list the Parker complaint as a topic of potential discussion, as of the evening of Oct. 29.
Election Day is Tuesday, Nov. 3.
