Lake County Election Board to look at Lowell councilman’s campaign

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Updated: February 20, 2012 9:06AM

CROWN POINT — The Lake County Board of Elections will look into allegations of missing campaign finance reports and a trip to the polls in a campaign T-shirt raised against former Lowell Town Councilman David Gard.

Dan Blankenship, chairman of the Tri-Creek Republican Committee brought the charges before the board Tuesday.

“Any one of these complaints is not such a big deal ... when you combine all of these it shows he does not have a lot of respect for election laws,” Blankenship said.

Gard, a Democrat, was not at the Election Board meeting.

The three-term councilman lost his seat to Republican Edgar Corns in November.

In his complaint, Blankenship alleges Gard did not properly account for money spent on advertising during his campaign and he did not file the required forms on time.

He also alleges Gard showed up to his polling place at Lowell Church of Christ wearing a campaign T-shirt that read: “Vote for Truth — Vote for David Gard.”

Election judge Judith Wolff — who is listed as a witness in the complaint along with Edgar Corns, Michael Mears, who was also a candidate for the Lowell Town Council, and Lorraine Bank — told the Election Board she, too, saw the T-shirt.

Board member Mike Brown said the issues raised warranted a look by the Election Board. A report of the findings is expected at the Feb. 23 meeting.