According to an article by staff writer Eric Fodor in Friday's Daily Register, Todd Bittle was selected by the Saline County Republican Central Committee on Thursday night as their candidate for state's attorney in November's general election:
HARRISBURG - At a caucus Thursday night, Republicans named Todd Bittle as the party's candidate for state's attorney.
State law allows a party to name a candidate by caucus, after the primary election, if nobody ran in the party's primary.
In the November election, Bittle will face Democrat David Nelson, who won a sometimes-bruising primary battle against Kelly Phelps.
Bittle said he has thought for years about running for state's attorney and only recently decided the timing is right.
"Running for state's attorney is something I've thought about for the last few years.It's only in the last few months that I have discussed it with my family. We decided this would be the best time in my career to run," Bittle said.
Bittle, 37, passed the bar in 1996 and became a Saline County public defender Dec. 1, 1996. He also handles cases in Gallatin County.
"The majority of my time is spent with criminal law. The other part of my practice primarily has been collection of debts or bad accounts on behalf of companies in Southern Illinois," Bittle said.
The wave of methamphetamine cases in recent years is the biggest issue facing the
county, Bittle said. He also believes the mounting fine money owed to Saline County
is a problem. The county is approaching $3 million in outstanding fine money, he said.
Not all that is necessarily past due -- Bittle said it is impossible to break down the
figures on it -- but the money should be aggressively pursued.
Bittle said he would like to see the office run more efficiently and he hopes to bring
openness to the office.
"I think I can be open and fair to people. I can be firm when I need to be firm, but I
know these people are human beings even though they are criminal defendants --
which doesn't mean I wouldn't be firm," Bittle said.
Crime victims should be brought into the process more, he said. Some counties have
a victim's advocate who acts as a liaison between crime victims and the court system.
While the county's tight finances may make another employee impossible, the
concept can be approached in some way -- maybe through volunteers, Bittle said.
Even though Bittle is a Republican -- he is a precinct committeeman in Harrisburg 8 --
he took a Democrat ballot in the March primary.
"As an attorney, I felt the state's attorney's race is the most important race in the
judicial system. I had not yet made my decision to run," Bittle said.
"But I felt if I did not vote, I could not criticize later."
His belief a conservative should be elected state's attorney also convinced him to
pick up a Democrat ballot in March.
"I am a conservative and I thought we needed a conservative in this office," Bittle
said.
Phelps was widely perceived as more politically conservative than Nelson.
Bittle said his willingness to vote in the Democrat primary may be an asset rather than a liability in the General Election -- it shows he is willing to look beyond party labels.
"I like to vote for the candidate," Bittle said.
If you or somebody you know would like to contribute financially, checks should be made payable to The Committee to Elect David Nelson, and sent to Mona Nelson, 540 Womble Road, Harrisburg, IL 62946. In accordance with the Election Code, a copy of the Committee's report to be filed with the county clerk will be available for purchase from the County Clerk, Saline County Courthouse, Harrisburg, IL 62946. To comply with campaign finance reporting laws, we need to know the name, address, and occupation of all contributors (and contributors’ names will become part of the public record).
