STATEMENT OF SUSANA DARWIN REGARDING
UNIDENTIFIED PHONE CALLS TO VOTERS

March 15, 2004

Unidentified phone messages were apparently delivered to residents of the 8th subcircuit on March 15 exhorting voters not to vote for Jon Erickson.

In response to this incident, Susana Darwin, Chairwoman of the Committee to Elect John H. Ehrlich, issued the following statement:

"The Committee to Elect John H. Ehrlich has proudly put our Committee disclaimer and candidate's name on every communication on behalf of John H. Ehrlich's candidacy for Judge. We have not authorized or paid for any telephone messages to be delivered to voters in this campaign. And we have no knowledge of who coordinated or paid for the auto-calls delivered on March 15th.

It is unfortunate that those behind this strategy chose not to inform voters who they were and what entity had paid for these messages. We assume this information was intentionally withheld to confuse and anger voters. We believe in transparency in the political campaign process and reject these anonymous, last-minute attacks.

The Committee to Elect John H. Ehrlich used all its resources to deliver our message to voters in direct mail over the last 10 days of the campaign and report the important ratings from leading bar associations and the Tribune's endorsement of John H. Ehrlich. We stand by these mailings and believe voters have a right to know who the best qualified candidate is. We are convinced that if citizens vote based on qualifications and integrity, John H. Ehrlich will win on March 16th."

- Chicago Tribune, March 5, 2004