IL Senate: Dem Candidate Blair Hull and Domestic Violence?

[davsand]

http://www.suntimes.com/output/news/cst-nws-hull28.html


Hull's stormy divorce records unsealed
February 28, 2004

BY FRANK MAIN Crime Reporter

The wife of Democratic Senate candidate M. Blair Hull accused him in 1998 of threatening to kill her, calling her vile names and punching her in the leg -- accusations Hull skirted on Friday.

"I did not respond at that time, and I am not going to respond now," Hull said.

Brenda Sexton divorced the multimillionaire securities trader, who was arrested on a battery charge for punching her in the shin. The case was later dropped.

The divorce records, unsealed Friday, chronicle a series of bitter confrontations between September 1997 and February 1998, including an unsettling conversation in December 1997.

Sexton said she told Hull that "everyone has a trust issue" with him. Hull responded by calling her an "evil bitch" and a "f----- c---," and stated, "Do you want to die? I am going to kill you, you f------ bitch," she said...

snip...

Oh my... I'll grant you the Sun Times has a tendency toward the lurid--but this is not pretty stuff for any candidate in a Dem primary. I'm predicting that Hull has just spent millions on a campaign that is DOA.

What impact will this have on the rest of the candidates?

Laura

[jbfam4]

1. What happened to

talkshow host Skinner who was going to run for Senate.

How can Hull, with this kind of a track record, even think of running.

[davsand]

2. Skinner is still in the race.

She is not polling too well, however, she's in single digits, according to the last numbers I saw.

I have no idea why Hull even ran to tell you the truth. He HAD to know this was gonna come out one way or another. If it didn't come out in the primary you just KNOW the GOP was gonna trot it out later...

Laura

[Nailzberg]

3. This doesn't derail Hull

From the Chicago Tribune---->

"Wheaton attorney William Scott, president of the Illinois chapter of the American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers, said orders of protection are occasionally abused to help one party put the other on the defensive. He also said people often make allegations during a contentious divorce that they ultimately wish they hadn't.

"Orders of protection are sometimes issued in the heat of the moment. Then you come back into the courtroom and cooler heads prevail," he said."

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/chi-0402280192feb28,1,806835.story?coll=chi-news-hed



And in the same article you posted from the Sun Times--->

"Bonnie Grabenhofer, president of the Illinois chapter of the National Organization for Women, said the six-year-old allegations are troubling, but there are still reasons to support Hull.

"Domestic violence is never OK," Grabenhofer said. "We don't excuse instances of domestic violence."

Yet Grabenhofer said voters need to balance those private allegations with Hull's public commitment to women's issues.

She noted that Hull is a supporter of "reproductive rights," and that his daughter, Megan, was a plaintiff in a landmark Supreme Court case that ordered Brown University to reinstate funding for women's athletic programs."


I think most people are realizing that there is little to this story. The real story was "What's Blair hiding?" Now that it looks like the domestic violence issue is much ado about nothing, he'll still get my vote.