Independent Congressional candidate for Congress Eric Reyes has lost a court appeal to get his name on the ballot in the 17th District.

After the ruling by a Sangamon County judge Friday, Mr. Reyes said he now plans to run as a write-in candidate and will begin notifying county clerks in the 17th District of his intentions Monday.

Amy Posateri and Andrew Douglas, both of Rock Island County, challenged his candidacy on the basis that he had not collected the 5,000 signatures required to get on the ballot.

The Republican and Democrat candidates in the 17th District had to collect 600 signatures while Mr. Reyes, as an independent, needed 5,000.

The Illinois State Board of Elections in Springfield agreed with the challengers in July and struck Mr. Reyes off the ballot.

Mr. Reyes, a Rock Island attorney, appealed the decision to the Sangaon Circuit Court. But on Friday a motion to dismiss his appeal by the defendants and office of Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan was upheld.

The motion to dismiss was based on the fact that Mr. Reyes failed to meet a deadline to serve the defendants with his petition for judicial review. He said the deadline was missed because of a mixup with the Sangamon County Clerk.

Mr. Reyes initially ran as Democrat in the congressional primary but dropped out to run as an independent.