Daley mayoral bid challenged - On last day to file disputes, opponent questions petitions

Daley mayoral bid challenged - On last day to file disputes, opponent questions petitions
By Mickey Ciokajlo
Copyright © 2006, Chicago Tribune
Published December 27, 2006

Supporters of mayoral challenger William "Dock" Walls filed objections Tuesday to the nominating petitions of Mayor Richard Daley, the first time since Daley became mayor that his petitions have been called into question.

Daley's campaign said it is confident in the validity of its petitions. But Walls said his supporters found a number of problems with the mayor's petitions, including the names of people not registered to vote and evidence of forgery.

"In most instances, you find that most of these people who are purported to be signers on these petitions were not even registered voters in the city of Chicago," Walls said.

In a statement, Daley's campaign manager, Terry Peterson, said, "We are confident that our signatures will withstand any challenge."

Tuesday was the deadline for filing challenges against the petitions for candidates running in the Feb. 27 election for mayor, city clerk, city treasurer and alderman.

A team of 18 hearing officers--private attorneys retained by the elections board--will review the challenges and make recommendations to the Chicago Board of Election Commissioners. Where the validity of signatures is called into question, voter rolls may be reviewed and handwriting experts asked to testify. The board's decisions can be appealed to Cook County Circuit Court.

Mayoral candidates must file a minimum of 12,500 signatures of registered voters. Daley's campaign said it filed more than 24,000, which was far fewer than in past elections.

Walls said his supporters also filed challenges against candidates Syron Smith and Ziff Anthony Sistrunk for not providing enough signatures. But Walls said he did not challenge Dorothy Brown, the other major candidate in the race against Daley, because he and Brown agreed to leave each other's petitions alone. Walls' petitions were not challenged.

Paul Davis, Brown's campaign manager, said they decided not to file objections although their reviewers found problems with each candidate's petitions.

"We thought that it was in the better interest of our campaign that we focus on the issues ahead," Davis said. "We felt that in the long run that the distraction of a long, protracted fight ... could take away from the focus of our campaign."

Daley's petitions were challenged when he ran for mayor in 1989, but he survived and won the election. No one has challenged his petitions since.

In the other two citywide races, challenges were filed against four of the seven candidates for city clerk and a challenge was filed against Elida Cruz, the sole opponent running against newly installed City Treasurer Stephanie Neely.

In some instances, two or more challenges were filed against a candidate. In the aldermanic races, 192 objections were filed against 141 candidates.

Two hundred and forty-five candidates have filed for the 50 seats on the City Council, a job that will pay $100,971 when the new term begins in May.

Some incumbent aldermen also had their petitions challenged, including Richard Mell (33rd), Carrie Austin (34th) and Daniel Solis (25th).

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mciokajlo@tribune.com