What to expect from mayoral petition challenges and the finalized February ballot, by Greg Hinz
Photo: Bloomberg
We ought to have a pretty good idea by tomorrow evening as to who’ll officially be on the ballot for mayor and City Council in the February election. Monday evening is the deadline for filing objections to nominating petitions that candidates filed last month. Anyone who makes it through this stage ought to be considered a serious candidate.
There were strong signs over the weekend that none of the top tier of candidates–in alphabetical order: U.S. Rep. Jesus “Chuy” Garcia, incumbent Lori Lightfoot, former schools CEO Paul Vallas, businessman Willie Wilson–will be challenged. Some would add Ald. Sophia King to that list, too.
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Inside sources say Vallas and Lightfoot critic Ald. Brian Hopkins, 2nd, both took a close look at her petitions and concluded that she had at least 17,000 valid signatures from Chicago voters, not a huge number but more than the 12,500 needed. Since only someone with lots of money and bodies at their disposal can generally file a successful petition, that should mean she’s safe, barring some outside surprise from an unexpected direction.
Team Lightfoot, meanwhile, let it be known it isn’t challenging anyone, as did the Vallas camp. Wilson is expected to challenge Ald. Rod Sawyer, 6th, and Wilson campaign consultant Ricky Hendon is going after activist Ja’Mal Green. But that could be it, excepting a pair of virtually unknown minor candidates, Frederick Collins and Johnny Logalbo.
That means Chicagoans should have around 10 candidates for mayor, give or take one or two, on the February ballot.
The aldermanic picture is a little more complex but we’ll have a better idea tomorrow night.
