Lightfoot, Garcia, Sawyer file for mayoral race — and now objection period begins - Chicago Sun-Times

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The 2 governmental heavyweights successful the contention for Chicago politician — incumbent Lori Lightfoot and U.S. Rep. Jesus “Chuy” Garcia — filed their nominating petitions connected Monday, mounting the signifier for a bruising conflict and, much immediately, petition challenges that could constrictive the field.

In summation to Garcia, Lightfoot picked up 3 much challengers — 1 the lad of a erstwhile mayor.

That brings the mayoral tract to 11 — for now.

Monday was the past time successful the weeklong play for hopefuls to record for the February metropolis elections. And Tuesday marks the archetypal time for opponents to effort to sound them disconnected the ballot and dash those hopes.

Candidates seeking a spot successful a lottery for the past ballot spot purpose to record toward the extremity of the last day. Candidates seeking to person their names connected the apical of the ballot handed successful their petitions past week arsenic soon arsenic the city’s predetermination bureau began accepting them.

For City Clerk Anna Valencia and City Treasurer Melissa Conyears-Ervin nary of that mattered. Both filed their petitions for reelection connected Monday, but neither drew immoderate competition.

Other mayoral candidates who filed connected Monday were Ald. Roderick Sawyer (6th), lad of erstwhile Mayor Eugene Sawyer; Chicago constabulary serviceman Frederick Collins and Johnny Logalbo. But each filed earlier Garcia, truthful the Southwest Side congressman won the past spot connected the ballot.

Ald, Roderick Sawyer (6th) waves to reporters arsenic helium enters the Board of Election Commissioners’ Supersite to crook successful his nominating petitions Monday afternoon.

After turning successful her nominating petitions Monday morning, a stack containing an estimated 40,000-plus signatures, Lightfoot flexed a spot arsenic she explained her determination to skip the accidental to get her sanction connected the bottommost of the ballot, a presumption immoderate judge offers an advantage.

“It’s not astir the past spot, the positioning connected the ballot, arsenic if you are an chartless and radical don’t cognize you. They cognize who I am. And our voters are going to find us,” Lightfoot said.

“So we wanted to get this done this morning, get our folks geared up and acceptable for the adjacent limb of the journey.”

Mayor Lori Lightfoot files reelection nominating petitions for the 2023 Municipal Election astatine the Chicago Board of Elections Super Site Monday morning.

Garcia, a comparative latecomer who announced his mayoral bid earlier this month, filed his nominating petitions Monday conscionable earlier the filing play closed.

And helium did his ain flexing, filing what an adjutant estimated was astir 48,000 signatures successful a stack decorated with his signature moustache logo.

Calling his petitions “challenge proof,” Garcia said the signatures represented each country of the city.

“This is an illustration of the benignant of grassroots enactment that our run is generating crossed Chicagoland, crossed taste and radical communities, communities of faith, we are excited,” Garcia said. “ This is simply a objection of the benignant of powerfulness and grassroots run that I volition prosecute in.This is simply a winning campaign.”

U.S. Rep. Jesus “Chuy” Garcia meets with supporters extracurricular the Board of Election Commissioners’ Supersite earlier turning successful his nominating petitions Monday afternoon.

He said his run wasn’t going to prioritize challenging immoderate opponents’ petitions.

Garcia mightiness not request to situation Lightfoot’s petitions.

Ald. Brian Hopkins (2nd) said helium has assembled a squad of predetermination instrumentality experts and governmental volunteers to instrumentality a line-by-line look astatine the signatures that Lightfoot filed with the Chicago Board of Election Commissioners.

“The information that she filed astatine the past infinitesimal indicates a imaginable deficiency successful the petitions.She stated that she filed connected the past time 4 years ago. But she was an chartless challenger 4 years ago. She’s the incumbent politician this time. And there’s nary different crushed for filing connected the past time that makes consciousness different than she needed that other week to pad her numbers,” Hopkins told the Chicago Sun-Times

“That suggests that her petitions were insufficient. And if they were, it’s improbable she was capable to cure that successful conscionable 1 week’s time. So we’re gonna spell implicit them cautiously and spot if they are taxable to a challenge.”

Hopkins is not aligned with immoderate of the mayoral challengers, but helium is truthful dedicated to making Lightfoot a one-termer, he’s consenting to instrumentality astatine slightest a cursory look, past effort to rise the wealth helium needs for a full-blown petition situation if there’s capable fume to suggest fire.

“The past 4 years of her enactment person been disastrous for this city. This is simply a failed administration. I conscionable don’t deliberation she’s earned the close to a accidental for a 2nd term,” Hopkins said.

Flanked by supporters, Mayor Lori Lightfoot speaks with reporters Monday morning.

Monday’s 5 mayoral filers articulation the six who filed past week — authorities Rep. Kam Buckner, assemblage activistic Ja’Mal Green, Cook County Commissioner Brandon Johnson, Ald. Sophia King (4th) , erstwhile Chicago Public Schools CEO Paul Vallas, and millionaire businessman Willie Wilson.

The apical ballot presumption volition beryllium determined by a lottery that volition see the names of those six candidates who filed past week.

The situation play starts astatine 9 a.m. Tuesday and continues done 5 p.m. connected Dec. 5. The extremity is to disqualify capable signatures to sound a mayoral campaigner beneath the 12,500 minimum required to stay connected the ballot.

U.S. Rep Jesus “Chuy” Garcia, right, and his governmental advisor Clem Balanoff ticker arsenic Garcia’s nominating petitions to get his sanction connected the ballot arsenic campaigner for politician of Chicago are processed by Board of Elections officials Monday afternoon.

Signatures tin beryllium challenged for bearing the names of unregistered voters oregon registered voters who earlier signed different candidate’s nominating petitions. Petitions tin besides beryllium challenged for containing bogus names, incorrect addresses oregon different patterns of fraud.

It’s a painstaking and perchance costly process that lone mayoral candidates with heavy pockets tin spend to initiate, fto unsocial transportation done to conclusion. It’s usually not worthy the occupation unless you person a precocious probability of knocking a perchance almighty hostile disconnected the ballot.

After filing her nominating petitions, Lightfoot thanked the run volunteers who “literally scoured each country of the city” to marque definite she had a “sufficient fig of valid signatures” to suffice for the ballot. She made it a constituent to azygous retired “my friends successful organized labor,” including “the Plumbers and Carpenters” unions.

“With the filing today, 1 section of the run ends and different opens. The adjacent happening that we’re focused connected is continuing our effort to scope voters each crossed the metropolis to punctual them not lone what we’ve done implicit the past 3 1/2 years, but what our imaginativeness is for the adjacent 4 and wherefore the lone rational prime is to instrumentality maine to office,” Lightfoot said, with archetypal woman Amy Eshleman astatine her side.

“I permission thing for granted. I cognize it’s gonna beryllium a batch of hard work, arsenic it has been virtually each time since I got sworn in. And we’re gonna support fighting, fighting, fighting.”

Lightfoot acknowledged her run has pulled her competitors’ nominating petitions and volition determine whether to situation her opponents “if we judge there’s a morganatic basis” for a challenge.

Four years ago, County Board President Toni Preckwinkle challenged the nominating petitions of then-Circuit Court Clerk Dorothy Brown and managed to sound Brown disconnected the mayoral ballot earlier Preckwinkle’s landslide nonaccomplishment to Lightfoot successful the runoff. During that aforesaid run season, Wilson challenged Green’s petitions and persuaded Green to driblet retired earlier the situation was completed.

Veteran governmental operative Victor Reyes is present advising Garcia’s mayoral campaign. Reyes said helium expects the Chicago Teachers Union to beryllium astir progressive during the situation play successful hopes of knocking Garcia and “as galore African American candidates arsenic possible” disconnected the ballot to payment Johnson, the CTU’s endorsed and handpicked candidate.

“You mightiness extremity up with 2 oregon 3 of the third-tier candidates not surviving the petition challenge. … That inactive would permission you with 4 African American candidates, 1 Latino and 1 white. It’s inactive a precise dispersed crowd, which is not bully for the incumbent,” helium said.

In different races, arsenic of the adjacent of concern Monday, 210 candidates filed for the City Council — 103 of them vying for the 15 seats that are either unfastened oregon held by appointees due to the fact that incumbents are retiring, moving for politician oregon person moved connected to different jobs.

The South Side’s 21st Ward drew the astir competition, with 14 candidates filing to instrumentality the spot present held by retiring Ald. Howard Brookins Jr.

Next was the adjacent 6th Ward, wherever Sawyer’s determination to tally for politician drew 13 filers for the spot helium is giving up.

And recently minted Council members appointed to capable immoderate of those vacancies volition apt person to combat to clasp those seats.

Ald. Nicole Lee, appointed to replaced convicted erstwhile Ald. Patrick Daley Thompson successful the 11th Ward, drew six challengers. Ald. Monique Scott, appointed to win her member Michael Scott successful the West Side’s 24th Ward, drew 7 challengers. And Ald. Timmy Knudsen faces a situation from 5 rivals successful his bid to clasp onto the Lincoln Park’s 43rd Ward seat, which helium was appointed to aft Ald. Michele Smith retired.

Five sitting alderpersons look nary opposition: Hopkins (2nd), David Moore (17th), Walter Burnett Jr. (27th), Scott Waguespack (32nd) and Matt Martin (47th).