Rickey Hendon filed a formal challenge Monday to Brandon Johnson’s nominating petitions in the Chicago mayoral election, setting up a review of whether the incumbent has enough valid signatures to stay on the Feb. 23 ballot. The filing went in Monday afternoon at the Board of Elections, after the deadline for petition challenges closed at 5 p.m.
Johnson said Friday that he had more than enough signatures to secure his spot on the ballot. Hendon said Johnson submitted more than 30,000 signatures last month, while mayoral candidates need at least 12,500 valid signatures to qualify.
Johnson petitions at the Board of Elections
Hendon said the objections centered on what he called mixed-in petitions, photocopies, and problems with circulators. He said Melissa Conyers-Ervin’s petitions were mixed in with Johnson’s, and he said there were over 1,000 signatures of photocopies in the filing.
“We found a number of problems. One was the [City Treasurer] Melissa Conyers-Ervin’s petitions were mixed in with his. The other was a large number of photocopies, over 1,000 signatures of photocopies. The law says you have to file originals. They are not originals. They’re photocopies,” Hendon said Monday. “Then there were a number of problems with various circulators within the mayor’s filing. It was very sloppy, very messy, done unprofessionally.”
Chicago mayoral election petitions
The challenge is the first against an incumbent Chicago mayor since 2007, when Former Mayor Richard M. Daley’s petitions faced an unsuccessful objection. Brandon Johnson and his campaign had already said they expected to clear any challenge, with Christian Perry saying Monday that the campaign felt confident it had more than enough signatures to withstand one.
“I feel absolutely confident that I’ll be able to withstand any challenges if any of those actually arise. But you know, look, we know that this system is antiquated, but I’m clear that I have more than enough signatures that are needed to secure my spot on the ballot,” Johnson said Friday, according to ABC 7. Perry added: “The campaign feels confident that if and when a challenge materializes we have more than enough signatures to withstand a challenge,” he said Monday before the filing was made.
Wednesday Board of Elections review
Michael Dorf also said Monday that he filed challenges to William Quinlan’s petitions, as well as Jessica “Jesse” Maronto and John Kitover. Dorf said Quinlan’s signatures were “Not registered, not genuine, many duplicates. Just not a good set.”
The full list of challenges will be made public on Wednesday on the Board of Elections website, and election officials will then review the objections. For Johnson, the issue now turns on whether enough signatures survive that review to keep him on the Feb. 23 ballot.
