Johnson's Ballot Status Under Fire

Willie Wilson’s campaign officially challenged Mayor Brandon Johnson’s nominating petitions on Monday. This move makes Johnson the first incumbent Chicago mayor to face such a legal fight to remain on the ballot. The challenge was filed just before the city’s deadline for contesting candidate petitions.

Wilson’s team argues that Johnson’s petition package contains invalid signatures. Specifically, they claim the submission includes pages of photocopied signatures. Chicago law requires all signatures to be original, not copies. The campaign also contends that some signatures were collected by circulators who are not registered voters. Furthermore, they say some signers do not live in the city of Chicago.

Former State Senator Rickey Hendon estimated the margin of error in Johnson’s petitions. “I think he’s under 7,000 or so, it’s really that bad,” Hendon said. He added that the petition included people who do not live in the city. Under current rules, a candidate must secure at least 12,500 valid signatures from registered city voters. Each voter can only sign for one candidate.

NBC Chicago reporting indicates Johnson’s initial submission contained more than 33,000 signatures. However, five pages of that total belonged to the campaign of City Treasurer Melissa Conyears Ervin. Those signatures are not valid for Johnson’s petition. Additionally, nearly 100 pages of the submitted signatures are photocopies. Johnson’s campaign maintains they will survive the scrutiny. A spokesperson said last week, “We’re confident the mayor will have more than enough to withstand any challenge.” The spokesperson also called the petition system “archaic and anti-democratic.”

Other candidates also face challenges to their petitions. These include Illinois Comptroller Susana Mendoza, businessman John Kelly, and attorney Bill Quinlan. It is not yet clear if Danielle Carter Walters’ petitions will be challenged. She submitted 13,500 signatures. Candidate Jesse Maronto has already determined he will not have enough valid signatures. He plans to run a write-in campaign instead.

Sixteen candidates total submitted petitions for the mayoral race. It is unlikely that many will advance to the February election. The Chicago Board of Elections will begin the official hearing process for these challenges next Monday.