Monday is the deadline for Cook County Clerk David Orr to submit ballots to be printed for the Feb. 2 primary, though with some outstanding hearings, it looks like that deadline is blown. Already a number of petition challenges have been overturned, chief among them Clerk of Courts Dorothy Brown’s challenge to County Board President Todd Stroger.
Here’s the other county challenges are shaping up, as of yesterday afternoon. In all, eight challenges were sustained; nine were overruled; two were withdrawn and two have yet to be determined.
Sustained objections are those where the challenger successfully knocked a candidate off the ballot. Overruled means they failed to do so.
1st District
Howard Walton’s challenge to Candidate Mary Collins (D) was sustained.
Priscilla Yates’ challenge to Candidate Odis (OJ) Johnson (D) was withdrawn.
Yates’ challenge to Candidate Chris Harris (D) will be heard on Dec. 16.
Bottom line: One less candidate to challenge incumbent Commissioner Earlean Collins
2nd District
Democrats
Former Commissioner Bobbie Steele’s objection to Candidate George Blakemore (D) was sustained.
Steele’s challenge to Candidate Robert Palmer (D) was dropped after Palmer withdrew.
The challenge of Candidate Frank Bass (D) by Charles McKinley was overruled.
Bottom line: The removal of county boardroom gadfly Blakemore means board meetings won’t get any more entertaining. Incumbent Commissioner Robert Steele, backed by his mother, Bobbie, should be on his way.
4th District
The challenge of Candidate Denise Dixon (D) by Wilbon Brown was sustained.
Brown’s challenge to Candidate Elgie Sims, Jr. (D), was overruled.
Brown’s challenge to Candidate Karen Sommerfield (D) was sustained.
Bottom line: Commissioner William Beavers now faces off against just one Democrat. There is one Green Party candidate in the mix, as well.
5th District
The challenge of Candidate Sheila Y. Chalmers-Currin (D) by Lela Charles was overruled.
Bottom line: Chalmers-Currin stays on the ballot to try and oust Commissioner Deborah Sims.
7th District
The challenge to Candidate Jesus Garcia (D) by Arthur R. Parra, Sr., and Anthony Sutor was overruled.
Bottom line: Former commissioner Ald. Roberto Maldonado has given Commissioner Edwin Reyes high praise in the board room. But can Reyes take it to the polls?
10th District
The challenge by Dennis Kirby to Candidate Kevin Graham (D) was sustained.
Bottom line: Game, set, match for the unopposed Commissioner Bridget Gainer, who took over for Rep. Mike Quigley in February.
14th District
The challenge of Kurt Eichaker (R) by Peter Amarantos was sustained.
Bottom line: Commissioner Gregg Goslin walks away with the primary. Now he’ll face one of two Democrats in the general. CORRECTION: Goslin faces off against Patrick O'Donoghue in the primary.
16th District
Deborah Mikolajewski’s challenge to Commissioner Tony Peraica (R) was overruled.
Peraica’s challenge to Candidate Brian Sloan (R) is set for a hearing today.
Bottom line: Peraica is confident his challenge to Sloan will be sustained. Can he weather the Democrats in November?
17th District
The challenge to Richard Dalka (G) by Matthew J. Ogean was overruled.
The challenge by Candidate Patrick Maher (D) to Candidate Donna Sanders (D) was overruled.
Maher’s challenge to Candidate John J. Maher (D) was sustained.
Bottom line: One less Maher. Too bad. That was a good storyline.
Assessor
The challenge to Robert Shaw (D) by Jesse Ruben Juraz and Susana Y. Accove was overruled.
Their challenge to Candidate Eugene Staples was overruled.
Bottom line: There’s no heir apparent to retiring Assessor James Houlihan. Or is there?
President
Brown’s challenge (filed as from Chauncy L. Stroud & Darnetta K. Tyus) to Stroger was withdrawn.
Candidate Tom Tresser’s (G) challenge to Candidate Sean Burke (G) was sustained.
Bottom line: The Democratic primary will be interesting, and Tresser gets the Green Party nod. Burke never had a chance, and admitted as much.
Windy Citizen 