Rahm Gets on Mayoral Ballot
Chicago Sun-Times reports:
Former White House chief-of-staff Rahm Emanuel early Thursday survived the pivotal first round of a residency challenge that will determine whether his name remains on the ballot for mayor of Chicago.
“The name of Rahm Emanuel shall appear and shall be printed on the ballot, ” Hearing officer Joe Morris wrote.
Morris recommended that the Chicago Board of Election Commissioners keep Emanuel on the ballot, even though he moved his family to Washington D.C. and rented out his Ravenswood home to a tenant who refused to leave.
Morris accepted Emanuel’s argument that it was not his burden to prove he had established residency but rather the burden of objectors to prove he had “abandoned” his Chicago residency when he moved full-time to the capitol to be President Obama’s chief of staff.
“The heart of the question of the candidate’s residence is not whether the candidate established residence in the Chicago in 2010, but rather if, at some point prior to, or during, but in any event affecting, the period from and after February 22, 2010, he abandoned it,” Morris wrote.
Emanuel’s clear intention to return to the city after his service to Obama outweigh’s his not “having a place to sleep” in Chicago for purposes of qualifying as a resident, Morris wrote.
Morris’ non-binding recommendation – filed about 1:50 a.m. Thursday – sets the stage for an Election Board vote later Thursday, followed by a court challenge that will almost certainly end with the Illinois Supreme Court.
Emanuel was pleased with Morris’ findings.
“While the decision rests with the Commissioners, I am encouraged by this recommendation,” said Emanuel in a statement. “It affirms what I have said all along – that the only reason I left town was to serve President Obama and that I always intended to return. Chicago voters should ultimately have the right to decide the election – and to vote for me, or against me.”
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