CALUMET CITY | Mayoral hopeful Brian Wilson said Friday his appeal to the Cook County Circuit Court to get reinstated to the April 9 ballot is delayed by the legal issues surrounding his slate of running mates.
Those candidates for city clerk, treasurer and seven aldermanic posts who are aligned with Wilson are fighting to stay on the ballot for Tuesday’s Democratic primary election.
John Jawor, an attorney for Wilson and his slate, was at the Illinois Appellate Court offices in Chicago Friday morning, filing the written response on behalf of the slate to a motion by attorneys for Mayor Michelle Markiewicz Qualkinbush that seeks to have the slate removed from Tuesday’s election.
Attorneys for Qualkinbush and Wilson said Friday they expect a ruling on Monday from the appellate court, although attorney Adam Lasker, who represents mayoral hopeful Victor Green in his bid to stay on the Tuesday ballot, said the court may not issue a detailed explanation of the ruling until later in the week.
Lasker said he was still preparing his written legal brief, and likely would not file it until just before the close of business for the court on Friday.
Wilson said the end result of all this legal maneuvering on behalf of his allies is that his own legal appeal to get reinstated to the ballot will not be filed until Monday. Under state law, Wilson has five working days to challenge the Electoral Board decision that removed him from the ballot. That decision was made on Feb. 18.
The Electoral Board removed Wilson on several grounds. A motion filed by backers of Qualkinbush contended Wilson owed debts to Calumet City for real estate transfer tax stamps and also had an inadequate number of signatures on his nominating petitions.
Supporters of Green filed their own challenge against Wilson. They claimed that changes in state law last year make it impossible for Wilson to run as an independent in the April 9 election because he previously had filed a statement of candidacy to run for mayor in the Democratic primary.
Wilson later voluntarily withdrew his candidacy, but Lasker has said Wilson cannot run for any other office in an election held this year.
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