Lawyer: Court takes Rahm Emanuel's name off ballot

CHICAGO | Former White House chief of staff Rahm Emanuel says there is "no doubt" that he will prevail in his fight to run for Chicago mayor.

Emanuel told reporters that an Illinois Appellate Court ruling Monday that boots him off the Feb. 22 ballot is just one turn in the road.

The appeals court ruled 2-1 that Emanuel's name can't be on the ballot because he didn't live in Chicago for the year prior to the election. Emanuel moved back to Chicago in October after living in Washington while working as President Barack Obama's chief of staff.

"I still own a home here, ... vote from here, pay property taxes here," Emanuel said. "I do believe the people of the city of Chicago deserve a right to make a decision about who they want to be their next mayor."

Emanuel filed paperwork late Monday requesting that he be kept on the ballot while the Illinois Supreme Court decides an appeal he planned to file Tuesday morning. A decision will have to come quick -- early voting starts Monday.

The legal fight to remove Emanuel from the ballot has been going on for months. Attorney Burt Odelson now gets to catch his breath because the court's ruling shifts the burden of proof from Odelson, who has led the charge to remove Emanuel, to the candidate, who will have to justify to the state Supreme Court why his mayoral campaign should be permitted to continue.

"I don't have to do anything right now, because I won," Odelson said Monday. "It's up to them if they want to appeal this, and I will respond to their case if they file an appeal."

Odelson, who previously had said he was prepared to take his case to the Illinois and U.S. Supreme courts if necessary, said he expects an Emanuel appeal.

"I will be ready for it," said Odelson, whose legal career during the past four decades has made him a specialist in election law.

It was Odelson who in 2009 handled the successful legal fight on behalf of Calumet City Mayor Michelle Markiewicz Qualkinbush to remove her challenger, police Sgt. Pam Cap, from the ballot. That allowed Qualkinbush to run for re-election as the only official candidate. Cap eventually ran a write-in campaign that saw her take 39 percent of the vote in her loss to Qualkinbush.

Odelson insists that his argument against Emanuel is not a complex one. He believes Emanuel simply hasn't lived in Chicago long enough prior to the Feb. 22 election to qualify.

The Chicago Board of Election Commissioners and a Cook County judge disagreed, but Odelson said the appeals court, "looked at the law in a thoughtful manner. They did what was right" in removing Emanuel from the mayoral ballot -- reducing the field of candidates for the time being to five: Carol Moseley Braun, Gery Chico, Miguel del Valle, Patricia Van-Pelt Watkins and William "Dock" Walls.

For his part, Chico said the ruling was "a surprise," but he issued a statement saying, "it will not impact how we run our campaign."

Braun called the decision "a major milestone" for her campaign, saying she hopes it will help her raise money. She didn't offer any opinion on the ruling

There is a time element at work, in that early voting centers are scheduled to open Monday. If a court somewhere does not reinstate Emanuel to the ballot sometime this week, his name will not appear as an option for voters.

Odelson, who said he spoke with city election board officials Monday afternoon, predicted, "he won't be on the ballot. There isn't much time left."

Associated Press writer Deanna Bellandi contributed to this report.