Hearings on 2027 ballot challenges began Monday: 108 cases, and no ruling yet on the Mayor's petitions

The Chicago Board of Election Commissioners started hearing challenges to 2027 candidates on Monday, with 108 cases on its docket for the mayor's race, the 50 Council races and other city offices, CBS Chicago reported. Two hearings on challenges to Mayor Brandon Johnson's petitions ended Monday without a ruling.

Why it matters: a challenge the Board sustains keeps a candidate off the Feb. 23 ballot. The Board has until Dec. 17 to certify that ballot, and early voting and mail ballots start Jan. 14, CBS reported.

This follows last Thursday's story, written before the hearings opened.

What happened Monday

The schedule. Johnson's attorney must file a motion by 5 p.m. Tuesday, responses are due by 5 p.m. Wednesday, and a conference call Wednesday will decide when the hearing officer takes up both challenges to the Mayor, according to CBS.

The records exam. Election clerks began going through Johnson's petition sheets to check the challengers' claims against the voter rolls, ABC7 reported. Reviewers check whether each signer is registered at the address listed, and may compare handwriting.

Who filed. One challenge comes from former state Sen. Rickey Hendon, working for mayoral candidate Willie Wilson's campaign; another from activists with a group called Flip Chicago Red, ABC7 reported. The Wilson challenge says some sheets are photocopies and that several pages carry signatures gathered for City Treasurer Melissa Conyears-Ervin, CBS and NBC Chicago reported. A separate filing argues the Mayor should be disqualified outright, CBS reported.

The numbers so far are the challengers'. Hendon says Johnson has fewer than 5,000 valid signatures, against the 12,500 required. "He's short, that's why we're happy to have the records exam today," he told ABC7. Johnson's campaign says he has more than enough. "I feel absolutely confident that I'll be able to withstand any challenges," the Mayor said Oct. 30. Election experts told ABC7 that no sitting Chicago mayor has ever been removed from the ballot by a petition challenge.

What our records show

On our mayor's race page, Johnson's filing has 31,904 filled-in signature lines on a complete copy of 3,301 sheets. That is a line count, not a count of valid signatures. It can't tell a photocopy from an original, or a Chicago voter from someone registered elsewhere. Only the Board's records exam can.

The rest of the mayor's field

Twelve of the 16 people who filed for mayor face challenges, NBC reported:

• Secretary of State Alexi Giannoulias faces two challenges to his signatures, ABC7 reported, plus a challenge from mayoral candidate Bill Quinlan arguing state law bars running for mayor while seeking re-election to another office. Quinlan filed the same objection against U.S. Rep. Mike Quigley and Cook County Treasurer Maria Pappas. A judge dismissed Quinlan's lawsuit on that question in October as filed too early, without deciding it, CBS reported. All three won their Nov. 3 races, as we reported.
• Comptroller Susana Mendoza's petitions were challenged, NBC reported, without detailing the grounds.
• Candidate John Kelly faces a challenge over where he lives, NBC reported.
• Quinlan's own petitions were challenged, as were several lesser-known candidates'.

George Cardenas drew no objection, Block Club Chicago reported last week.

What to watch

• Wednesday: the conference call that sets when the hearing officer hears the Johnson challenges.
• The records exam's results, which will be the first count of the Mayor's valid signatures by anyone other than a challenger or his campaign.
• Dec. 17: the Board certifies the ballot. A candidate removed by the Board can appeal to the Circuit Court.

Our objections page is filled from the Board's posted list. It still shows none: our request to chicagoelections.gov at 9:35 a.m. Tuesday returned an access error, as every request has since Nov. 2. We'll update it, and this story, when rulings come.