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Ald. Moore, Don Gordon Face Off in 49th Ward After Other Challengers Tossed

By Benjamin Woodard | January 6, 2015 12:46pm | Updated on January 7, 2015 8:33am
 Don Gordon (r.) will take on Ald. Joe Moore in the February election after other candidates were thrown out.
Don Gordon (r.) will take on Ald. Joe Moore in the February election after other candidates were thrown out.
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DNAinfo

ROGERS PARK — And then there were two.

All candidates challenged by an ally to Ald. Joe Moore — John Beacham, Connie Gates-Brown, Grady Humphrey, Nathan Benjamin Myers — have been thrown off the 49th Ward ballot, according to the Board of Election Commissioners.

Now, only Don Gordon remains to challenge the incumbent and 23-year alderman, setting up a rematch of the hotly contested 2007 aldermanic race that ended in a run-off and Gordon losing by 251 votes.

Gordon said the fact that candidates were knocked off the ballot was "politics as usual."

"It's unfortunate because in addition to providing voters more choices in the election, it's also restricted the voices of those who felt a civic duty to represent us and therefore restrict their viewpoints on the issues," Gordon said in a Facebook post.

"I guess our alderman believes he can win easily in a one-to-one campaign and election. Let's just say that hubris is a not a good trait for an alderman to possess."

But Moore responded that the booted candidates simply didn't meet the requirements set out by law.

"Illinois law requires candidates for alderman to demonstrate a minimum threshold of support in order to appear on the election ballot — the signatures of 473 registered voters," Moore said. "The Chicago Board of Elections, not I, determined that four individuals who filed as candidates failed to convince 473 registered 49th Ward voters to sign their nominating petitions."

He said now that just he and Gordon remain on the ballot, "I look forward to a spirited and vigorous debate about the future of our community."

Early last month, Eric Glatstein submitted the objections to the nominating petitions for all the candidates except for Gordon. In a post to his Facebook page in November, Moore called Glatstein a "friend and volunteer." Moore shared a photo of himself, Glatstein and a stack of nominating petitions containing 7,180 signatures he was about to submit to the Board of Elections.

Glatstein alleged the candidate's petitions were invalid due to several issues, including insufficient signatures, improper form labeling and invalid signatories.

The board ruled Connie Gates-Brown ineligible because she didn't file a statement of economic interests, according to the ruling.

Former candidate John Beacham didn't show up for his hearing and was then disqualified, according to his ruling.

Nathan Benjamin-Meyers did not submit a sufficient amount of valid signatures, according to his ruling. In fact, of the 1,812 signatures he submitted, only 350 were valid. Candidates in the 49th Ward need at least 473 valid signatures to get on the ballot.

Grady Humphrey's candidacy had been thrown out previously. He submitted 472 signatures, one less than needed, according to his ruling.

Chicago's municipal elections take place on Feb. 24.

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