MCKINLEY PARK — Union organizer Pete DeMay has been booted from the ballot in his bid for 12th Ward alderman.
Ruling that a substantial portion of his signatures were invalid, a Chicago Board of Elections hearing officer handed down the decision Tuesday.
The ruling means incumbent Ald. George Cardenas will run unopposed for his fourth term.
DeMay, a progressive who campaigned on eliminating the city's tax increment financing program, raising the minimum wage to $15 and taxing wealthy Chicagoans, said he plans to challenge the ruling in court.
"We felt from the very beginning that we haven't got a fair shake. We feel this was rigged against us. ... As a private citizen who's never run for office before, I'm kind of disgusted by the whole process," he said.
Two Cardenas supporters filed their objections to DeMay's candidacy in December, arguing that DeMay's camp forged signatures, collected signatures outside the ward, failed to properly notarize the petitions and more.
DeMay denied those allegations and said his campaign, which collected some 2,100 signatures — the city's election law requires candidates to have 473 — was run completely above-board.
In its ruling, the board notes the inclusion of DeMay's signature on petitions actually circulated by campaign volunteers demonstrated a "pattern of fraud, false swearing and a total disregard for the mandatory requirements of the Election Code."
Shortly after Monday's decision, Cardenas slammed DeMay's campaign and his "radical leftist agenda."
"There's a process here. It's there for me and for anybody who wants to run for office. [The rules] are there for a reason," he said.
DeMay, a union organizer for low-income auto workers in Mexico, recently scored endorsements from the Chicago Teachers Union, the Chicago Federation of Labor, AFSCME District Council 31, SEIU Workers United and the Chicago Green Party.
"If you look at who's endorsed us and our independent message, the fact is we haven't been afraid to criticize the richest 1 percent of Chicago," he said. "Lamentably, it's the rich and powerful who run this city."
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