Ald. Howard Brookins can remain on the March primary ballot for 21st Ward Democratic ward committeeman, a Chicago Board of Election Commissioners hearing officer determined today.
The election board will now vote on whether to uphold the decision.
Brookins’ position on the ballot was put in danger earlier this month when an examination of his nomination papers found he did not submit enough valid signatures from registered voters in the South Side ward. The examination found Brookins, the incumbent committeeman, was about 100 signatures short of the 939 minimum.
Burt Odelson, an attorney for Brookins, on Tuesday submitted more than 100 valid sworn statements from voters whose signatures were tossed out after the preliminary examination. The hearing officer said the statements showed Brookins submitted a sufficient number of signatures.
Brookins, the chairman of the City Council’s Black Caucus, had been preparing to try to retain the party post with a write-in campaign.
“I’m happy I won’t spend extra dollars on a needless write-in campaign,” Brookins said.
Brookins was the latest incumbent committeeman to face trouble staying on the ballot. Ald. Toni Foulkes (15th) withdrew her name from the ballot after her petitions were challenged for not having enough signatures. Election officials removed Ald. Rey Colon (35th) from the ballot because he did not collect the minimum number of signatures.
Brookins would be the only candidate on the primary ballot if the election board upholds the hearing officer’s decision. A rival candidate, Vernita McClinton-Farmer, was removed from the ballot for not having enough valid signatures.