Chicago’s elected school board race shrank again Tuesday when five more candidates were kicked off the ballot, and two others officially withdrew from the race following decisions made by the Chicago Board of Elections.
Tuesday’s decisions, in which the Board of Elections ruled on recommendations made by candidates’ hearing officers to remove them from or keep them on the ballot, further narrowed the field to 35 candidates. At its height, the race had 47 school board hopefuls in late June.
The majority of the objections concerned the number of valid signatures candidates had obtained, which had to be between 1,000 and 3,000.
Three of the five candidates removed from the ballot on Tuesday – Jousef Shkoukani, Anthony Hargrove and Kernetha Jones – are from the 5th district, which includes swaths of the West and Near West Sides.
Today’s board decisions leave just two candidates—Michilla Blaise and Aaron “Jitu” Brown—in the running for the 5th district board seat.
Objections were filed up until July 1, a week after the deadline for candidates to file their nomination papers. Since then, candidates have attended hearings and had their signature sheets examined in order to determine whether they can remain on the ballot.
The Board of Elections’ decisions are final unless a candidate appeals, in which case the Cook County Circuit Court would hear the decision.
Jesus Ayala Jr. from the 7th district and Nathaniel Ward from the 10th district, also lost their spots on the ballot. Both were found to have insufficient signatures and were officially removed at Tuesday’s election board meeting.
Five candidates who previously had objections filed against them now have a confirmed place on the ballot.
Carlos Rivas of the 3rd district, Yesenia Lopez of the 7th district and Karin Norington-Reaves of the 10th district were all found to have 1,000 or more valid signatures and will remain on the ballot. Objections against Robert Jones and Che “Rhymefest” Smith, both from the 10th district, were withdrawn by the objectors, ensuring they will retain their spots on the ballot.
Including decisions made at the electoral board’s July 26 meeting, objection hearings have removed seven candidates from their respective ballots across the ten districts.
More to come.