Rahm Emanuel’s bid to run for Chicago Mayor appears to have ended as suddenly as it began. In a 2-1 decision, an Illinois appellate court ruled today that Mr. Emanuel has not resided in Illinois long enough to qualify for the position of Chicago’s Mayor.
The Court determined that while Emanuel owned a home in Chicago, paid taxes on that home and voted in local elections by virtue of maintaining his Illinois drivers’ license, he nevertheless is ineligible to run as a matter of law because he did not physically dwell permanently or consistently and/or have a fixed location for his abode within Illinois for a year prior to the election. The Court stated:
“We conclude that, under subsection 3.1-10-5(a) of the Municipal Code, a candidate must meet not only the Election Code’s voter residency standard, but also No. 1-11-0033 21 must have actually resided within the municipality for one year prior to the election, a qualification that the candidate unquestionably does not satisfy,” the panel concluded in the 2-1 ruling.
“Accordingly, we disagree with the Board’s conclusion that he is eligible to run for the office of Mayor of the City of Chicago. We reverse the circuit court’s judgment confirming the Board’s decision, set aside the Board’s decision, and, pursuant to Supreme Court Rule 366(a)(5) (Ill. Sup. Ct. R. 366(a)(5) (eff. Feb. 1, 1994)), order that the candidate’s name be excluded (or, if necessary, removed) from the ballot for the February 22, 2011, Chicago mayoral election.”
Several weeks earlier, a Cook County Circuit judge declared Emanuel eligible to run, despite his two years in President Obama’s staff, due to a local election code provision that “protects the residential status of Illinois citizens who ‘do the government’s business.’