The saying goes, "Variety is the spice of life." But in the race to replace Richard Daley as Mayor, the list of candidates is just slightly to the left of overkill. more ›

The prime campaign time for November’s elections is just around the corner. Earlier this week the Illinois gubernatorial candidates had their first debate, but Democratic candidate Patt Quinn and Republican candidate Bill Brady weren’t present, although they were invited. The five independent candidates: Rich Whitney (Green Party), Lex Green (Libertarian Party), Michael White (Constitution Party) and independents Scott Lee Cohen and William “Dock” Walls, expressed their views at Chicago State University on July 8. Whitney is a familiar face. He ran for governor in 2006 and received 10 percent of the vote (unprecedented) leading the Green Party to be an “established party” under Illinois election law. Check out the debate below from Free and Equal - though it’s not so much of a debate as it is five guys talking about issues. more ›

Illinois voters certainly can't complain about a lack of choices in November's gubernatorial election, even if the quality of those choices is still up for debate. William "Dock" Walls announced his run for governor in Millennium Park yesterday and if he, along with fellow independent Scott Lee Cohen, can complete the daunting task of amassing 25,000 petition signatures by June 21, the number of candidates trying to knock out incumbent Gov. Pat Quinn will rise to five. Walls and Cohen would join Republican Bill Brady, Gree Party candidate Rich Whitney and Libertarian Lex Green. more ›

Monday was the deadline for candidates to drop from races - a la Danny Davis in the Cook County Board President's race - and to file challenges to petitions. WBEZ is on top of the latest developments with an updated candidate list as is Chicago Current. Perhaps the most noteworthy challenges come in the aforementioned Cook Co. race as both Dorothy Brown and incumbent Todd Stroger have had their petitions challenged. Brown's challenge is no surprise given the recent accusations of shenanigans but we're a little surprised to see Stroger challenged but given the heated nature of this campaign, maybe we shouldn't be. more ›

Mayor Daley’s pick to head Chicago Public Schools might have to be approved by the City Council. That’s according to a lawsuit filed by activist and 2007 Mayoral candidate William Dock Walls, who’s just the latest critic to sound off on the appointment of Ron Huberman as CPS CEO. The lawsuit argues that Huberman’s appointment has to comply the city municipal code, which states that the City Council must approve “all officers of the city” who are picked by the mayor. But the mayor receives the power to choose the CEO from state law, which doesn’t say anything about the city council. The lawsuit, however, argues that the state law doesn’t indicate that the city council can be left out of the decision-making process. more ›