Ballot Challenge Filed Against Burnett

By Chuck Sudo in News on Dec 22, 2010 2:30PM

The challenges to Rahm Emanuel's mayoral candidacy on the February ballot is garnering most of the headlines these days, but other candidates and incumbents routinely have their places on the ballot questioned. Case in point, 27th Ward Alderman Walter Burnett, chair of the City Council Black Caucus.

Opponent Tom Courtney has filed a challenge to Burnett's candidacy on the grounds of debt. The debt allegedly stems from $2,000 in code violations on two properties Burnett has a financial stake in on the West side. Courtney's attorneys cite the majority opinion in the 2008 Illinois Supreme Court case Cinkus v. the Village of Stickney, which says a candidate cannot run for office if he is in arrears to the city in question at the time he files his petitions for inclusion on a ballot.

Burnett said that he owes no fines on the two properties and even ran a "debt check" to see if he was in arrears that unearthed nothing. If Burnett is knocked off the ballot, his only other choice to defend his seat would be to run as a write-in candidate.