Berrios may have caught a huge break
Wednesday, Feb 21, 2018 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Press release late yesterday afternoon…
Andrea Raila’s Name Will Be On The Ballot
Andrea Raila filed papers today on the 12th floor of the Clerk of the Circuit Court to ensure that her name is on the early voting ballots in Cook County and Chicago for the primary election on March 20, 2018.
The first woman to run for Cook County Assessor in 85 years is making history. Kaegi and his inside team may have counted Andrea Raila out, but SHE PERSISTS!
The Board of Elections had a representative on site to take a photo of the filing and sent it to the super site where ballots are waiting to be printed. Andrea Raila’s Name Will Be On The Ballot.
The hearing date for judicial decision is March 2, 2018.
* The Tribune explains…
County and city election officials said Tuesday they were sending the ballots to print with Raila’s name on them, even though the election officials last week voted to kick her off and asset manager Fritz Kaegi asked the court to keep her off.
That’s because she appealed that decision in court earlier Tuesday, leaving her status as a candidate uncertain for now.
“We’ve run out of time” to wait any longer, said Nick Shields, spokesman for county Clerk David Orr, who is in charge of suburban Cook elections and certifies the county candidates. “It’s unfortunately about deadlines.”
Kaegi wants a one-on-one matchup against Berrios, and so Kaegi’s lawyers filed a legal motion late Tuesday to keep Raila’s name off the ballot, saying otherwise “voters might be fooled into casting votes which will not be counted.
Clerk Orr is supporting Kaegi, so that had to be a bitter pill.
- Rutro - Wednesday, Feb 21, 18 @ 10:19 am:
What’s the point of kicking her off?
- TopHatMonocle - Wednesday, Feb 21, 18 @ 10:28 am:
Does the electoral board have the legal authority to remove her from the ballot or not? Of course they do. And they already ruled she should not appear on the ballot, so why print the name.
- Anonymous - Wednesday, Feb 21, 18 @ 10:39 am:
==What’s the point of kicking her off?==
Because she has no chance of winning, but could pull enough anti-Berrios votes away from Kaegi to allow Berrios to sneak by in a three way primary?
- hisgirlfriday - Wednesday, Feb 21, 18 @ 10:41 am:
This challenge process and associated deadlines need to be changed to resolve these issues earlier for our early voting electorate. There has been way too much disruption to election administration this year.
- Super Anon - Wednesday, Feb 21, 18 @ 10:47 am:
Does the electoral board have the legal authority to remove her from the ballot or not? Of course they do. And they already ruled she should not appear on the ballot, so why print the name.
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The Electoral Board has the authority but she has appealed. This looks like an acknowledgment that the law strongly favors ballot access. In other words, there’s a solid chance she prevails in the Circuit court which is where you appeal to first.
- Chicago Cynic - Wednesday, Feb 21, 18 @ 10:47 am:
This sucks. I still think Kaegi wins, but it sucks.
- rebecca demornay - Wednesday, Feb 21, 18 @ 10:51 am:
Should the Clerk’s spokesman really be commenting that it’s unfortunate that we’ve run out of time to keep a candidate’s name off the ballot?
- Been There, Done That - Wednesday, Feb 21, 18 @ 10:51 am:
It may provide for plenty of voter confusion that will benefit Berrios. It also may mean that votes cast for Raila may wind up being segregated and counting for nothing as her candidacy may still be voided. The upshot is that the processing of the case took so long that the ballot could not be settled. Supposedly, the earlier petition circulating and filing periods were going to fix this mess of having electoral board procedures dragging on and playing havoc with the conduct of the election. The judge was playing it safe in the event that Raila somehow obtains a reversal on judicial review. Otherwise she would have no remedy.
- anon2 - Wednesday, Feb 21, 18 @ 10:54 am:
In a Democratic primary, the lone female candidate against two males will attract votes, regardless of her qualifications. In this case, she is well qualified. Consequently, the incumbent benefits.
- Anonymous - Wednesday, Feb 21, 18 @ 10:56 am:
==Should the Clerk’s spokesman really be commenting that it’s unfortunate that we’ve run out of time to keep a candidate’s name off the ballot?==
Yes. There is no more time left to decide whose names are on the ballot. In case you didn’t know this happens almost every cycle in cook.
- Just Me - Wednesday, Feb 21, 18 @ 11:07 am:
The bigger pill to swallow is us stupid taxpayers in Crook County that continue to feed the Madigan/Berrios machine.
What a jerk.
- Just Me - Wednesday, Feb 21, 18 @ 11:07 am:
And for Raila to claim that Kaegi is the “insider” is sickening.
- Grand Avenue - Wednesday, Feb 21, 18 @ 11:19 am:
If Raila is back on the ballot and Berrios & Kaegi spend millions muddying each other up, she could win
- Chicagonk - Wednesday, Feb 21, 18 @ 12:09 pm:
@GrandAvenue - She has no chance of winning. Hopefully people do not take her candidacy seriously.
- Grand Avenue - Wednesday, Feb 21, 18 @ 12:12 pm:
I’ll vote for her if she sticks on the ballot. She reminds me of Maria Pappas.
- Curious - Wednesday, Feb 21, 18 @ 12:17 pm:
I’m not prone to conspiracies, but what could possibly be andrea’s motivation to fight so bitterly outside of helping berrios? Who is paying her legal fees? Who are her campaign donors?
- TopHatMonocle - Wednesday, Feb 21, 18 @ 12:34 pm:
===what could possibly be andrea’s motivation to fight so bitterly outside of helping berrios===
I think she genuinely believes that as the only woman candidate she would have a chance to win, so she dumped in a ton of her own money. She’s spent at least 150k of her own money at this point and wants to stay on the ballot so that it’s not a complete waste.
How does Berrios trying to knock Raila off the ballot fit into your conspiracy? He tried but dropped it once it was clear Kaegi was going to be on the ballot. Reminds me of the saying, never attribute to malice that which is adequately explained by stupidity.
- Rich Miller - Wednesday, Feb 21, 18 @ 12:40 pm:
===How does Berrios trying to knock Raila off the ballot fit into your conspiracy? He tried but dropped it once it was clear Kaegi was going to be on the ballot.===
Um, you answered your own question. Since Joe couldn’t kick off both opponents, he backed away.
We’re not stupid here. Well, most of us aren’t.
- Just Observing - Wednesday, Feb 21, 18 @ 1:30 pm:
=== Should the Clerk’s spokesman really be commenting that it’s unfortunate that we’ve run out of time to keep a candidate’s name off the ballot? ===
That’s not what he said or meant. He is saying its unfortunate they have no choice but to go to print without having an definite answer whether or not she will be on the ballot.
- Jane Burn - Wednesday, Feb 21, 18 @ 5:28 pm:
She reminds me of Jane Burn
- Anonymous - Wednesday, Feb 21, 18 @ 5:42 pm:
@GrandAvenue - She has no chance of winning. Hopefully people do not take her candidacy seriously.
Carol Mosley Braun Jane Byrne
- FedUp Dem - Wednesday, Feb 21, 18 @ 8:13 pm:
Andria Railia was called the “Prime Minister of Taxes” by the late Studs Terkel.
Ben Joravsky of the Reader called Andria Railia the “Tax Geek”.
A woman could easily win this race.
- FedUp Dem - Wednesday, Feb 21, 18 @ 8:15 pm:
Kaegi is just trying to buy this race and has a lot of dirt on him.
Boss Berrios is done.
Railia is the best most independent choice.
- State worker - Thursday, Feb 22, 18 @ 6:13 am:
Sometimes you wish Dems would work together to clean house.