Hearing Set Monday For Bobby Rush Petition Challenge

CHICAGO, IL — A hearing before the Illinois State Officers Electoral Board is set for Monday, Dec. 23, at the James R. Thompson Center where officers are expected to determine if Congressman Bobby Rush remains on the Democratic primary ballot who is facing a petition challenge.

University of Chicago law student Sarah Gad, one of three challengers who have filed to run against Rush in the Illinois 1st Congressional District primary, filed an 11-page motion last week asking the electoral board to rule against Rush remaining on the ballot. Gad claims that Rush’s petitions are replete with errors, such as missing dates, addresses and page numbers, which are required under Illinois election statutes. The third-year law student has also presented evidence of inconsistent signatures, forgeries and notary misconduct which Gad claims demonstrate “a clear pattern of fraud or substantial noncompliance with mandatory provisions of the Election Code.”

Rush filed a motion to dismiss on Dec. 17, arguing “ballot access.” The state electoral board is expected to battle it out on Monday.

The 26-year incumbent congressman represents a district that spans Cook and Will counties, including Chicago South Side neighborhoods and south suburbs, encompassing all or parts of Evergreen Park, Oak Lawn, Alsip, Crestwood, Oak Forest, Orland, Tinley, Frankfort, Elwood and Manhattan.

Over the years, Rush has been the target of numerous ethical probes of his campaign spending, personal finances, delinquent tax bills and a non-profit he founded. The 73-year-old congressman's payments of $130,000 in campaign funds to family members, as well as rent-free political office space, have resulted in fines and wage garnishments.

ProPublica ranked Rush tenth in votes missed in Congress — 22 percent — which he attributed to caring for his late, ailing wife. Earlier this year, Rush accused Mayor Lori Lightfoot of having "an alliance with the devil," and a $1 million grant to build a technology center in Englewood never materialized.

A Chicago attorney consulted by Gad’s campaign, Tom Cross, who is not affiliated with either party, says the allegations hold merit and may spell trouble for Rush.

"Let me put it this way, I've seen candidates kicked of the ballot for a lot less. If it were any other candidate, yes, I absolutely think it would get them kicked off."

Gad says they've spoken to "many attorneys" who noted inconsistencies in Rush's filing petitions to put his name on the March 2020 primary ballot. Gad's campaign also provided screenshots of Rush petition circulators Ricky Morrow and Harvey L. Cook Jr.'s signatures, which Abour alleges appear to have been forged on Rush's circulation sheets.

"We pulled every opponent's petitions and challenged only those that demonstrated a clear pattern of fraud or substantial noncompliance with mandatory provisions of the Election Code," Gad's campaign said in a written statement to Patch. "Mr. Rush's papers demonstrated a clear pattern of both. They were replete with errors, missing signatures and dates, forgeries, notary misconduct, not to mention, 222 out of 332 of the pages were improperly numbered."

Gad is a recovering opioid addict and former Cook County Jail detainee, where she claims she was sexually abused. Given a second chance and a job by civil rights and wrongful convictions attorney Kathleen Zellner, Gad applied her medical background as Zellner's forensics director. She is a volunteer with the Chicago Community Board campaign to end cash bail and has founded an organization called Addiction 2 Action that works to raise awareness about the need for better opioid treatment in jails and prisons.

Gad said in a written statement that the objection was nothing personal and that she would simply like to see integrity restored to the electoral process.

"We can't continue to allow politicians to cut corners and then cry foul when they don't show up and do their jobs," she said.

Rush's campaign manager, Mary L. Datcher, responded to the Hyde Park Herald's questions of possible technical flaws on Rush's petitions, calling it a "direct strategy to gain name recognition and media speculation by Ms. Gad in challenging our petitions."

Also challenging Rush in the upcoming Illinois 1st Congressional District Democratic primary on March 17, 2020, are gun control activist Robert Emmons Jr. and Ameena Nuur Matthews.

This story has been updated with new information.