Chicago Mayor Election 2011: Emanuel has big lead in Tribune poll

[cinyc]

Of course, of course.  The law should be interpreted consistently, and if it seems wrong or outdated, be changed for future elections.  I wasn't commenting on that because I doubt anyone cares that I think that, I'm simply musing on the situation.

All I said was that there is a feeling of "wrongness" if you will, about the whole situation.  It's not surprising that it requires a leading candidate (as opposed to a clown) to almost get knocked off in order to draw sufficient attention to the rules to get them reformed. 

Usually knocking off opponents is a tool for stronger candidates to muscle out the weaker ones in advance, not the other way around.  As long as it was the outsiders getting the boot, naturally, it's not an issue of prominence among the rulemakers.

I actually think that there should be a residency requirement for municipal office because those who don't live there don't understand the town's problems as well as those who do.  Someone who moves to Washington DC for two years isn't on the ground to hear about the local issues that matter most.  But to each his own, I suppose.

[Lunar]

I actually think that there should be a residency requirement for municipal office because those who don't live there don't understand the town's problems as well as those who do.  Someone who moves to Washington DC for two years isn't on the ground to hear about the local issues that matter most.  But to each his own, I suppose.

Regardless, I assume we can both agree that the residency requirements should be clear in advance and [in pragmatic terms] not result in prominent candidates discovering that they are not, in fact, eligible a few weeks before election day

[Lunar]

Also, although my above post is my main point, I'd also like to point out that emotionally, it feels like if voters feel that he isn't/wasn't on the ground enough to understand local issues, they could factor that into their votes instead of needing a legal solution to bar a flawed candidate from office.  Municipalities are also best not governed by idiots, but we don't require an IQ test to legally enforce it.

I actually think that there should be a residency requirement for municipal office because those who don't live there don't understand the town's problems as well as those who do.  Someone who moves to Washington DC for two years isn't on the ground to hear about the local issues that matter most.  But to each his own, I suppose.

[Lunar]

Actually, it also occurs to me that stricter election laws, as a whole, might favor establishment candidates over political newcomers and outsiders. This happens to be one of the cases where it is the reverse, but I'm curious about other prominent cases? Bysiewicz's run for AG in Connecticut?

[Keystone Phil]

So wait...is it really unlikely that this ruling will be overturned? I've been too busy telling all of my Rahm-hating friends that he'll be back on.

This is too good to be true. Way too good.

[cinyc]

So wait...is it really unlikely that this ruling will be overturned? I've been too busy telling all of my Rahm-hating friends that he'll be back on.

This is too good to be true. Way too good.

The Illinois Supreme Court need not hear the appeal - but my guess is they probably will decide to, since the stakes are fairly high - that is, unless a clear majority thinks this decision is correct.  Then, it comes down to whether the Illinois Supremes do a strict statutory construction like the majority opinion does or follow the logic of the dissent.   Not knowing a thing about who is on the Illinois Supreme Court, how they usually rule or whether the precedents actually say what the majority or dissenting opinions claim they say means I wouldn't even attempt to guess how they're going rule.

[cinyc]

Actually, it also occurs to me that stricter election laws, as a whole, might favor establishment candidates over political newcomers and outsiders. This happens to be one of the cases where it is the reverse, but I'm curious about other prominent cases? Bysiewicz's run for AG in Connecticut?

Bysewicz truly got hoisted by "the noblest of civic intentions" - the musings of a Connecticut legal blogger who wondered aloud whether she was eligible to hold the AG's office, which then got picked up in the local media.   Bysewicz is actually the one who brought the lawsuit to prove that she was eligible, after asking AG Blumenthal for his opinion.  The courts didn't agree with her theory.

Best I can tell, the blogger wasn't that well connected to the political elite or her opponents.  But you have to remember the Democratic AG field was fairly crowded, and it never was preordained that Bysewicz would win.   Many parties intervened in the lawsuit once it started, including the Connecticut Republican Party.

[Queen Mum Inks.LWC]

I really don't like Rahm, but I don't feel like this court ruling was quite right.

Why do you say this?  Normally I'd side with letting more people onto the ballot... but the law is pretty clear here.

[Swedish Rainbow Capitalist Cheese]

The law is the law, it's not always popular, it's not always good, but it's the rules we need to follow. If you don't like it, vote for someone who promise to change it. I'm all in favour of judges who practise what the law actually says, rather than interpet it to what they personally want it to say.
 

[I spent the winter writing songs about getting better]

Can't say I agree with the ruling, there's really no reason Rahm shouldn't be allowed to run if Santorum was allowed to run in Pennsylvania (I didn't intend that as a jab against Phil. OK, maybe a little.)

[Keystone Phil]

Can't say I agree with the ruling, there's really no reason Rahm shouldn't be allowed to run if Santorum was allowed to run in Pennsylvania (I didn't intend that as a jab against Phil. OK, maybe a little.)

[Queen Mum Inks.LWC]

Can't say I agree with the ruling, there's really no reason Rahm shouldn't be allowed to run if Santorum was allowed to run in Pennsylvania (I didn't intend that as a jab against Phil. OK, maybe a little.)

And why shouldn't he have been able to run?

[Queen Mum Inks.LWC]

Also, the Illinois Supreme Court has issued a stay against the lower court's decision.

[I spent the winter writing songs about getting better]

Can't say I agree with the ruling, there's really no reason Rahm shouldn't be allowed to run if Santorum was allowed to run in Pennsylvania (I didn't intend that as a jab against Phil. OK, maybe a little.)

And why shouldn't he have been able to run?

I didn't say he shouldn't, just that his situation was the same as Rahm. Santorum really lived in Virginia, not Pennsylvania. He wasn't in Pennsylvania anymore than Rahm is in Chicago.

[Keystone Phil]

Can't say I agree with the ruling, there's really no reason Rahm shouldn't be allowed to run if Santorum was allowed to run in Pennsylvania (I didn't intend that as a jab against Phil. OK, maybe a little.)

And why shouldn't he have been able to run?

I didn't say he shouldn't, just that his situation was the same as Rahm. Santorum really lived in Virginia, not Pennsylvania. He wasn't in Pennsylvania anymore than Rahm is in Chicago.

That is actually an absolutely blatant lie. Santorum visited each of Pennsylvania's 67 counties at least once each year. I think that's way more than the time Rahm spent in Illinois. Thanks for playing though.

[Keystone Phil]

Apparently the Supreme Court hasn't decided whether to hear the case or not.

[Queen Mum Inks.LWC]

Can't say I agree with the ruling, there's really no reason Rahm shouldn't be allowed to run if Santorum was allowed to run in Pennsylvania (I didn't intend that as a jab against Phil. OK, maybe a little.)

And why shouldn't he have been able to run?

I didn't say he shouldn't, just that his situation was the same as Rahm. Santorum really lived in Virginia, not Pennsylvania. He wasn't in Pennsylvania anymore than Rahm is in Chicago.

Different states have different standards for residency.  If you don't like the law, change it... otherwise you kinda just have to live with it.

[Filuwaúrdjan]

Can't say I agree with the ruling, there's really no reason Rahm shouldn't be allowed to run if Santorum was allowed to run in Pennsylvania (I didn't intend that as a jab against Phil. OK, maybe a little.)

Didn't he keep an address there though? Has Rahm done that? (I don't know because I've not been following things closely). Different rules in different places as well, o/c.

[Queen Mum Inks.LWC]

Plus, there's a difference between moving to VA so that you can live where you work in the position you were elected to and moving to D.C. for another government job and then want to run for office.

[Queen Mum Inks.LWC]

From the New York Times:

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[JohnnyLongtorso]

Can't say I agree with the ruling, there's really no reason Rahm shouldn't be allowed to run if Santorum was allowed to run in Pennsylvania (I didn't intend that as a jab against Phil. OK, maybe a little.)

Didn't he keep an address there though? Has Rahm done that? (I don't know because I've not been following things closely). Different rules in different places as well, o/c.

He has a house in Chicago that he rented out while he was Chief of Staff. The argument is that although he had a residence in the city, he did not actually reside there.

[Filuwaúrdjan]

He has a house in Chicago that he rented out while he was Chief of Staff. The argument is that although he had a residence in the city, he did not actually reside there.

That's very tight for a residency requirement for anything. How long has IL law been like that?

(no sympathy, mind. He should have checked).

[I spent the winter writing songs about getting better]

In Minnesota in 2002, a State Senator was drawn outside of his district after redistricting. He got his friend who owned a bar in the district that had a weird unused room in the backroom to "rent" him that room for like $50/month and declared that his official residence. It stood.

[cinyc]

He has a house in Chicago that he rented out while he was Chief of Staff. The argument is that although he had a residence in the city, he did not actually reside there.

That's very tight for a residency requirement for anything. How long has IL law been like that?

(no sympathy, mind. He should have checked).

If you believe the majority opinion, over a century; if you believe the dissent, since about yesterday.

Rahm rented out his Illinois house and rented another house in DC.  But he kept his Illinois drivers license, kept his Illinois bank account, kept paying Illinois income taxes, kept a bunch of stuff in storage at the Illinois house, and supposedly told friends he'd be back in two years.  Ironically, for Illinois income tax purposes, he'd probably have a tough time claiming he wasn't domiciled in Illinois during the period.  But the majority claims domicile isn't the same as residence.

Edited to add: Rahm also voted in Illinois - and the opinion makes it clear that he still can, since there is an explicit exception for people out of state doing the business of the United States.  That exception doesn't appear in the second prong of the municipal office eligibility statute (you must both 1) be an eligible voter and 2) have resided in the municipality for a year prior to the election to be eligible to hold municipal office) - which was (arguably) muddied by a recently added exception for those serving in the military, but not otherwise working for the federal government.  

I have to say that as a strict matter of statutory interpretation, I side with the majority opinion.  Rahm had no Chicago residence that he was entitled to return to for much of the past year.  Had he not leased out his home, the answer might be different.  But whether prior Illinois court precedents can be read in the way the majority claims is way above my pay grade.

[cinyc]

The Illinois Supreme Court is going to hear the case, but isn't asking for new briefs, and will not even hold oral argument.

Given that they've also issued the stay, forcing his name on the ballots - at least temporarily - I think odds are very good that the court will deem Emanuel eligible.  But we'll see.  Early voting starts very soon - or already has.

Also, the Chicago Sun-Times reports that at least initially, Rahm Emanuel claimed part-time residency for Illinois tax purposes in 2009.  He has since amended that return.