Wallace “Gator” Bradley, the street gang enforcer-turned-street politician, will be allowed to use his reptilian nickname on the Feb. 28 ballot in the 3rd Ward aldermanic race.
A challenge to Bradley’s use of the nickname was withdrawn this week, leaving nine candidates opposing Ald. Dorothy Tillman in the South Side ward.
Bradley, whose eligibility was challenged last week, had noted that Illinois election law forbids candidates from using nicknames that imply they hold theological or higher academic degrees but does not preclude the use of regular nicknames.
That argument apparently was convincing enough for Eugene Randolph, a ward resident, who withdrew his challenge before the Chicago Board of Election Commissioners.
Hearing officers appointed this week by the board began what is expected to be several weeks of hearings on the more than 200 challenges that were lodged against the 278 candidates who filed nominating petitions for the 50 aldermanic races.
In related actions this week, three incumbent aldermen managed to avoid re-election challenges when their potential opponents withdrew.
They are Aldermen William Banks (36th), Patrick Huels (11th) and Frank Olivo (13th). They joined Aldermen Edward Burke (14th), Virginia Rugai (19th), Bernard Hansen (44th) and Mary Ann Smith (48th) as unopposed cadidates. Those four had no challengers at the end of the filing period.
One of the candidates who withdrew this week was Bruce Modell, who had filed his petitions for the 46th Ward race but said that he had made a mistake because he had intended to run in the 44th Ward against Hansen.
The challenges include everything from charges of fraudulent or faulty signatures on nominating petitions to non-residency in the ward to failure to file financial-disclosure statements before the final filing date.
During the lengthy hearing process, many candidates have traditionally withdrawn rather than face costly legal proceedings. In some cases, they determine that they will be removed from the ballot by the election board. In other cases, they withdraw out of frustration with the complicated electoral process and bureaucracy.
