A Kane County judge Friday officially ended the re-election campaign of Aurora 2nd Ward Ald. David Marquez by refusing to allow his write-in votes to be counted.
Juany Garza had been declared the winner Wednesday after garnering 220 votes.
Marquez, whose name had been ordered off the ballot a week before the election, received 387 write-in votes, said his lawyer, Patrick Kinnally, but that effort was disallowed because he filed too late to be a write-in candidate.
Circuit Judge Michael Colwell said the case involving Marquez and Garza was “very strange, with a lot of twists and turns.” But he dismissed Marquez’s lawsuit against the Aurora Electoral Board and Garza, saying that although Marquez found himself in a “Catch-22” situation, the candidate “unfortunately has to live with the result.”
After the decision, Kinnally said he did not know if Marquez would take further action.
Garza, who did not attend Friday’s court proceeding, said she felt “great” about the decision.
“I am so happy. I’m so confused with all these things,” Garza said. “What I really want to do is help the community, but he’s fighting so much. I don’t know why he made mistakes, but it’s not my fault.”
Marquez filed his nominating petitions Dec. 5 with the Aurora Election Commission.
On Dec. 20, Garza’s companion, Gregorio Salgado, filed an objection to Marquez’s nominating petitions, saying Marquez neglected to include the office he was seeking. On Dec. 27, the Election Commission rejected Salgado’s objections.
On March 29, the Appellate Court ordered Marquez’s name removed from the ballot. A day later, Marquez declared his intention to be a write-in.
But election officials said he filed a day too late and that any write-ins would not be counted.
