Rep. Deb Mell may be off re-election ballot

Rep. Deb Mell may be off re-election ballot
Posted by Greg Hinz
Copyright by Crain's Blogs Chicago Business
11/9/2009 3:49 PM CST on Chicago Business
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Another big piece of bad news is hitting Chicago's Mell/Blagojevich political clan.

Northwest Side State Rep. Deb Mell may have screwed up her nominating petitions, with a real risk that she'll be knocked off the February Democratic primary ballot.

A challenge filed Monday afternoon by an attorney for Joseph Laiacona, the only other remaining candidate in the 40th District race, contends that Ms. Mell is not registered to vote at her apparently new address. By law, all candidates are supposed to be registered at the address they use for their nominating petitions.

Ms. Mell -- the sister-in-law of ousted Ex-Gov. Rod Blagojevich and the daughter of Ald. Richard Mell (33rd) -- was not immediately available for comment. Her father, Ald. Mell, said the family's lawyers are not concerned about the challenge.

But the challenge was filed by Richard K. Means, one of the best election-law lawyers in the business. And he says the law and the case against her are "very clear."

"While Deborah L. Mell may reside at said address (on West Melrose Avenue), she was not on the day she swore to and signed" the official statement of candidacy that is filed with nominating petitions, the challenge states. "Because Deborah L. Mell is not a duly registered voter at the address from which she seeks to be a candidate, the nominating petitions are invalid in their entirety."

If upheld by the State Board of Elections, the challenge would be doubly ironic.

For starters, Mr. Mell's political organization has challenged any number of political foes through the years for messing up on a state petition law that is filled with arcane provisions.

Then there's the fact that Ms. Mell is one of only two openly gay members of the Illinois General Assembly. But Mr. Laiacona, too, is openly gay.

Since Chuck Hogan, the third candidate in the Democratic primary, withdrew on Monday, the heavily Democratic 40th District is likely to keep a gay legislator however the challenge is resolved.

*** 5:30 update: Ald. Mell's theory that his daughter does not have to be a registered voter to run for office apparently is based on the lack of any such requirement in the Illinois Constitution.

But Mr. Means replies that the Illinois Supreme Court as recently as last year upheld legal requirements for office above and beyond the narrow limits laid out in the Constitution.

Should be a good legal fight between Mr. Means and Ms. Mell's attorney, Mike Kasper.