A Cook County judge says Rahm Emanuel is eligible to run for Chicago mayor, but the ballot dispute involving the ex-White House chief of staff isn’t over yet.

Circuit Court Judge Mark Ballard heard arguments for a bit less than an hour Tuesday morning in a Daley Center courtroom just steps from city hall.

The anti-Emanuel legal team claimed the candidate gave up his residency when he rented out his Chicago house while working for President Obama in Washington. Lawyers for Emanuel argued he left only to serve his country, and always planned to return.

In a written opinion, Ballard sided with Emanuel, upholding a decision last month by the Chicago Board of Election Commissioners.

“We find there was sufficient evidence to support the Board’s conclusion that Candidate Emanuel intended to remain a Chicago resident during his temporary absence, and did not, therefore, abandon his Chicago residency,” Ballard wrote.

Burt Odelson, an attorney for the objectors, told reporters he expected to lose in circuit court. Oldeson said he will appeal the ruling on Wednesday.

“Those of us who practice election law, we don’t look at these as losses. They’re just stepping stones to get to the appellate and [state] supreme court,” Odelson said.

Emanuel attorney Kevin Forde said “at some point” Odelson has “to call it quits.”

“He’s lost before a hearing officer,” Forde said. “He’s lost before three [election board] commissioners - all of whom are very, very familiar with the election law. He’s lost before a very experienced judge here.”

The legal challenges could drag on for weeks, complicating things for city election officials who, by the end of the month, must prepare ballots for early voting.

Meantime, Odelson declined to provide specifics about who was paying for the lengthy ballot battle.

“Well, for me it’s been very expensive. Very time-consuming and very expensive,” he said.

Odelson said he is getting paid by the two people officially listed as “objectors” in his filings, Walter P. Maksym, Jr., and Thomas L. McMahon. But when asked if anyone else is chipping in to pay the bills, Odelson told reporters it was none of their business.

“It’s my business who’s paying me,” he said. “Just like it’s your business who pays you.”

Odelson is not required to publicly report how much he is being paid for the Emanuel challenge. But the Emanuel campaign is required to disclose its bills, though one of its lawyers, Mike Kasper, said he has not done the math.

“I’ve been busy on the case, I will say that,” Kasper said.