Who are these mayoral hopefuls? The 20 candidates running to be Chicago’s next leader.

Who are these mayoral hopefuls? The 20 candidates running to be Chicago’s next leader.
WBEZ/Sam Hudzik
Who are these mayoral hopefuls? The 20 candidates running to be Chicago’s next leader.
WBEZ/Sam Hudzik

Who are these mayoral hopefuls? The 20 candidates running to be Chicago’s next leader.

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Updated at 1:23 p.m.

The deadline has now passed for candidates for city offices to file for the February ballot. By 5 p.m. on Monday, 20 candidates filed for mayor, seven for city clerk, two for city treasurer and about 350 for alderman. All but three of the 50 aldermanic posts drew multiple candidates; the lucky incumbents are Dick Mell (33rd), Patrick O’Connor (40th) and Brendan Reilly (42nd).

For the first time in more than two decades, there will be no Daley on the ballot. The crew vying to replace the longtime mayor are an eclectic bunch, including candidates from some of the farthest parts of the North, West and South sides. They include sitting politicos, sure, but also newcomers, perennial candidates and the longest of long-shots. Barring some write-in craziness, one of these twenty hopefuls will be mayor on May 16th, 2011:

Candidate Title Neighborhood Signatures turned in (according to the candidate or campaign) Statement of Economic Interest
Carol Moseley Braun Former U.S. senator and ambassador Hyde Park More than 91,180 Filed
Roland Burris Outgoing U.S. senator Chatham  Close to 20,000 Filed
Tyrone Carter Music producer, author Austin More than the required number (12,500) Filed
Gery Chico Lawyer, former Daley Administration appointee Loop 52,254 Filed and amended
Danny K. Davis Congressman Austin More than 50,000 Filed
Wilfredo de Jesus Minister Logan Square More than 18,500 Filed
Miguel del Valle City Clerk Belmont Cragin 40,000 Filed
Rahm Emanuel Former White House chief of staff and congressman West Town 90,905 Filed
Ryan Graves City employee Mount Greenwood Filed
Rob Halpin Owner of Burnham Partners Lakeview Filed
Tommy Hanson River North Not filed
John Hu Real estate broker Rush & Division Filed
M. Tricia Lee Children’s book author, business consultant Archer Heights 12,500 Filed
James Meeks State senator and minister West Pullman 50,000 Filed
Fenton C. Patterson Englewood Filed
Howard Ray Humboldt Park Filed
Jay Stone Hypnotherapist West Ridge 250 Filed
William “Dock” Walls Community activist Galewood 25,200 Filed
Patricia Van Pelt Watkins Community organizer East Garfield Park 40,800 Filed
Frederick White City employee Logan Square Filed

As you can see from the chart, some of these candidates are true unknowns. We’ve reached out to each campaign if a phone number or email was available, and will fill in the blanks when we hear back.

Far from final

Keep in mind this list will very likely be trimmed a bit as objections are filed and the Chicago Board of Election Commissioners acts. Candidate Jay Stone says he filed about 250 signatures of registered Chicago voters, well below the required 12,500. Stone says he wants to challenge the “onerous” requirement in a “flawed” law.

Another curious case is that of M. Tricia Lee. Also known as Maureen Patricia Lee, she lists her address on election forms as a motel at 4940 S. Archer Ave., but she acknowledges she only moved there recently and public records show she still owns a condo in Oak Lawn. We’ll know which candidates face petition challenges when that deadline rolls around next Tuesday.

Conflict? What conflict?

Along with filing their nominating petitions with the Chicago Board of Elections, candidates must file a “Statement of Economic Interests” with the Cook County Clerk’s office, and then provide the election board with a receipt of that filing. We asked the clerk’s office for all the forms filed by mayoral candidates, and you can see them by clicking in the chart above. Almost all the candidates have filed this form, and that deadline was Monday.

Of course, there’s not much on the form. If you’re looking for evidence of impropriety, you won’t find much there (unless you’re intrigued by why Emanuel wrote “Bruce Springsteen” in the gift declaration space). There aren’t even any dollar amounts. The Illinois Campaign for Political Reform has called for a beefing up of the Statements of Economic Interest. The campaign’s David Morrison told me he believes some questions are “clearly worded in a way that is designed to obscure things.”

So to get a broader idea of the candidates’ financial interests, we asked a few of the major campaigns when or if they planned to release copies of income tax returns. We’ll post them if and when we get them.