POLITICAL EARTHQUAKE – AT 4:52 P.M. ET:  An Illinois court has ruled that former White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel does meet the residency requirements to run for mayor.  The mayoral vote is February 22nd.  From the Chicago Tribune:

Rahm Emanuel should not appear on the Feb. 22 mayoral ballot because he does not meet the residency standard, according to a ruling issued by a state appellate court today.

Emanuel told a news conference he would appeal the decision to the Illinois Supreme Court and would ask for an injunction so his name will appear on the mayoral ballot.

"I have no doubt at the end we'll prevail in this effort," Emanuel said. “We’ll now go to the next level to get clarity."

“I still own a home here, (I) look forward to moving into it one day, vote from here, pay property taxes here. I do believe the people of the city of Chicago deserve a right to make a decision about who they want to be their next mayor," Emanuel said.

In a 2-1 ruling, the appellate panel said Emanuel does not meet the residency requirement of having lived in Chicago for a year prior to the election. The judges reversed a decision by the Chicago Board of Election Commissioners, which had unanimously agreed that Emanuel was eligible to run for mayor. (Read the appeals court's ruling here.)

"We conclude that the candidate neither meets the Municipal Code's requirement that he have 'resided in' Chicago for the year preceding the election in which he seeks to participate nor falls within any exception to the requirement," the majority judges wrote.

COMMENT:  Emanuel is well ahead in the polls.  His closest challenger, corrupt former Senator Carol Moseley Braun, is something of the order of 20 points behind. 

I'm not a lawyer, and so cannot comment on the legal aspects here.  But from a public-policy viewpoint, this decision is awful, whether you like Rahm Emanuel or not.  I think there's always been an assumption that when you're called to federal service by the president, that 1) you go, and 2) that you aren't stripped of your local residency. 

Emanuel grew up in Chicago.  He was a congressman from Chicago.  To deny him the right to run for mayor simply because he has been living temporarily in Washington seems extreme to me.  As he correctly points out, the people of Chicago have a right to decide who they want to be their mayor.  I would feel, as a citizen, that the case against him would have to be overwhelming to take him off the ballot. 

We look forward to the decision by the Illinois Supreme Court.

Politics is always fun in Illinois.

January 24, 2011