About 30 supporters of Dorothy Brown rallied Friday to call for rival mayoral hopeful Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle to drop her challenge to the candidacy of the circuit court clerk.
After businessman Willie Wilson ended his petition to knock Brown off the mayoral ballot Tuesday, Brown has been pushing Preckwinkle to do the same — and Friday afternoon, the small but loud group backing her joined in those calls.
“Stop the challenge Toni,” protesters shouted as they paced the sidewalk in front of the Cook County Building. “Let the people decide.”
Brown was still 949 valid signatures short of the required 12,500 to get on the mayoral ballot after a final examination of records. And Preckwinkle plans to see her challenge “through to its conclusion,” her attorney Keri-Lyn Krafthefer said Tuesday.
But holding signs reading “Enough is enough” and “Let our voices determine who should be the next mayor,” Brown’s supporters say the ultimate decision should be left to voters next month.
South Side resident Bryan King, 62, said he backed Brown’s claim that Preckwinkle added objections to her petitions after the deadline for challenges.
Preckwinkle should “do the right thing” and drop her challenge, he said.
“I believe that she knows that Dorothy is qualified and a big challenge to her campaign for mayor,” King said. “We’re out here to bring attention to that, because it’s not right.”
Many protesters passed out pamphlets about Brown’s candidacy and outwardly supported the circuit court clerk. But some, including Denise Sutton, 39, said they hadn’t yet made up their mind about voting for her come Feb. 26 but wanted the opportunity to if they decided.
Despite below-freezing temperatures, Andre Ferguson, 45, said making the trip from the city’s West Side where he lives was worth it for one reason: “The chance to stop Toni Preckwinkle.”
“The people of the city of Chicago can make their own decisions,” he said. “Stop letting them feel bullied by Toni to not vote for Dorothy Brown.”
