Rahm Emanuel Not Eligible to Run for Mayor, Court Rules
Updated at 6:10 p.m. ET
The Illinois Appellate Court ruled today that Rahm Emanuel's name be removed from the ballot for Chicago mayor because he does not meet the residency requirements for candidates.
The two-to-one ruling will be immediately appealed to the Illinois Supreme Court.
"I have no doubt we will in the end prevail at this effort," Emanuel told reporters at a press conference this afternoon. (Watch at left.) "This is just one turn in the road."
Emanuel resigned from his position as President Obama's chief of staff last fall to run for mayor of Chicago, a city he once represented in Congress. However, the state of Illinois mandates that candidates for mayor maintain a residence in the city or town where he is running for a year in advance of the election. Emanuel owns a home in Chicago but was not primarily living there while serving in the Obama administration.
Emanuel's lawyers have argued that Illinois law makes an exception to the residency rule for those doing business for the United States. Emanuel said today that serving the president "counts as part of serving your country."
Today's ruling is a surprising turn of events for Emanuel, who leads in fundraising for the Feb. 22 race to replace retiring Mayor Richard Daley, according to the Chicago Sun Times. Emanuel had won two previous rulings on the matter -- the Chicago Board of Election Commissioners and a Cook County judge both ruled in his favor, saying he didn't abandon his Chicago residency when he went to work at the White House.
Emanuel's attorney Mike Kasper said he would file an appeal either today or tomorrow, the Sun Times reports. Burt Odelson, the lead attorney opposing Emanuel's candidacy, said he may not oppose the appeal because it's an important issue, though he questioned whether the court would even take up the case.
Emanuel said the court has an obligation to hear the case and make a decision quickly so voters "have the clarity they need."
The Chicago Board of Elections has yet to print the ballot, the Sun Times reports, but Emanuel said his lawyers will ask for a stay so that his name will be returned to the ballot. A recent Chicago Tribune/WGN poll showed Emanuel enjoys a wide lead in the race, which includes several candidates.
On CBSNews.com's "Washington Unplugged," CBS News Senior Producer Ward Sloane said the appellate court may have been "expressing some sentiment on the part of a lot of people: 'We're tired of politics as entitlement.'"
CBS News Washington Correspondent Nancy Cordes added, "It makes you wonder how someone as politically motivated as Rahm didn't cross all his T's and dot all his I's ... if he knew this was something he was interested in doing down the road."
"It's certainly not the last word," she said.
Watch Sloane and Cordes, along with CBS News Washington Correspondent Bob Orr, CBS News White House Correspondent Chip Reid and CBS News Senior Political Producer Rob Hendin discuss Emanuel's candidacy as well as the upcoming State of the Union address, in the video below:
