# Illinois Appeals Court Says Rahm Emanuel Not Eligble for Mayor
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/illinois-appeals-court-says-rahm-emanuel-not-eligble-for-mayor/568817
**Category:** Politics & Elections
**Created:** [January 24, 2011, 6:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/illinois-appeals-court-says-rahm-emanuel-not-eligble-for-mayor/568817 "2011-01-24T18:30:01Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@Bricker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bricker)
#### Post date: [January 24, 2011, 6:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/illinois-appeals-court-says-rahm-emanuel-not-eligble-for-mayor/568817/1 "2011-01-24T18:30:01Z")
Wow.
The court seems to base its ruling on the fact that in Illinois, “domicile” and “residence” are not synonyms.
I don’t have much in the way of expertise in residency law for elections purposes, but I have to say this result surprises me.
What effect will this have on the national scene? Any?
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### Author:  [@Happy\_Lendervedder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Happy_Lendervedder)
#### Post date: [January 24, 2011, 6:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/illinois-appeals-court-says-rahm-emanuel-not-eligble-for-mayor/568817/2 "2011-01-24T18:55:33Z")
I’m not sure how much it’ll matter nationally (in fact I can’t imagine how it would matter at all), but is anyone else picturing Rahm jamming pencils into the eyes of the person who told him he’s off the ballot?
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### Author:  [@Bricker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bricker)
#### Post date: [January 24, 2011, 6:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/illinois-appeals-court-says-rahm-emanuel-not-eligble-for-mayor/568817/3 "2011-01-24T18:56:28Z")
After a brief read of the opinion, I agree with the dissent and don’t understand how the majority can rest their decision on a 110-year-old case that isn’t even precedential.
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### Author:  [@Tom\_Tildrum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tom_Tildrum)
#### Post date: [January 24, 2011, 7:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/illinois-appeals-court-says-rahm-emanuel-not-eligble-for-mayor/568817/4 "2011-01-24T19:04:15Z")
Is it possible to get a link to the opinion?
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### Author:  [@Giles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Giles)
#### Post date: [January 24, 2011, 7:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/illinois-appeals-court-says-rahm-emanuel-not-eligble-for-mayor/568817/5 "2011-01-24T19:04:28Z")
Apparently there will be an appeal – and one which needs to be heard in the next 4 weeks! Presumably the Board of Elections will be prepared for two possible contingencies on February 22nd – and I don’t know if there is any polling before election day, which would make matters even more difficult.
> [@Tom\_Tildrum](#):
>
> Is it possible to get a link to the opinion?
[Here you are.](http://www.state.il.us/court/opinions/AppellateCourt/2011/1stDistrict/January/1110033.pdf)
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### Author:  [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)
#### Post date: [January 24, 2011, 7:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/illinois-appeals-court-says-rahm-emanuel-not-eligble-for-mayor/568817/6 "2011-01-24T19:06:22Z")
No, the appeal must be decided _before next Monday_, not in four weeks, because early voting starts on Monday.
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### Author:  [@Euphonious\_Polemic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Euphonious_Polemic)
#### Post date: [January 24, 2011, 7:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/illinois-appeals-court-says-rahm-emanuel-not-eligble-for-mayor/568817/7 "2011-01-24T19:12:20Z")
It’s a moot point anyway, because Rahm Emanuel was born in Kenya.
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### Author:  [@Rusalka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rusalka)
#### Post date: [January 24, 2011, 7:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/illinois-appeals-court-says-rahm-emanuel-not-eligble-for-mayor/568817/8 "2011-01-24T19:29:52Z")
I have not read the opinions yet, but people who keep saying “but he owned his house” as an argument do not understand the law. You can own residences in all 50 states but that doesn’t make you a resident in those states. It’s where you physically reside that is important. Mr. Emanuel understood the law and did not need to rent out his dwelling but he did anyway because he was never planning to run for a local office in the near future. He signed a lease, and a lease confers rights to live on a property upon another person. That means that other person for all practical purposes, “owns” the space of the property for the time and under the rules stipulated in the contract. People think that renting a space to someone means that you still have some kind of control over the property, like entering the space, but that is incorrect. Chicago has very strong laws favoring the renter in this regard, which a lot of landlords don’t understand.
It is very difficult to establish residency in a place where you don’t have a physical address. Ask any homeless person. Take that a bit further and imagine a homeless person who considers Chicago his “home” but decides to move to another state for a few years. What chance in hell does he have of claiming Chicago as his residence?
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### Author:  [@Claverhouse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Claverhouse)
#### Post date: [January 24, 2011, 7:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/illinois-appeals-court-says-rahm-emanuel-not-eligble-for-mayor/568817/9 "2011-01-24T19:30:02Z")
As an outsider I am disappointed: not through any great admiration of Mr. Emanuel, yet through the fact that like Mr. Rove ( also long on reputation, but short on substance ), is — unlike both their rather inchoate and nebulous masters “_Mr. Harding’s official style is excellent. Its merits are obvious. In the first place, it is a style that looks Presidential. It contains the long words and big sentences which are expected. … Furthermore the President’s style is one that radiates hopefulness and aspiration. … In the President’s misty language the great majority see a reflection of their own indeterminate thoughts._” — a definite character, and strongly-defined characters should be the lifeblood of the American political scene.
I can’t find it online, but somewhere D. H. Lawrence warned us to against cultivated individualism, as in to paraphrase: ‘_Beware of someone who is a **character** , for he is nothing but a painted bug_’, which may or may not be true, but the lack of which larger than life figures, substituted by IBM trained/built technician drones, destroys the whole point of politics, which is to find someone to _hate_.
However, as far as Chicago goes, he could be no worse than the average, over the last century. Which is high praise. But I do have doubts about the political brilliance, however famed, of anyone who would start his campaign by [telling Union Bosses](http://www.redstate.com/laborunionreport/2011/01/10/rahm-emanuel-secretly-tells-union-bosses-he-plans-to-cut-chicago-workers-pensions/) he planned to cut not merely future public pensions, but those being received or due to be received by union members now.
Full marks for plain straight-up honesty and rectitude, but I think that despite not having one tenth of his skills, I should reserve this information until after the election.
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### Author:  [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)
#### Post date: [January 24, 2011, 7:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/illinois-appeals-court-says-rahm-emanuel-not-eligble-for-mayor/568817/10 "2011-01-24T19:30:18Z")
> [@Giles](#):
>
> Apparently there will be an appeal – and one which needs to be heard in the next 4 weeks! Presumably the Board of Elections will be prepared for two possible contingencies on February 22nd – and I don’t know if there is any polling before election day, which would make matters even more difficult.
>
> [Here you are.](http://www.state.il.us/court/opinions/AppellateCourt/2011/1stDistrict/January/1110033.pdf)
I find it especially impressive that the court spent three pages discussing permanent residences but didn’t bother to address whether a house Emanuel owned for 10 years was a more permanent residence than one he leased for two.
ETA: …and I found this bit of the dissent equally amusing:
> [@](#):
>
> The majority completely ignores Dillavou, a recent Fourth
> District case that addressed candidate residency, even though
> Walsh, on which Justice Hoffman previously concurred, favorably
> cited Dillavou and discussed it at length. Walsh, 267 Ill. App. 3d
> at 978-79. I recognize that the question in Dillavou was whether
> the candidate at issue had established a residence in the required
> district; however, the case cites approvingly to supreme court
> election cases such as Clark and Kreitz. Dillavou, 260 Ill. App.
> 3d at 132. Of particular relevance to the case before this court,
> Dillavou quotes the language of Clark and Kreitz, which provides
> that, once established, a residence will not be lost by an
> individual’s absence from that residence unless the individual
> demonstrates such an intent. Dillavou, 260 Ill. App. 3d at 132-33
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### Author:  [@Tom\_Tildrum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tom_Tildrum)
#### Post date: [January 24, 2011, 7:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/illinois-appeals-court-says-rahm-emanuel-not-eligble-for-mayor/568817/11 "2011-01-24T19:39:34Z")
I wonder where those “objectors” have hidden out. Will changing their names be enough to protect their lives, or will they have to have plastic surgery as well?
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### Author:  [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)
#### Post date: [January 24, 2011, 7:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/illinois-appeals-court-says-rahm-emanuel-not-eligble-for-mayor/568817/12 "2011-01-24T19:40:51Z")
I’m surprised by the ruling for sure. I’m sure the Supreme Court can handle this in time for the early voting if necessary. Courts have been known to get their asses in gear when they have to.
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### Author:  [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)
#### Post date: [January 24, 2011, 7:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/illinois-appeals-court-says-rahm-emanuel-not-eligble-for-mayor/568817/13 "2011-01-24T19:41:32Z")
If this distinction stands, shouldn’t college students have to vote wherever they attend classes rather than in their “home” states? And shouldn’t mitary service members vote where they are stationed, rather than cast absentee ballots for where ever their families live?
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### Author:  [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)
#### Post date: [January 24, 2011, 7:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/illinois-appeals-court-says-rahm-emanuel-not-eligble-for-mayor/568817/14 "2011-01-24T19:47:16Z")
No. The ruling is limited to residence for the purposes of running for office under Illinois law. It specifically distinguishes residence for the purpose of running for office from residence for the purpose of voting. If it didn’t, they would have upheld the earlier ruling.
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### Author:  [@Giles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Giles)
#### Post date: [January 24, 2011, 7:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/illinois-appeals-court-says-rahm-emanuel-not-eligble-for-mayor/568817/15 "2011-01-24T19:51:03Z")
> [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](#):
>
> No. The ruling is limited to residence for the purposes of running for office under Illinois law. It specifically distinguishes residence for the purpose of running for office from residence for the purpose of voting. If it didn’t, they would have upheld the earlier ruling.
Yes – the question of Rahm Emanuel’s right to vote in City of Chicago elections is not raised. He continued to vote there after retiring as a Congressman and going to work at the White House. Though, of course, his vote in city elections is rather less important than his right to run for election as Mayor.
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### Author:  [@Bricker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bricker)
#### Post date: [January 24, 2011, 8:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/illinois-appeals-court-says-rahm-emanuel-not-eligble-for-mayor/568817/16 "2011-01-24T20:15:49Z")
> [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](#):
>
> No. The ruling is limited to residence for the purposes of running for office under Illinois law. It specifically distinguishes residence for the purpose of running for office from residence for the purpose of voting. If it didn’t, they would have upheld the earlier ruling.
Yes, in fact this distinction is a key point of the ruling; they claim that the section that creates an exception for being absent on “the business of the United States” applies only to voting, not to residency for election eligibility.
:dubious:
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### Author:  [@Mtgman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mtgman)
#### Post date: [January 24, 2011, 8:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/illinois-appeals-court-says-rahm-emanuel-not-eligble-for-mayor/568817/17 "2011-01-24T20:54:36Z")
Sometimes I wonder at mid-level court rulings. I don’t know if they did this because they really believe that’s what the law means, or because they want to kick it upstairs for the supreme court of Illinois to rule on. I can’t imagine any possible legislative intent for bifurcating the residency between eligibility to be active as a voter in a district while in a Federal office and to be eligible to be active as a representative in a district while holding a Federal office. The opinion makes it clear the court believes the Election board should carry the day in most circumstances, only overturned when their decision runs against the weight of the evidence, and then issues this ruling based not on the plain language of the statute, but upon some obscure non-precedent.
It’s a bizarre decision and I would be surprised if it stands on appeal, but it is certainly adding zest to this election cycle.
Enjoy,
Steven
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### Author:  [@Duckster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duckster)
#### Post date: [January 24, 2011, 9:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/illinois-appeals-court-says-rahm-emanuel-not-eligble-for-mayor/568817/18 "2011-01-24T21:12:23Z")
> [@Euphonious\_Polemic](#):
>
> It’s a moot point anyway, because Rahm Emanuel was born in Kenya.
It’s a moot point anyway, because Rahm Emanuel [del]was born in Kenya[/del] is a Packers fan.
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### Author:  [@Todderbob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Todderbob)
#### Post date: [January 24, 2011, 9:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/illinois-appeals-court-says-rahm-emanuel-not-eligble-for-mayor/568817/19 "2011-01-24T21:26:41Z")
I’ve seen this trumpeted by republicans (and some democrats) as a “major (or minor) defeat for the Obama administration,” my question is… Isn’t the court supposed to be entirely impartial?
If this is a victory, or defeat, for anyone (instead of a strict interpretation of the law), doesn’t that mean the judges are being activist?
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### Author:  [@DSeid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSeid)
#### Post date: [January 24, 2011, 9:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/illinois-appeals-court-says-rahm-emanuel-not-eligble-for-mayor/568817/20 "2011-01-24T21:45:34Z")
It seems that most who know law are pretty surprised by this and expect it will be reversed by the State Supreme Court. But if not … how does the election shake out?
In the latest [poll](http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/elections/ct-met-chicago-mayor-race-0121mdv-20110120,0,7220283.story) he had 44%, Braun was in second at 21%, Chico next at 16% and del Valle at 9%. Who would those who would want to vote for Emanuel cast for instead?
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