Freshman Ald. La Spata clears hurdle in ward race challenge — but just barely

Just one signature saved rookie Ald. Daniel La Spata from being kicked off the ballot in the race for 1st Ward Democratic committeeperson.

That’s the recommendation of a hearing officer overseeing a challenge filed against the 1st Ward alderman’s nominating petitions. The city electoral board must still weigh in.

A former candidate in the committeeperson race, Lauren Weber, challenged La Spata’s signatures. By the end of an initial examination of the alderman’s nominating papers, La Spata was only seven signatures above the required minimum of 1,032 for the race.

Hearing officer Edna Turkington reviewed evidence presented by both La Spata’s attorney, Ed Mullen, and Weber’s attorney, Frank Avila, and ruled another set of signatures invalid.

But even after that, La Spata was one signature above the minimum required to be on the ballot, Turkington concluded, leading to the recommendation that he remain on the March 17 primary ballot.

La Spata did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Mullen said “the hearing officer found him one signature up, and we will defend that before the board.”

Avila said the hearing officer’s recommendation doesn’t mean the alderman is officially on the ballot.

“We believe that’s an error, but that doesn’t mean he’s on the ballot,” Avila said. “We believe [the hearing officer’s] math is incorrect as well as her knowledge on the electoral board system, and it still has to go before the electoral board. We filed a timely Rule 20, the other side hasn’t, and that means we’re going to have another discussion and hearing on this to correct what was done.”

Jim Allen, a board spokesman, said the matter will likely be handled at the next meeting.

Weber’s challenge to La Spata was one of two challenges to the alderman’s nominating petitions in the committeeperson race.

The other was linked to a rival ward race candidate with ties to former Ald. Proco “Joe” Moreno, whom La Spata ousted from the aldermanic seat in February.

That petition challenge was filed by Veronica Ramirez, the wife of Jay Ramirez, a volunteer in Moreno’s ward organization now running for 1st Ward committeeperson. But La Spata is expected to survive that challenge after a records exam found the rookie alderman to be 104 signatures over the minimum.

Veronica Ramirez successfully challenged Weber’s petitions. That did not deter Weber from her challenge to La Spata, arguing she intends to run as a write-in candidate for the 1st Ward Democratic Party post.

In an email, Weber said “we strongly believe that Ald. La Spata will not be on the ballot, and that the hearing officer simply miscounted the number of signatures that were removed due to confusion.”