Stroger, challenger Dorothy Brown face off over petitions

Cook County Board President Todd Stroger and challenger Dorothy Brown, swapped accusations over their candidacy petitions today.

Brown, clerk of the circuit court and one of three challengers to Stroger in February's Democratic primary, formally challenged Stroger's petitions Monday. Stroger campaign manager Vince Williams fired back today, drawing attention to a challenge to Brown's petitions filed by "an individual resident" and accusing Brown's campaign of using state workers to circulate her petitions.

Williams called Brown's challenge a "desperate attempt to take attention away from allegations of fraud in which her signatures were gathered."

Brown acknowledged Monday that Hassan Muhammad had left his post as her campaign field director amid charges that he had organized state workers through the Earnfare program to circulate petitions on state time. Yet, she said her submitted petitions had undergone an internal review, adding, "We stand by the integrity of our signatures."

In turn, Brown charged, "We have deep reservations about the petitions filed by President Todd Stroger," citing signatures by unregistered voters and similar issues.

"The integrity of the electoral process should never be compromised under any circumstances," Williams replied. "Our campaign filed nearly three times the required amount of signatures to be placed on the ballot."

With Brown having filed twice that amount, it's unlikely even contested petitions would be enough to knock either off the ballot. Cook County Clerk David Orr's office will rule on the challenges with hearings to be scheduled next week.

Chicago Hyde Park Alderman Toni Preckwinkle and Metropolitan Water Reclamation District President Terrence O'Brien, the other two candidates in the primary, both remain unchallenged.

The challenge to Brown, filed by Midlothian resident Dena Hall-Townsend, cited "a pattern of fraud and false swearing" and an "utter and contemptuous disregard for the mandatory provisions of the Election Code." Specifically, it charged Brown's campaign with "knowingly gathering of signatures by state employees on state time" as "an illegal circulation of a candidate's petitions and all petitions obtained through this activity should be stricken."

Hall-Townsend turns up on an Internet list of county employees compiled by the office of Riverside Republican Commissioner Tony Peraica, but Williams insisted there was no connection with Stroger's campaign.