Joliet City Council member Guerrero sues county clerk to get on Joliet Township ballot

Cesar Guerrero will be in court Thursday to try to get his name on the ballot for Joliet Township supervisor.

Guerrero, the Democratic nominee in the April 1 election, was kept off the ballot after his name appeared on a State Board of Elections list of candidates forfeiting a spot on the ballot because of unpaid fines on campaign violations.

A lawsuit filed Friday contends that Guerrero and the Joliet Township Democratic Party have taken the legal steps required to get him back on the ballot.

But Will County Clerk Annette Parker has refused to put Guerrero on the ballot and has not provided him or the township party with the reasons for keeping him off, according to the lawsuit.

“Taking this to court was our last option, and now we let the judiciary decide,” Guerrero said as he left a Joliet City Council meeting Tuesday.

Guerrero is a Joliet council member and had filed for reelection in April. Guerrero’s candidacy for City Council also was threatened by a challenge to his nominating petitions.

Before the hearing on his petitions were completed, Guerrero dropped out of the council race to pursue the township supervisor position.

The township party nominated Guerrero for supervisor Dec. 3 over incumbent Supervisor Alicia Morales, who has since filed to run as a write-in candidate.

The state ballot forfeiture list came out Jan. 23. Guerrero was on it because he owed a fine of $6,550 for not filing regular reports on campaign contributions.

Guerrero since then has paid the fine.

His lawsuit outlines steps taken by the party to name Guerrero to fill the ballot vacancy once they were notified he had been removed.

The lawsuit contends that the party and Guerrero took action in the time required by state law to put him back on the ballot.

Joliet Township Clerk Estefany Bonilla also is named as a defendant in the lawsuit.

Parker in the past has said her office would not put Guerrero on the ballot without a court order.

“At this point, I am following the law, and it’s under the advise of James Glasgow, the Will County state’s attorney,” Parker said Wednesday. “My purpose is not to remove anyone or keep anyone off the ballot. My purpose is to follow the election law.”

Parker said her office will be represented in court by the state’s attorney’s office.

Guerrero is represented by the Evergreen Park law firm Odelson, Murphey, Frazier and McGrath Ltd., the same firm that advised the Joliet election board when it heard the challenge to Guerrero’s nominating petitions for City Council.

Democrats in Lockport Township took the same actions as those in Joliet Township to try to keep Kevin “Kollins” Hedemark on the ballot after he appeared on the forfeiture list for an unpaid $100 fine.

Hedemark, nominated by Democrats to run for highway commissioner against Republican James Louch Jr., who also is Parker’s brother, has not filed a lawsuit.

But Democratic consultant Jack Londrigan on Wednesday suggested the same ruling would apply to both cases.

“The courts are going to decide on Cesar’s case,” Londrigan said. “Whatever decision they render, Kevin followed the exact same procedure.”