A political rival of Cook County Sheriff Tom Dart was tossed off the June Democratic primary ballot Wednesday over a controversial new law that called the qualifications of the former high-ranking sheriff’s official into question.
The removal of Carmen Navarro Gercone from the ballot leaves Chicago police office Noland Rivera as incumbent Dart’s sole remaining primary opponent, though Navarro Gercone vows to appeal her case to the courts. The county’s electoral board voted 2-1 Wednesday to uphold an objection to her candidacy by Dart’s campaign.
Navarro Gercone rose to the rank of first assistant executive director in the sheriff’s office under Dart, overseeing 1,300 employees in courthouse security, evictions and other operations. Now a top official in the Cook County circuit court clerk’s office, she previously served as a sergeant, a lieutenant and an assistant chief at the sheriff’s office.
But she has never worked as a certified police officer, as defined in a little-known provision in Illinois’ sweeping criminal justice reform legislation that provided Dart’s campaign with room to challenge her qualifications and attempt to knock her off the ballot.
0 Comments