{"id":965412,"date":"2026-07-28T21:51:17","date_gmt":"2026-07-28T21:51:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/965412\/"},"modified":"2026-07-28T21:51:17","modified_gmt":"2026-07-28T21:51:17","slug":"cps-school-board-race-objections-leave-five-seats-uncontested","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/965412\/","title":{"rendered":"CPS school board race objections leave five seats uncontested"},"content":{"rendered":"

Five of 21 school board seats will be uncontested on November\u2019s ballot after the Chicago Board of Elections voted Tuesday to remove another candidate.<\/p>\n

District 10A candidate Tameka Walton was removed from the ballot at Tuesday\u2019s meeting. However, she will still challenge incumbent Che \u201cRhymefest\u201d Smith as a write-in candidate endorsed by the Chicago Teachers Union.<\/p>\n

To date, objection challenges have kicked six candidates off the ballot. Candidates running in Districts 9A and 10A on the South Side, Districts 8A and 8B on the Southwest Side, and District 4B on the North Side have been removed from the ballot since June, leaving the races technically uncontested.<\/p>\n

Walton joins five other candidates<\/a> booted from the ballot following the weekslong, expensive objections proces<\/a>s. Objectors, often from an opposing campaign, contest a candidate\u2019s nominating papers. The process typically sees the candidate and the objector hiring attorneys to represent them during hearings and reviews of petition signatures.<\/p>\n

The Board of Elections officers have been hearing cases and reviewing hearing officers\u2019 recommendations since June.<\/p>\n

Some candidates were able to remain on the ballot despite objections and appeals attempting their removal, including appointed incumbent Norma Rios Sierra, who is running for reelection in District 3A on the Northwest Side against Peter Gonzales. Candidate Brenda Lee Anderson also remains and will face appointed incumbent Anusha Thotakura and Isaiah White for the North Side\u2019s District 6A seat.<\/p>\n

Anderson sat in the crowded boardroom Tuesday and watched as her case was deliberated for a second time, recording with a smartphone as lawyers argued for and against her sitting on the ballot. As the board voted to validate her nomination papers, Anderson gave a fist pump behind her phone.<\/p>\n

Speaking to reporters after the vote, Anderson shared that the objection process has been \u201cfrustrating\u201d as a first-time candidate, adding, \u201cthis is exhausting,\u201d especially with her nominating papers being challenged repeatedly.<\/p>\n

For her, the money spent on trying to remove her from the ballot would be better put toward addressing issues in the city. While there has been a call for ballot access, the process has run contrary to that idea, she said.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat I\u2019m asking for is that folks allow me to run this race, and that they\u2019re not wasting resources and money trying to kick me off the ballot, but at the same time screaming ballot access,\u201d Anderson said. \u201cThat is progressive dystopia.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"FacingFacing objections to her candidacy for the Chicago Board of Education, Brenda Lee Anderson, running in District 6A, argues with Attorney Ed Mullen as several school board candidates whose ballot petitions were challenged are heard by election judges, July 28, 2026. (Antonio Perez\/Chicago Tribune)<\/p>\n

She\u2019s been through worse experiences in her life, but that does not take away from the emotional impact the objections process has had on her, Anderson added. Still, she feels she represents a diverse demographic that the board should reflect, she said.<\/p>\n

\u201cI have direct experiences that mirror CPS students,\u201d Anderson said. \u201cI went to charter school. My schools were closed down. My schools were consolidated. I know what it looks like to not be notified that your school is about to close down, and I\u2019ve had to navigate that. I\u2019m a first-generation high school student and I have a whole Ph.D. now. That has not been easy.\u201d<\/p>\n

The November election will mark the first time in the city\u2019s history that the 21-member school board will be fully elected by voters. Initially, 51 candidates filed to run, leaving 45 in the race. The elections board will finalize the ballot on Aug. 27.<\/p>\n

Kate Armanini contributed to this report.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Five of 21 school board seats will be uncontested on November\u2019s ballot after the Chicago Board of Elections…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":965413,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[5124],"tags":[387904,9642,960,36515,16742,9950,5386,1818,94788],"class_list":["post-965412","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-chicago","tag-ballot-challenge","tag-campaigns","tag-chicago","tag-chicago-board-of-education","tag-chicago-public-schools","tag-general-election","tag-il","tag-illinois","tag-school-districts"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/116999822605692870","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/965412","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=965412"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/965412\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/965413"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=965412"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=965412"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=965412"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}