Emanuel awaits board’s decision on residency challenge in mayor’s race

Deliberations have started in Rahm Emanuel’s mayoral ballot challenge hearing and are expected to conclude next week. 

That’s when the former White House chief of staff will learn whether he overcame the objections to his eligibility for the Feb. 22 mayoral primary ballot. 

At issue is whether Emanuel meets the one-year residency requirement to appear on the ballot. 

Emanuel’s attorney, Kevin Forde, told the Chicago Board of Election officials that the former congressman always intended to return to the city after his service in the White House. 

When Emanuel was appointed by President Obama, “did he leave with the intention of abandoning his rights and status as a resident of Chicago?” Forde asked rhetorically. The answer is no, he said, according to The Chicago Tribune.

Emanuel’s argument has partly hinged on family keepsakes he said were left behind in his home, which was rented out. But his tenants claimed they never saw the items in question, which prompted Emanuel’s lawyers on Thursday to photograph a number of boxes that were stored in the family’s Ravenswood home, according to NBC Chicago.

Burt Odelson, lead attorney for the objectors, discounted the “physical presence” Emanuel left in the city.

“There can be no doubt as to the lack of the physical presence of the candidate,” he told elections officials in his closing argument.