Ally to Dolton, Illinois Mayor Tiffany Henyard drops attempt to knock rival off ballot
DOLTON, Ill. (CBS) -- A Dolton mayoral candidate will be on the general election ballot next year—despite an attempt to block her candidacy by an ally of current Mayor Tiffany Henyard, who is running for reelection.
The objection to Casundra Hopson-Jordan's nominating petition was dropped in a hearing Monday, as drama persists and a federal probe remains active in the south Chicago suburb.
Earlier this month, a Democratic Party Caucus was held in Thornton Township, where Henyard is also township supervisor. The result of the caucus was that Henyard was denied a place on the ballot for reelection for that office—something she called "illegal" and is fighting.
But a Henyard ally, Demarkus Griggley, used nearly identical reasoning to try to remove Hopson-Jordan from the ballot as a challenger to Henyard in the separate Dolton mayoral race.
Hopson-Jordan earlier this month called it "very hypocritical."
"It's about democracy and it's about hypocrisy," said Pericles Abbasi, an attorney for Hopson-Jordan.
On Monday, the objection was dropped in the Dolton Village Hall by Griggley—to much less fanfare.
Henyard was not at the hearing Monday, and neither was her attorney. She also was not available for comment.
"I wasn't surprised," Hopson-Jordan said Monday.
Hopson-Jordan is now officially representing the "Rebuilding Dolton" party—and will be on the ballot in April.
"I am in the race," she said. "It's about the people. It's not about me. It's about the people."
Hopson-Jordan will be up against whoever wins the Democratic nomination—current Mayor Henyard or current Dolton Village Trustee Jason House.
Mayor Henyard is currently under federal investigation, and embroiled in several ongoing scandals for allegedly embezzling money and targeting political opponents.
Her office was investigated by former Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot—revealing the village's general fund had a negative balance of $3.65 million. In a *limited examination of Dolton's finances, Lightfoot found $40,000 spent on Amazon purchases in one day—all of which is unaccounted for.
Voters in Dolton here first head to the polls in February for the primary election. The mayoral general election is in April.