Challenger to Cook County Sheriff Tom Dart knocked off the primary ballot for good; lengthy fight ends at Illinois Supreme Court
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The Democratic primary for Cook County sheriff will officially be a two-man contest this month after challenger Carmen Navarro Gercone’s last hope for getting back on the ballot was dashed.
The Illinois Supreme Court declined Monday to hear Navarro Gercone’s appeal in a case that started with incumbent Sheriff Tom Dart challenging her candidacy under a controversial new state law that requires all sheriff contenders to be certified law enforcement officers.
It was the final twist in a high-profile saga that saw Navarro Gercone, a former top aide to Dart who now works for the Circuit Court clerk’s office, get tossed from the ballot, reinstated and then removed once more.
Dart will now oppose Chicago police Sgt. Noland Rivera in the June 28 primary; the winner will face Libertarian candidate and sheriff’s office Sgt. Brad Sandefur in November.
When asked to weigh in on the effective end of her campaign, an audibly frustrated Navarro Gercone castigated the new requirement for sheriff candidates, tucked into the sweeping criminal justice reform bill signed by Gov. J.B. Pritzker last year.
“It still leaves me with one pressing question: What did this do for criminal justice reform?” Navarro Gercone said in a phone interview. “All this did for criminal justice reform was hold back women of color. That was it. Didn’t do anything else. Leaving me on the ballot was not a threat to public safety. Not having this provision in there wasn’t a threat to public safety. I don’t understand.”
A spokesman for Dart was not immediately available for comment, but the longtime sheriff has repeatedly maintained he knew nothing about the law until it passed, and that he felt he had to use it against his rival because the provision is legally binding.
“I certainly can’t walk around picking what laws we follow and what laws we don’t follow,” Dart told the Tribune last week.
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That was right after an appellate court ruled Navarro Gercone was ineligible to run for sheriff because she failed to obtain the law enforcement certification or complete the equivalent training with another state or the federal government. The final nail in the coffin from the state Supreme Court came about two weeks after early voting already began, as notices have been placed at early and future voting sites informing voters that Navarro Gercone has been removed as a candidate.
Another Democratic candidate, Dolton police Officer LaTonya Ruffin, met the same fate after being disqualified by a state appellate court over a Dart campaign objection to her filing to run under a last name different from that of her voter registration.
While she was never a sworn police officer, Navarro Gercone had training as a corrections officer and was a sergeant, a lieutenant and an assistant chief at the sheriff’s office. Dart, Cook County’s sheriff for 16 years, was once a prosecutor but was never a sworn police officer. While his status is not an issue because he is grandfathered in under the new law, Dart received a law enforcement certification late last year, according to state records.
“I knew from the beginning it was me he was afraid of because I would force him to run on his record,” Navarro Gercone said. “No one else can force him to do that.”
Dart initially challenged Navarro Gercone’s candidacy with the Cook County Electoral Board, which cited the Illinois Law Enforcement Training and Standards Board’s decision in February to deny a request to either certify her as a law enforcement officer or allow her a waiver. That was the first time she was knocked off the ballot.
Then a Cook County Circuit Court judge allowed Navarro Gercone back on the ballot and blasted the Electoral Board’s decision as “a clear dereliction of duty.” The judge said the electoral body should never have deferred its power to the state training board.
That decision was appealed, and the appellate court decided it is lawful for county election officials to look to the training board for guidance, as state law gives the training board the power of law enforcement certification. Navarro Gercone petitioned the Illinois Supreme Court for reconsideration, but the highest court in the state opted not to hear the case on Monday.
Navarro Gercone declined to make an endorsement Monday between Dart and Rivera, though she said she believes the sitting sheriff will likely win again. She closed her remarks by noting that “we made it from October to June 13. The (Illinois) Supreme Court had to tell me to stop, not the party and not Tom Dart.”
