Maksym v. Board of Election Commissioners of the City of Chicago

Summary

The Illinois Supreme Court reviewed whether Rahm Emanuel satisfied the statutory one-year residency requirement for candidacy for mayor of Chicago. The court held that established Illinois residency principles governed, including that residence is lost only through a combination of intent and acts demonstrating abandonment. It reversed the appellate court and upheld the determination that Emanuel remained a Chicago resident for purposes of eligibility.

Holdings

1. For purposes of section 3.1-10-5(a) of the Illinois Municipal Code, 'resided in' has the established Illinois meaning of residence. Establishing residence requires physical presence and an intent to remain as a permanent home; after residence is established, the relevant inquiry is abandonment, not continued physical presence. Residence continues presumptively until the contestant proves abandonment.
2. Emanuel did not abandon his established Chicago residence. His temporary service in Washington, D.C., his continued Chicago ties, his stated intent to return, and the circumstances of the leases supported the Board's finding that he remained a Chicago resident for purposes of the mayoral candidacy.

Questions Presented

1. What does the phrase 'has resided in the municipality at least one year next preceding the election' mean under section 3.1-10-5(a) of the Illinois Municipal Code?
2. Whether a candidate loses an established Chicago residence by temporarily relocating to Washington, D.C., leasing the Chicago home to another family, and serving as the President's Chief of Staff.
3. Whether the Board's factual findings were against the manifest weight of the evidence or its conclusion was clearly erroneous.

Disposition

reversed