Rahm Emanuel held a hastily arranged press conference Monday at The Berghoff to react to news that he had been bounced of the ballot for mayor by the Illinois Appellate Court.
Emanuel appeared confident that the Supreme Court would rule in his favor af the an Illinois Appellate Court ruled 2-1 that he should be removed from the ballot.
"I have no doubt we will prevail in this matter," Emanuel said. "It's just one turn in the road."
The erstwhile candidate said the appellate court issued an opinion while the Chicago Board of Elections, and hearing officer Joseph Morris made a decision, and that it's incumbent upon them to push the Supreme Court for a hearing.
"As I've said from the beginning, I was just elected to congress two years ago," Emanuel said. "I own a home here, I vote from here, I pay taxes here. The Board of Elections agreed with that. Joseph Morris agreed with that, and Judge Ballard agreed with that.
When the president of the United States asks you to serve your country, you do that."
When asked if political forces were at work in bouncing him from the ballot, Emanuel didn't immediately answer, but he said he believes the Supreme Court will take the matter on.
UPDATE: late Monday evening lawyers for Emanuel filed with the Illinois Supreme Court -- requesting to stay the decision and order the board to keep Rahm Emanuel's name on the ballots, and expedite the appeal.
They'll base their appeal on that dissenting opinion of Judge Bertina Lampkin who said:
Politics
"It is patently clear that the majority fails to even attempt to define its newly discovered standard because it is a figment of the majority's imagination. How many days may a person stay away from his home before the majority would decide he no longer "actually resides" in it? Would the majority have us pick a number out of a hat? A standard which cannot be defined cannot be applied. ...
... Finally, the majority's decision certainly "involves a question of such importance that it should be decided by the Supreme Court."
