Challenger alleges fraud, dirty tricks by alderman connected to Speaker Mike Madigan

CHICAGO (WLS) -- Allegations of fraud are swirling around an aldermanic race closely connected to Illinois House Speaker Mike Madigan, in which 13th Ward Ald. Marty Quinn is attempting to get his only challenger knocked off the ballot.

Nineteen-year-old David Krupa, a DePaul University freshman, is making his first foray into politics against the machine. He believes supporters of Ald. Quinn, a Madigan lieutenant, have been using strong-arm tactics and dirty tricks to try and knock him off the ballot.

"We certainly need to show the machine that they can't just bully people around anymore," Krupa said.

To run for alderman you need 473 petition signatures. Krupa collected 1,703, but said before he even turned them in, Quinn supporters turned in affidavits from 2,796 people who said they wanted to revoke their signatures for Krupa.

"I certainly believe there's election fraud committed, yes," he said.

"There are a lot of ways to be tough campaigner, there are a lot of ways to fight hard within the rules, but when you start filing false oaths, false affidavits, that crossed the line," said Michael Dorf, Krupa's attorney.

During an election board hearing Monday, Krupa and his attorney said only 187 of the people who signed a revocation affidavit actually signed his nominating petitions, meaning 2,600 were fraudulent.

"They had to have been told that it was for something it wasn't for, or coerced into doing it somehow, and we actually had a lot of people who messaged me and said that was the case they only signed because it was brought to them three times a day for a week," Krupa said

Quinn's attorney Michael Kasper declined to comment. Quinn declined an interview request and later ducked out of a City Council committee meeting avoiding reporters.

"If we get knocked off the ballot because of the election fraud that's happened here, we are 100 percent filing a federal lawsuit against Michael Madigan, Marty Quinn and every one of their precinct captains," Krupa said.

Krupa's attorney asked the election board to throw out Quinn's petition challenge. They are also asking that this case be referred to the State's Attorney's Office for potential prosecution because filing a false affidavit is a felony under the election code.