Chicago mayoral election: Dorothy Brown remains in race for now

CHICAGO (WLS) -- Chicago mayoral candidate Dorothy Brown gets to stay in the race for now.

The Chicago Board of Elections held a hearing Friday on the petition challenge against Brown from opponents Willie Wilson and Toni Preckwinkle.

Brown arrived for the hearing hopeful but facing an uphill battle to make it on the Feb. 26 ballot: A preliminary report from the challenge presented by Preckwinkle put Brown 1,173 signatures short of the 12,500 needed to get on the ballot. Brown had alleged there was fraud in the process and sought to have Preckwinkle's challenge thrown out.

The Chicago Board of Elections did not decide the case Friday, allowing Brown to stay alive for the time being.

"We'll continue to campaign as we have been. We'll continue to urge our supporters to work with us so we'll be campaigning and going to forums and continuing to convince the people of Chicago that it's time for change," Brown said.

Preckwinkle previously lost challenges against several other women of color running in the race, including Susana Mendoza.

"She tried to silence me: Not going to happen. She tried to silence Lori Lightfoot, she lost that one too. If she silences Dorothy Brown, I just say shame on her," Mendoza said.

Two other mayoral candidates, Lashawn Ford and Neal Sales-Griffin, also have their fates hanging in the balance. Ford should find out a final decision on his candidacy on Saturday. Sales-Griffin has a week to get affidavits to validate enough signatures to get on the ballot. He's currently 2,400 short.