Emanuel challenging Willie Wilson petition signatures, including his own

CHICAGO (WLS) -- The ballot battle between Mayor Rahm Emanuel and challenger Willie Wilson heated up again Friday. Emanuel is challenging signatures on Wilson's candidate petitions, including Wilson's own signature.

Of all the mayor's possible ballot challengers, none has drawn as much attention from the incumbent Wilson and as Emanuel tries to disqualify him, the wealthy businessman won't go away.

The Wilson team huddled in the basement at election board headquarters with evidence they say that proves Mayor Emanuel is not playing fair.

"This is a sad day if we let people get away with things like this here," Wilson said.

The mayor's campaign, which claims Wilson does not have 12,500 valid signatures to qualify for the February 24 ballot is challenging entire pages of Wilson nominating petitions.

"They actually challenged the signature of Willie Wilson himself at his address where he lives," said Wilson's attorney, Frank Avila.

"They went straight down the line and challenged every single name," Wilson campaign manager Rickey Hendon said. "That's called a 'shotgun' and it's against electoral rules."

The mayor, who helped open a microbrewery in the South Loop Friday morning, stood by his campaign's effort to knock Wilson off the ballot.

"I've been challenged in both elections," Emanuel said. "Everybody gets one way or another challenged because you have to meet the threshold that the board of elections sets."

"He should be busy over there trying to take care of the crime and open up those doggone 50 schools," said Wilson.

The southern-born, multi-millionaire businessman with a 7th grade education who mopped floors at a fast food restaurant now owns a $60 million a year medical supply company.

His campaign staff alleges that Emanuel wants Wilson off the ballot to suppress the African-American vote.

"You would think that in this era nobody would be challenging the right to vote of a citizen," Wilson said.

"The Rahm Emanuel campaign and these objectors have not met the 'threshold' that he likes to talk about, the threshold of a proper objection," said Avila.

"The real threshold we all have to meet is what the voters expect of us which is to have the toughness and determination and ideas for Chicago's future," Emanuel said.

The next election board hearing in the Wilson case is scheduled for Monday.

Wilson's people are confident their candidate will be on the ballot, the mayor's campaign says otherwise. Both sides are spending thousands in the fight.