Board votes to remove Will County Board member’s name from ballot

An electoral board voted Monday to remove the name of longtime Will County Board member Herbert Brooks Jr. from the 2022 primary election ballot.

Brooks, D-Joliet, has been a member of the County Board since 2008 and previously served as speaker. He aimed to run for reelection in a new district that encompasses much of Joliet.

The decision to deny Brooks a spot on the ballot came after the electoral board heard two objections to his petition. One of the objectors was Joliet resident Jazmin Martinez, who is running in the Democratic primary to represent Brooks’ district along with Janet Diaz and incumbent Denise Winfrey.

Gabriella Mejia of Joliet filed the other objection to Brooks’ petition.

Martinez and Mejia argued several of the 91 signatures Brooks collected were either from individuals who were not registered to vote at the address they listed on the petition or who did not live in his district. Brooks needed at least 81 valid signatures to gain access to the ballot.

The electoral board, comprised of Will County Clerk Lauren Staley Ferry, Will County Circuit Clerk Andrea Lynn Chasteen and Mary Tatroe, the civil division chief at the Will County State’s Attorney’s Office, went over each signature being challenged. The board ultimately voted that 22 of the signatures Brooks collected were invalid, which put him below the required amount.

After the decision, Brooks said he felt some of the signatures on his petition were “unfairly removed.” Brooks explained that while he knew many of the signees personally, some of them might have moved or gotten married and had a name change after registering to vote. That would explain why the addresses some signees wrote on the petition were different from their voter registration.

Candidates who are booted from the ballot by the electoral board have the opportunity to appeal the decision to the Will County Circuit Court.

Brooks said he did not know whether he would appeal, but he was “going to take a look at what my rights are.” He added that if there were an opportunity to successfully appeal, he would do so.

Another notable objection proved successful Monday.

The same electoral board voted to keep Gloria Ledesma’s name off the ballot for precinct committeewoman in Joliet District 14. She is the wife of former Joliet City Councilman Alex Ledesma.

The objector, Trey Martin, through his attorney Robert Wisniewski, pointed to multiple signatures appearing to be come from the same person. State law dictates an individual needs to sign their own name on a candidate’s petition.

The petition Martin challenged was circulated by Alicia Morales, the sitting Joliet Township clerk. Morales testified that she saw each individual on the petition she circulated sign their own name.

Wisniewski presented multiple documents that he said showed signatures from the signees that appeared different from the ones they supposedly wrote on Ledesma’s petition.

For instance, the board examined a set of four signatures from individuals listed at the same address, which Wisniewski argued looked as if they were written by the same person. After reviewing them, Tatroe agreed and said it “strains credibility” to say they were all signed by different individuals.

Wisniewski also challenged the signature from Ledesma’s husband who signed the petition as “Alejandro,” although he was registered to vote at their address as “Alex.” Both Ledesma and her attorney, Joel Brown, said the signature was from the same person. Ledesma said her husband goes by both names.

Tatroe still said she found too many differences not to strike the signature. She added it was unusual for Alex Ledesma to have signed his full name, but be registered to vote by a shorter name.

The electoral board voted to strike enough signatures to put Ledesma below the seven required to be placed on the ballot.

Ledesma declined comment on the board’s decision.