Rahm Emanuel Cannot Be Mayor of Chicago

Rahm Emanuel is officially off the ballot for the Chicago mayoral race. The former White House Chief of Staff cannot run for mayor of Chicago as he had planned. What is in store next for Rahm Emanuel?

The Chicago Board of Elections and a Cook County judge had agreed with Emanuel that he should be on the ballot, but the State Supreme Court of Illinois disagreed. The opponents of the former White House Chief of Staff said he had returned too late back to Chicago and should not be allowed to run. The opponents cited residency laws as the reason.

Emanuel had left the city of Chicago to serve as President Obama's Chief of Staff for two years, but returned to the city last fall. He had maintained a home there while living in Washington DC and employed at the White House.

Emanuel is not the only political figure who was in a high-level position that left to bid for another political position. However, he is the most recent one.

Hilary Clinton took on the role of the United States Secretary of State on Nov. 21, 2008, and President Obama went ahead and formally announced that decision on Dec. 1, 2008. Clinton then left her position in the Senate and looked forward to her new position as Secretary of State. Even though Clinton got another high-profile position within the government, it was not a position that she wanted. She had her eyes set on winning the 2008 presidential election, but the American public gave the nod to Barak Obama.

Clinton settled into her role as Secretary of the State and some people consider this move as a stepping-stone for the 2012 election.

Sarah Palin was planning to leave her position as the governor of Alaska to step in as the vice president of the United States in the 2008 election on the McCain ticket. However, the American public chose Obama rather than McCain so Palin stayed in her position as governor. She did leave that office in 2009 amid ethics complains about her running for vice president. Official reports from Palin said she felt that the investigations affected her office in the current capacity. She did not feel that she could effectively make decisions in that role, so she resigned with 18 months left in her term.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sarah_Palin

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hillary_clinton

http://thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/01/24/court-says-rahm-emanuel-not-eligible-to-run-for-mayor/

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/01/24/rahm-emanuel-mayor-chicago_n_813126.html

http://patterico.com/2011/01/24/breaking-rahm-emanuel-is-off-the-mayoral-ballot/