'He is a coward': Henyard rips Harris as Thornton Township caucus dispute sparks legal battle

COOK COUNTY - A contentious Democratic caucus in Thornton Township on Tuesday night has raised questions about its fairness and could prevent Dolton Mayor Tiffany Henyard from running for township supervisor next year.

Henyard and her attorney, Max Solomon, accused caucus organizers of targeting her with restrictive rules. One key rule stated that supervisor candidates couldn’t already appear on the ballot for another office, which applies to Henyard, who is running for reelection as Dolton's mayor. Solomon claimed they weren’t provided with the rules until the day of the caucus.

"Napoleon Harris is a coward. He is a coward for not allowing the people to be heard," Henyard said, referring to State Senator Napoleon Harris, who led the caucus and secured the Democratic nomination for supervisor.

Harris’ attorney, Burton Odelson, argued that the rules were available in advance.

"They could have asked for the rules because we posted the notice on the door of the Democratic Party headquarters, Senator Harris' headquarters, saying you can get the rules by emailing me. Members of his Democratic executive committee had the rules," said Odelson.

The caucus itself lasted only seven minutes. It was slated to start at 7 p.m., but Harris' supporters were pre-registered and allowed inside the auditorium earlier.

Election attorney Keri-Lyn Krafthefer reviewed the caucus process and raised concerns about violations.

"I have reviewed the caucus rules that they employed yesterday, and I know that they weren't followed, because one of them requires everybody who's there, who's voting to sign in and sign an affidavit attesting that they're qualified under the rules set forth by the election code and also by the caucus. I know there were people present there that didn't sign those affidavits who voted anyway. So that shows me there's a flaw. I know there were candidates for other offices who are not members of the Democratic Party, who are running in this election as independent candidates for office in Thornton Township. I heard they were present and participating. So what it sounds like is this was a little bit of a free for all," Krafthefer said.

She added, "There's a requirement in the election code that says people running for office have to have a complete slate. In some instances, however, the federal court ruled in a case involving the Libertarian Party that that's too restrictive of a rule and we can't use it in."

Henyard has stated she plans to challenge the caucus outcome in court.