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Who will be the next mayor of Markham? That's up for debate, with certification deadline Tuesday

By Fox 32 Digital Team
Published  April 25, 2021 9:39pm CDT
Markham
FOX 32 Chicago

Question of who’s going to be the next mayor of Markham remains in dispute

The question of who is going to be the next mayor of Markham, Illinois, remains in dispute just a couple days before the certification deadline.

There is a still a question in the south suburbs as to who will be the next mayor of Markham.

Mayor Roger Agpawa won re-election with over 80 percent of the vote. But an Illinois appellate court has ruled he is not eligible to hold state office, because of a 1999 mail fraud conviction. The ruling overturns earlier decisions by a lower court and the local election board. The issue first came up when he ran in 2017.

The Markham mayoral election remains uncertified by the county clerk. The deadline to do so is Tuesday.

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On Sunday, Agpawa's supporters turned out for a rally, demanding he be allowed to take the oath of office for a second time on May 6.

"Restorative justice in all forms is important," he said Sunday "It's a national issue. It's not a Markham issue, it's not a Roger Agpawa issue."

Earlier this spring, Agpawa filed a police report after vandals threw his campaign signs in a dumpster, spray painted "black face" on one of them and left what is believed to be human feces in front of the door of his re-election campaign headquarters.

A counter protest was held Sunday in support of Markham Police officer Kenneth Mudlow, who claims his name was illegally taken off the ballot.