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# Inside the Money and Petition Challenges Shaping West Side School Board Races
- URL: https://www.15west.org/featured/inside-the-money-and-petition-challenges-shaping-west-side-school-board-races/
- Published: 2026-09-16T23:00:32.000Z
- Updated: 2026-09-16T23:12:59.000Z
- Description: Campaign finance records and electoral board proceedings reveal recurring political committees, donors, and attorneys across several West Side school board races, offering a closer look at the relationships surrounding this year’s petition challenges.
- Author: Nel Afenya
- Tags: Deep Dive, Chicago Board of Education, Education

Over the summer, candidates running for Chicago School Board in three West Side districts 5A, 5B, and 6A faced objections to their nominations that could have kept them off the November ballot. 

15 West examined challenges involving Aaron “Jitu” Brown of District 5A, Michilla “Kyla” Blaise of District 5B, and Brenda Lee Anderson and Anusha Thotakura of District 6A. All four were later cleared by the Chicago Board of Election Commissioners. Brown, Blaise, and Thotakura are endorsed by the [Chicago Teachers Union](https://www.ctulocal1.org/?ref=15west.org) (CTU). 

Candidates for district school board seats [must collect 500-1,500 signatures from voters in their district](https://www.chalkbeat.org/chicago/2026/05/18/chicago-school-board-elections-candidate-filing/?ref=15west.org).

In 2026, [28 of the 51 candidates](https://cboeprod.blob.core.usgovcloudapi.net/prod/2026-06/Candidate%20Objection%20List%20by%20Case%20Number.pdf?ref=15west.org) who filed to run for Chicago’s school board seats faced petition objections. 

#### Wait, what is a petition objection?

  
To get on the ballot, candidates submit petitions with signatures from eligible voters. A petition objection is a formal challenge arguing that some of those signatures, or another part of the candidate’s paperwork, do not meet election requirements.

The electoral board reviews the objection. If enough signatures are ruled invalid and the candidate falls below the required number, the candidate can be removed from the ballot.

### **Who was challenged on the West Side?**

In District 5A, Brown and Kernetha Jones faced objections while LaPamela Williams did not. Brown survived his challenge. Jones was ultimately removed from the ballot after the electoral board upheld objections to her nominating papers. Williams said she “had no involvement in or prior knowledge of any petition objections against other candidates in District 5A.” 

*Brown did not respond to a request for comment.*

In District 5B, Blaise faced an objection while Anthony Hargrove did not. 

Hargrove said, “I had no involvement in the petition challenges against any candidates, nor was I involved in organizing, directing, or financing any such challenges.”

Blaise, who ultimately survived her challenge, said she was not surprised by the petition challenge but by “the lengths they would go to, to attempt to knock me off the ballot.” 

She alleged that someone was paid to go to a senior building and ask seniors who had signed her petition sheets to sign affidavits affirming that they never signed them. 

In District 6A, both Anderson and Thotakura faced objections and were ultimately cleared by the electoral board. Their opponent Isaiah White was not challenged.

White said, “Neither I nor my campaign was involved in any of the challenges lodged against the other two candidates.” 

Anderson, who faced two separate objections, told 15 West that defending their candidacy was time-consuming and expensive. They said they spent about four days reviewing more than 1,600 signature lines as part of one challenge and received quotes ranging from $5,000 to $10,000 to retain an attorney before CTU offered their legal assistance.

“It was emotionally exhausting,” Anderson said.

They said one of the challenges remained unresolved for more than a month, affecting their ability to campaign and costing them potential endorsements while their ballot status remained uncertain.

*Thotakura did not respond to a request for comment.*

The candidates’ statements describe what they say they knew, or did not know, about the objections. They do not establish who organized or financed them.

To look for connections among the cases, 15 West reviewed electoral board records and campaign finance filings involving the candidates, objectors, attorneys, and political committees active in the races.

### **One attorney. Five challenges.**

A review of electoral board proceedings shows one attorney appearing repeatedly for objectors in the five cases examined by 15 West. 

[Michael J. Kasper](https://kasperholmesdring.com/michael-kasper/?ref=15west.org) represented objectors in challenges involving Brown, Blaise, Jones, Anderson and Thotakura.

Kasper is an Illinois election lawyer and registered lobbyist. Illinois Secretary of State records show that Common Ground Collective NFP was listed as a client of Kasper, Holmes & Dring when the firm filed its 2026 annual lobbying registration on Jan. 12\. Kasper is registered as an exclusive lobbyist with the firm.

The lobbying relationship predates this summer’s petition challenges, but the registration does not show that Common Ground retained the firm for election or petition-challenge work.

*Kasper did not respond to 15 West’s request for comment by publication time.*

Kasper’s involvement in Chicago school board petition challenges also predates the 2026 election. He represented the objector who challenged Anthony Hargrove’s school board candidacy in 2024\. Hargrove was ultimately removed from the ballot that year.

### **Who funded the campaigns?**

Several political organizations and committees recur in the campaign-finance records reviewed by 15 West, including [Common Ground Collective](https://cgcollective.org/?ref=15west.org), Urban Center and INCS Action. The organizations are legally distinct, and some operate more than one type of political committee.

Illinois election records list both Common Ground Collective PAC, which can contribute directly to candidates subject to campaign-finance rules, and Common Ground Collective IEC, an independent-expenditure committee. Urban Center PAC and INCS Action PAC are also registered political action committees.

Direct contributions, in-kind support, and independent expenditures are different forms of political spending that reflect different relationships between committees and candidates.

Campaign finance filings show Williams received both cash and in-kind support from political organizations active in the school board races.

Common Ground Collective PAC reported a [$1,500](https://www.elections.il.gov/CampaignDisclosure/A1List.aspx?FiledDocID=s42tMb0PG013BmMibLab1w%3d%3d&ContributionType=wOGh3QTPfKqV2YWjeRmjTeStk426RfVK&Archived=Gl5sibpnFrQ%3d&ref=15west.org) transfer to Williams’s campaign on Aug. 25 and a [$1,287](https://www.elections.il.gov/CampaignDisclosure/A1List.aspx?FiledDocID=s42tMb0PG013BmMibLab1w%3d%3d&ContributionType=wOGh3QTPfKqV2YWjeRmjTeStk426RfVK&Archived=Gl5sibpnFrQ%3d&ref=15west.org) in-kind contribution on July 2 described as “Petition Consulting.” INCS Action reported a [$1,287.29](https://www.elections.il.gov/CampaignDisclosure/A1List.aspx?FiledDocID=s42tMb0PG013BmMibLab1w%3d%3d&ContributionType=wOGh3QTPfKqV2YWjeRmjTeStk426RfVK&Archived=Gl5sibpnFrQ%3d&ref=15west.org) in-kind contribution on July 6 for “Signature Verification, Campaign Support and Consulting Services.” Both in-kind contributions list On the Ballot, LLC as the vendor.

Urban Center PAC reported a [$1,000](https://www.elections.il.gov/CampaignDisclosure/A1List.aspx?FiledDocID=s42tMb0PG013BmMibLab1w%3d%3d&ContributionType=wOGh3QTPfKqV2YWjeRmjTeStk426RfVK&Archived=Gl5sibpnFrQ%3d&ref=15west.org) transfer to Williams’s campaign on July 10\. An earlier quarterly filing shows another [$1,125](https://www.elections.il.gov/CampaignDisclosure/ItemizedContributions.aspx?FiledDocID=sdD9k5wvKh1noaxn0RaLJA%3d%3d&ContributionType=z%2fHZoOF2TuyDUclD%2fEKdETeKVAnydjleQuoZppoYZEJVSt4i9E8fQe2HNTijFOZa&ref=15west.org) in in-kind support from The Urban Center NFP: $625 for consulting services and $500 for canvassing signatures.

Williams said she is “grateful to have the support” but that “accepting support doesn’t mean giving up my independence.”

Campaign finance filings show Hargrove’s campaign received two in-kind contributions on July 9: [$1,431.92](https://www.elections.il.gov/CampaignDisclosure/A1List.aspx?FiledDocID=kEANfcC28k0gBNz%2fOMs7Dw%3d%3d&ContributionType=wOGh3QTPfKqV2YWjeRmjTeStk426RfVK&Archived=Gl5sibpnFrQ%3d&ref=15west.org) from INCS Action and [$1,432.33](https://www.elections.il.gov/CampaignDisclosure/A1List.aspx?FiledDocID=kEANfcC28k2sZ9mi3YP3GA%3d%3d&ContributionType=wOGh3QTPfKqV2YWjeRmjTeStk426RfVK&Archived=Gl5sibpnFrQ%3d&ref=15west.org) from Common Ground Collective PAC. Both contributions were described as “consulting.”

Hargrove said he is “grateful for the support my campaign has received.”

Campaign finance filings show White’s campaign received both cash and in-kind support from several organizations active in the school board races. Urban Center PAC transferred [$2,000](https://www.elections.il.gov/CampaignDisclosure/A1List.aspx?FiledDocID=qvwA5HFNCJzMf5%2bc3LZi1g%3d%3d&ContributionType=wOGh3QTPfKqV2YWjeRmjTeStk426RfVK&Archived=I0cuvBFuZRw%3d&ref=15west.org) to his campaign on May 19.

Common Ground Collective PAC reported an [$1,669.12](https://www.elections.il.gov/CampaignDisclosure/A1List.aspx?FiledDocID=C94YTOG3TEP%2fuPTca1bPrQ%3d%3d&ContributionType=wOGh3QTPfKqV2YWjeRmjTeStk426RfVK&Archived=Gl5sibpnFrQ%3d&ref=15west.org) in-kind contribution on July 8 described as “petition consulting.” INCS Action reported a [$1,668.53](https://www.elections.il.gov/CampaignDisclosure/A1List.aspx?FiledDocID=kEANfcC28k0fHMgnbmeBBg%3d%3d&ContributionType=wOGh3QTPfKqV2YWjeRmjTeStk426RfVK&Archived=Gl5sibpnFrQ%3d&ref=15west.org) in-kind contribution on July 6 for “Signature Verification, Campaign Support and Consulting Services.”

Earlier filings also show two [$312.50](https://www.elections.il.gov/CampaignDisclosure/ItemizedContributions.aspx?FiledDocID=sdD9k5wvKh1noaxn0RaLJA%3d%3d&ContributionType=z%2fHZoOF2TuyDUclD%2fEKdETeKVAnydjleQuoZppoYZEJVSt4i9E8fQe2HNTijFOZa&ref=15west.org) in-kind contributions from The Urban Center NFP on June 3, described as consulting services for April and May.

The filings document campaign, petition-gathering, and ballot-access support for the candidates. They do not establish that the candidates or organizations participated in objections against their opponents.

Common Ground Collective IEC, an independent-expenditure committee, has also received large contributions from individual donors. Campaign finance records reviewed by 15 West show a [$900,000](https://www.elections.il.gov/CampaignDisclosure/A1List.aspx?FiledDocID=29N8F2TzVkYSWnU7GWY1gQ%3d%3d&ContributionType=wOGh3QTPfKqV2YWjeRmjTeStk426RfVK&Archived=Gl5sibpnFrQ%3d&ref=15west.org) contribution from GCM Grosvenor CEO Michael Sacks to Common Ground Collective IEC on Sept. 2\. In May, the IEC received a [$419,700 contribution](https://www.elections.il.gov/CampaignDisclosure/ItemizedContributions.aspx?FiledDocID=QuQx4poVSz9LJ4hibzUZDQ%3d%3d&ContributionType=zE4UTaWYkl1RdymXPLZxQwzsAP9P4ghkZA2i6IaESd1kUdPzCJLwaPqANp%2f5Rc0Imd73yqYn8DQ%3d&ref=15west.org) from Paul Finnegan, co-founder of Madison Dearborn Partners.

Finnegan also contributed another [$419,700 to INCS Action in May](https://www.elections.il.gov/CampaignDisclosure/ItemizedContributions.aspx?FiledDocID=kEANfcC28k10TMWDiGi45w%3d%3d&ContributionType=zE4UTaWYkl1RdymXPLZxQwzsAP9P4ghkZA2i6IaESd1kUdPzCJLwaPqANp%2f5Rc0Imd73yqYn8DQ%3d&ref=15west.org) and [$50,000 to Urban Center in June](https://www.elections.il.gov/CampaignDisclosure/ItemizedContributions.aspx?FiledDocID=kEANfcC28k3sXxxmSa3RLw%3d%3d&ContributionType=zE4UTaWYkl1RdymXPLZxQwzsAP9P4ghkZA2i6IaESd1kUdPzCJLwaPqANp%2f5Rc0Imd73yqYn8DQ%3d&ref=15west.org). 

Common Ground Collective IEC is legally distinct from Common Ground Collective PAC, the committee that reported direct and in-kind support for candidates such as Williams.

[Urban Center](https://theurbancenter.org/?ref=15west.org) is led by Juan Rangel, the former CEO of the UNO Charter School Network. INCS Action is affiliated with the [Illinois Network of Charter Schools](https://www.incschools.org/?ref=15west.org), a charter school advocacy organization.

The overlap raises questions, but the records have limits. 

*Common Ground Collective and INCS Action did not respond to 15 West’s requests for comment about their campaign support or whether they had any role in the petition objections.*

A political committee’s support for a candidate does not, on its own, show that the candidate knew about or participated in a petition objection. Likewise, shared donors or legal representation do not establish that separate organizations coordinated their activities.

### **A different picture in 2024.**

Petition challenges also shaped Chicago’s first school board election in 2024, but the political alignment was different.

That year, 47 candidates filed to run for the 10 elected seats, and 27 candidates faced objections. Thirty-one remained by Election Day. Campaign finance disclosures later showed that CTU paid a collective $40,000 to three attorneys or law firms involved in the 2024 petition challenges. Those attorneys, along with Michael Kasper, were listed as representing objectors challenging 19 candidates. [Chalkbeat reported](https://www.chalkbeat.org/chicago/2024/10/31/school-board-campaign-spending-at-almost-7-million-ahead-of-election-day/?ref=15west.org) that the broader effort resulted in 12 candidates being removed from the ballot.

[This year](https://www.chalkbeat.org/chicago/2026/06/12/petition-challenges-could-leave-many-school-board-races-with-one-candidate/?ref=15west.org), CTU says it did not file petition objections and instead offered legal assistance to candidates facing them. Anderson told 15 West she accepted that assistance after receiving legal retainer quotes ranging from $5,000 to $10,000\. Urban Center, meanwhile, has acknowledged participating in objections this cycle.

Hargrove also faced a petition challenge in 2024\. Chicago Board of Elections records identify Kasper as counsel for the objector in Hargrove’s case, which resulted in Hargrove being removed from the ballot.

Hargrove said some of the support his campaign received this year “was for signature verification to ensure I was able to be on the ballot, which was especially important given that the CTU kicked me off the ballot in 2024.”

Campaign finance reporting established that CTU paid attorneys involved in a broader series of 2024 school board challenges. However, the disclosures cited by [Chalkbeat](https://www.chalkbeat.org/chicago/2024/10/31/school-board-campaign-spending-at-almost-7-million-ahead-of-election-day/?ref=15west.org) did not identify Kasper as one of the attorneys paid by CTU, and 15 West has not independently established that CTU financed or directed the specific objection against Hargrove.

The 2024 history provides context for the current election: petition objections have played a role in both school board election cycles, even as the organizations and political interests surrounding them have shifted.

### **What organizations had to say.**

[CTU has accused Michael Sacks](https://www.ctulocal1.org/posts/ctu-decries-dirty-tricks-kicking-school-board-candidates-off-the-ballot/?ref=15west.org) and organizations it associates with him of trying to remove union-aligned candidates from the ballot. The union said it declined to file its own petition objections in 2026\. [Sacks rejected CTU’s accusation](https://www.politico.com/f/?id=0000019e-415b-d0fd-a3de-f75f6acc0000&ref=15west.org) in a letter to union President Stacy Davis Gates.

Urban Center has publicly acknowledged participating in the 2026 petition challenges. Robert Sylvester, the organization's vice president and chair of its political action committee, told Chalkbeat and Board Rule that Urban Center was working with other political organizations and Michael Kasper. Chalkbeat reported that Urban Center was behind at least [14 of the 28 objections](https://www.chalkbeat.org/chicago/2026/06/12/petition-challenges-could-leave-many-school-board-races-with-one-candidate/?ref=15west.org).

*Urban Center did not respond to 15 West’s request for additional comment.*

Sylvester said the group challenged candidates it believed had failed to meet signature or petition-circulation requirements and denied that candidates were selected for challenge solely because of their political ideology.

Campaign-finance records give voters one way to see the political relationships surrounding races that are formally nonpartisan, including the resources devoted to ballot access. They can show who funds political committees, which candidates receive support, what services that support pays for, and where donors or attorneys recur.

But those records also have limits. They can reveal relationships around campaigns and the ballot-access process without proving who directed a specific petition objection or whether separate organizations coordinated their activities.

For West Side voters, both pieces of information matter: who is financially invested in the school board races, how resources are being used around ballot access, and what the public record can actually establish about those relationships.

***15 West is a community newsroom covering Chicago's West Side. This story was produced with support from Press Forward Chicago, an initiative of The Chicago Community Trust investing in local news and information.***

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