HOMEWOOD, Ill. (WGN) — Embattled south suburban politician Tiffany Henyard could be out of one of her political positions after some deft political maneuvering by her opponents.
Henyard lost the Democratic nomination for Thornton Township supervisor Tuesday night, paving a path toward losing one of the two political positions she currently holds. Henyard is also the mayor of Dolton.
Thornton Township’s Democratic Party held a caucus instead of a primary election for the first time in decades — a strategized move by state senator and Democratic Party committeeman Napoleon Harris.
As committeeman, Harris alone holds the right to decide whether to have a primary election or a caucus.
Amid the turmoil tied to Henyard — who’s under fire and under investigation for using taxpayer money to fund trips and fancy dinners — Harris chose a caucus and won the nomination overwhelmingly as part of a slate of candidates that included trustees.
Harris announced after the vote that no other slate qualified. At the beginning of the caucus, the party adopted new rules requiring that supervisor nominees not also run in another election. Henyard is running for re-election as Dolton mayor.
Henyard is already saying the process was unfair and is calling for an investigation of Tuesday night’s caucus. She walked out of the meeting into a waiting SUV without speaking to reporters, but she did speak to WGN’s Jenna Barnes before the caucus began.
“They can’t beat me,” she said. “If they could beat me, then they would have went to the polls.”
When asked what she would do if she lost the Democratic Party’s nomination, Henyard said, “What do you mean? I will be victorious (Tuesday) night. Our people are here. They’re not gonna go nowhere.
“The show will go on.”
With Henyard and her allies figuring out their next steps, her last option to run for Thornton Township supervisor appears to be as a write-in candidate.
Henyard’s supporters did air concerns after the event Tuesday, saying her opponents were let into the caucus first, preventing her supporters from being part of the process.
“This is the biggest — this is a fraud,” Keith Price, a Henyard ally, said.
“This is criminal. … (We had) hundreds of people that were not allowed in to be a part of the process.”
Harris, however, dismissed Henyard and her supporters’ complaints about the process.
“People were getting let in at the proper time,” he said. “We had a caucus, and the people voted for a slate of candidates to represent them.”
An event did take place ahead of the caucus. Harris’s attorney told WGN News it was a fundraiser for the Democratic Party, although Harris later contradicted that statement, saying the event was not a Democratic Party fundraiser.
Meanwhile, it’s unknown as of now who will actually be on the ballot for Thornton Township supervisor in the April election. Henyard could still get her name on the ballot, just not as a Democrat.
