Nag Jaiswal
And then there were eight.
Naperville City Council hopeful Nag Jaiswal will remain on the April 2025 election ballot after overcoming an objection to his nomination petition.
The city’s electoral board on Thursday unanimously overruled the objection. The decision leaves Jaiswal in the race with seven other candidates for four available council seats.
Last month, a trio of Naperville residents — Dianne McGuire, Nancy Turner and Mark Urda — filed an objection challenging Jaiswal’s petition signatures. City council candidates in Naperville must submit 317 valid signatures from voters to be placed on the ballot.
The electoral board — made up of Naperville Mayor Scott Wehrli, City Clerk Dawn Portner and city council member Patrick Kelly — opened the hearing for the case on Nov. 13. The board ordered a record check to determine the validity and sufficiency of signatures identified by the objectors as deficient.
Senior Assistant City Attorney Kristen Toberman reviewed voter information from DuPage and Will counties and compared it to the signatures.
Jaiswal’s petition included pages with 414 signatures — meaning that he submitted 97 more than required, City Attorney Michael DiSanto told board members Thursday. The objectors challenged 102 signatures.
Toberman sustained 65 of the signature challenges and overruled 37.
In another case, the electoral board voted 2-1 to sustain an objection against the nomination petition of Farid Shabazz, effectively removing him from the ballot.
As a result, there are now eight city council candidates. Incumbents Jennifer Bruzan Taylor, Ian Holzhauer and Benjamin White are seeking reelection. The challengers are Derek McDaniel, Meghna Bansal, Ashfaq Syed, Mary Gibson and Jaiswal.
On Thursday, Jaiswal said in an email that he’s thankful to the board for the decision. Jaiswal also thanked his attorney, family, friends and supporters “in the community for backing me during this very challenging time.
“The challenge has energized me and increased my overall commitment and determination to serve Naperville Community,” Jaiswal wrote.