Bob Rita, a Democrat who has represented the Blue Island area in the Illinois House of Representatives since 2003, will run unopposed in the upcoming March primary after initially facing three opponents.

A Chicago Election Board removed one opponent in the 28th District race, Paris Walker Thomas, after finding 56 pages of her petition signatures were photocopies. Illinois law requires candidate nominations to be original petition sheets.

The other two opponents, Dyvonna Moss and Nadeja Henry, withdrew from the race in late December after Walker Thomas was removed and did not respond to requests to comment.

Rita declined to comment on the upcoming primary or on the three previous opponents.

The Illinois Election Board ordered an examination of Walker Thomas’ petition records after objections filed by Annette Alexander, of Blue Island, and Dorothy Price, of Calumet Park.

They alleged Walker Thomas’ petition papers were invalid because she misrepresented her residency, failed to meet district residency requirements, submitted a defective statement of candidacy, improperly used her name and is ineligible to run due to outstanding election fines.

After an examination of her records, the election board said 188 of Walker Thomas’ petition signatures were invalid, which brought her total number of valid signatures to 445, below the minimum 500 signatures required to run. This disqualified her for the primary, according to a Dec. 27 election board finding.

The document analyzer, Kevin Kulbacki with Chicago-based KDX Forensic Consulting, said he conducted a microscopic examination of the petition documents and found alignment issues.

For example, Kulbacki said, some signature blocks were at an angle, while the rest of the petition was not at an angle, according to a Dec. 8 letter to the Chicago Board of Election Commissioners.

He also said he found extraneous horizontal lines, irregular paper edge marks, remnants of text not fully removed and removed portions of borders near the signature blocks.

Kulbacki concluded it was highly probable some of Walker Thomas’ petition pages were cut and pasted signature blocks from other petitions.

Burton Odelson, the objector’s attorney, said that in his 53 years of experience as an election attorney he has never seen someone copy and paste signatures from another petition.

“I’ve seen photocopies, but never a cut and paste like this,” Odelson said. “And then to lie right to the hearing officer and to the Chicago Board of Elections. I sat next to her, and I just couldn’t believe what I was hearing.”

He said his team conducted an investigation and found people listed on the signed petition pages either said they were not asked to sign for Walker Thomas, or that if they did a notary was not present.

He also said the investigation revealed a lot of the petition names were from Tinley Park and that the notary who signed off on the names was the Tinley Park village clerk, although he said he did not reach out to her.

Odelson said his team plans to turn in this investigation report to law enforcement authorities including the Cook County state’s attorney, state police and the Illinois attorney general.

Walker Thomas protested the accusations and asked the election board to dismiss objections, disqualify the objectors’ attorney and to count certain signatures. The board refused.

Walker Thomas claimed civil rights violations and improper disclosure of personal information, such as eviction case filings.

This was Walker Thomas’s second attempt to challenge Rita. She also filed to run in the 2022 Democratic primary, but withdrew her candidacy following an objection.

At the time, she received public support from Tinley Park Mayor Michael Glotz on social media, who has clashed with Rita for years. Walker Thomas called Glotz a friend and a “hard working man who has given to the underprivileged” in 2024 on Facebook, to which he responded to and thanked her.

Rita sued Tinley Park and Orland Township as well as village and township officials in federal court in 2023, alleging his constitutional rights were denied and that he was blocked from taking part in or holding community events, specifically in Tinley Park.

According to campaign finance documents, Rita’s election campaign spent $53,698 on a law firm, listing the expense as a First Amendment Lawsuit Village of Tinley Park on July 19, 2025.

Rita was also involved in legislation that transferred the former Tinley Park Mental Health Center to the Tinley Park-Park District, a site the village long coveted for redevelopment.

As the primary approaches, Rita has raised $731,680 in 2025 for his campaign, excluding contributions under $1,000 in December, which are not required to be filed until Jan. 15. A political action committee representing the Mid-America Carpenters Regional Council, along with a PAC representing the Illinois Education Association were by far his largest donors, at about $50,000 each.

Rita also received $89,800 total in donations from a number of gambling affiliates, an industry he has led legislation to significantly expand in the state. A portion of the gaming donations he received were linked with organizations that support iGaming policy, a proposal that received its first hearing in 2025 and would allow internet-based versions of slot machines, poker or various table games.

Rita also received a donation from Constellation, a company associated with nuclear power, an issue gaining traction in the state, and the Fraternal Order of Police Lodge, which donates to both democratic and republican candidates.

Rita spent $229,880 in 2025, leaving him with about $501,800, excluding expenditures in December, and the highest payments were for legal fees with different law firms, including a February payment of $30,647 in legal fees to a single firm, Taft, Stettinius & Hollister. Rita also spent $3,214 on a golf outing in late August.

Since 2003, Rita has worked on or chaired committees in the Illinois House such as ethics and elections, housing and gaming. He was appointed as deputy majority leader of the Illinois House in 2025.

Rita has introduced legislation affecting gaming and wagering regulation, health insurance, health care billing reforms and revenue and tax-related legislation.

An election board official said Tuesday Rita will be certified to the ballot when the board meets at 9 a.m. Thursday because there is no objection pending to his candidacy.

awright@chicagotribune.com