GOP hopeful for 9th Congress seat off March 20 ballot

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Updated: February 27, 2012 8:46AM

A Republican candidate for the 9th Congressional District has been knocked off the March 20 ballot after the Chicago Board of Elections found several hundred signatures invalid.

The elections board disqualified 268 of the 833 signatures filed by Susanne Atanus, leaving her with 565 signatures, 35 short of the requirement.

The objection was filed by first-time candidate Timothy C. Wolfe, an Arlington Heights accountant who now faces no competition for the Republican nomination.

The seat is currently held by U.S. Rep. Janice Schakowsky of Evanston, who is challenged on the Democratic side by Simon Ribeiro.

The left-tilting 9th Congressional District took on more Republican turf under Illinois new Congressional map, redrawn by Democrats to erase the Republican gains in the last election and adjust for Illinois loss of one seat following the 2010 census.

The new 9th District still includes a portion of Chicago’s lakefront and Evanston, Lincolnwood, Skokie, Morton Grove, Niles and Park Ridge. However, the redrawn district has shifted north along the lakefront to include all of Wilmette, Winnetka, Northfield and Kenilworth.

The district also has taken on new territory in Glenview and southeast Northbrook, as well as in the northwest suburbs of Arlington Heights, Mount Prospect and Rolling Meadows.