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Twenty seek to replace Chicago mayor

Sen. Roland Burris, D-IL, participates in a 9-11 remembrance ceremony on the East Front steps of the U.S. Capitol in Washington on September 15, 2010. UPI/Roger L. Wollenberg
Sen. Roland Burris, D-IL, participates in a 9-11 remembrance ceremony on the East Front steps of the U.S. Capitol in Washington on September 15, 2010. UPI/Roger L. Wollenberg | License Photo

CHICAGO, Nov. 23 (UPI) -- Chicago election officials said the number of candidates seeking to succeed Mayor Richard M. Daley is the largest in more than 50 years.

Nominating petitions for 20 candidates, each with a minimum of 12,500 signatures, have been turned in to the Chicago Board of Elections, the Chicago Tribune reported Tuesday.

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Among the 20 seeking to lead Chicago is former interim U.S. Sen. Roland Burris whose candidate petitions were filed by a group of supporters just ahead of Monday's deadline.

Burris, was appointed by former Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich to fill the vacant U.S. Senate seat of President Barack Obama. It is unclear whether he will actually respond to the draft movement.

If he does, he will face a field of candidates next February that includes former White House chief of staff Rahm Emanuel.

Also seeking to fill Daley's seat is developer Rob Halpin, the man renting Emanuel's Chicago house who has refused to break his lease.

Other mayoral candidates include former Democratic U.S. Sen. Carol Moseley Braun and U.S. Rep. Danny Davis, D-Ill.

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