EXCLUSIVE from @heathercherone and me: @PaulVallas is a front runner for Chicago Mayor, but his legal primary residence is in South Suburban Palos Heights. Vallas moved into an apartment in Bridgeport last year where he registered to vote. 
Vallas and his wife have claimed a homestead exemption on the Palos home every year, which establishes it as their primary residence. State and municipal law are opaque when it comes to residency requirements (remember Rahm Emanuel and Queen Sister, 2011??)
Former Chicago Inspector General Joe Ferguson says precedent has established that one simply has to prove they go to bed and wake up in the same place for a period of a year to qualify. But where has Vallas actually physically resided for the past year?
An examination of documents filed with the Illinois Board of Elections, Cook County Assessor's Office and Secretary of State's Office paint a complicated picture. For instance, Vallas lists Palos Heights as his home in a September 2022 campaign check he wrote to @Giannoulias.
In his 2019 bid for mayor, Vallas registered a Lincoln Park apartment as his residency (while still primarily residing in Palos Heights). That apartment belonged to his business partner, Tressa Pankovits, who claimed a homestead exemption establishing it as HER primary residence
In response to inquiries, the Cook County Assessor has opened an investigation into whether the Vallas' have improperly claimed a homestead exemption to reduce their property taxes on the Palos Heights home.
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