Ald. Walter ‘Red’ Burnett’s Mom Challenges His 4 Opponents’ Ballot Petitions

NEAR WEST SIDE — The Burnett family has held Chicago s 27th Ward seat for more than 30 years. Now, as the family s next generation prepares to face voters for the first time, the alderman s mother is trying to knock every one of his opponents off the ballot. Darlena Williams-Burnett, a former Cook County commissioner, Democratic committeewoman and mother of Ald. Walter Redmond Burnett (27th), has filed objections to the nominating petitions of all four candidates challenging her son in February s municipal election. The political veteran told Block Club Chicago that she independently reviewed the candidates nominating petitions — the signatures a candidate needs to collect to get on the ballot — and said she believes not all of the signatures are from constituents who live in the ward. Ald. Walter Redmond Burnett (27th) shakes hands after he is sworn in as alderman during a City Council meeting on Sept. 25, 2025. Credit: Colin Boyle/Block Club Chicago For a signature to be