A Cook County judge has effectively ended losing mayoral candidate Paul Vallas’ lawsuit against a political consultant who he claimed never performed $700,000 worth of services for Vallas’ 2023 campaign.
Vallas had alleged in Cook County Circuit Court that Chimaobi Enyia ripped him off when in the final weeks of his mayoral bid Enyia was paid hundreds of thousands of dollars to build support for Vallas in many Black communities but did little work. The lawsuit states that Vallas was the victim of fraud, unjust enrichment and “in the alternative, breach of contract” by Enyia.
Last week Judge James Hanlon granted Enyia’s motion for a summary judgment, ruling that each of Vallas’ counts lacked evidence and that the defendant would likely prevail at trial. Such a judgment closes the case after two and a half years, a saga Enyia said was “long and difficult.”
“This process stretched me, but as Psalm 119 reminds us, even hardship can become a teacher,” Enyia wrote in a statement to the Tribune Wednesday. “My focus now is on healing, my family, and continuing the work I’m called to do with integrity and professionalism.”
Vallas did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Enyia is a former staffer for Gov. Pat Quinn, director of the Illinois Liquor Control Commission, vice president for a local cannabis company and brother of 2019 mayoral candidate Amara Enyia. Vallas during the campaign publicly discussed hiring Enyia for a position in his administration if Vallas won April 4, but he lost to Cook County Commissioner Brandon Johnson.
In the lawsuit, Vallas said Enyia used the pressure of the final weeks of the runoff election to squeeze large payments from the campaign. According to the suit, Enyia said he hired crews to place pro-Vallas signs in majority Black neighborhoods and remove others linking Vallas to the pro-former President Donald Trump “MAGA” movement.
Hanlon, however, deemed Vallas’ allegations without merit, stopping his lawsuit from proceeding further.