Mary Ann Ahern takes us through upsets in the suburbs and the winner of the Wisconsin Supreme Court race.
It appears an upset has occurred in Illinois’ second-largest city, as incumbent Mayor Richard Irvin has conceded his race against Alderperson-at-Large John Laesch.
With vote counts completed in Kane, Will and Kendall counties, Laesch was ahead by just over 800 votes and four percentage points, leading in all four counties with Aurora voters.
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WATCH HERE"I definitely am very grateful for the voters of Aurora for standing with me through multiple challenges to our petitions and other negative attacks on this campaign. They saw through it and they voted for change. They voted to move our city in a different direction," he told supporters.
Irvin conceded the race on Tuesday night, saying he was proud of his eight years in office but criticizing Laesch for engaging in "partisan politics."
"I can you tell you that it's been my absolute pride over the last eight years to be this city's leader," he said. "Because today isn't just about me. It's about all of you. Today, Aurora was beaten by divisive partisan politics."
Irvin leapt onto the statewide political stage in 2022 when he ran for the Republican nomination for Illinois governor, and though he was defeated by former State Sen. Darren Bailey, he raised his political profile considerably.
While he aligned himself with President Donald Trump during his ascent in statewide politics, he had said this race should remain nonpartisan, as he ran as an independent.
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"I don't govern as a Republican or a Democrat. I govern as the mayor of the city of Aurora, making sure that every resident in this city gets all the services and the due that they need as residents of Aurora," Irvin said.
Laesch had run unsuccessfully against Irvin in 2021, but has appeared to capture the top seat in City Hall this time around.
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SIGN UP "I ran this campaign talking about (how) there’s two Auroras -- an Aurora that works for the developers, that works for Richard’s campaign donors -- and I was offering something better," he said.
Laesch had criticized $58 million in financial incentives to relocate Hollywood Casino from downtown Aurora to a site near the popular outlet mall, but Irvin had defended the moves.
"When a company like that invests in Aurora, of course, they want our city to have skin in the game. Why wouldn’t they?," he said.
"I’m certainly in favor of investing in small local business people who want to give it a go, but the multimillion dollar deals to bring big developers in and outside private capital is not necessary," Laesch had countered.
