Another round of mail-in ballots has been counted by the Chicago Board of Elections, helping to provide more clarity following Tuesday's runoff election that saw Cook County Commissioner Brandon Johnson narrowly defeat former Chicago Public Schools CEO Paul Vallas.
Votes will continue to be counted up until April 18, marking two weeks from Election Day and the day that results are officially certified.
While Johnson's lead entering Friday was just under 17,000 votes, another 15,123 ballots have since been added to the vote totals, widening the Mayor-elect's lead.
Friday's vote totals now show Johnson with 302,619 votes over Vallas' 282,406 votes, bringing Johnson's lead north of 20,000 votes.
Heading into Friday, Johnson led Vallas with 293,442 votes to Vallas' 276,460 votes.
Overall, Johnson now holds 51.73% of the vote to Vallas' 48.27%, with Vallas winning majorities in 17 of the city's 50 wards according to current results from the Chicago Board of Elections.
The updates released Friday by the city also showed Johnson take the lead from Vallas in the city's 36th Ward, a ward widely regarded as gerrymandered that stretches from Ukrainian Village to Montclare.
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After trailing by less than a percentage point in the pool noodle-shaped ward, Johnson now leads by four votes.
Johnson was projected to be the winner of the race just over two hours after polls closed on Tuesday, with a primary factor in the projections being Johnson's performance with mail-in ballots in February's general election.
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With significant vote totals from mail-in ballots updated throughout the week, it appears Johnson continued that strength in the runoff election, winning a comfortable majority of mail-in votes.
Mail-in ballots will continue to be counted before results are certified on April 18, with decisions on the over 2,000 provisional ballots cast also required by that day.
