Debriefing the April 2023 Consolidated General Election Results

The Chicago mayoral result: A lot of us were hoping that Paul Vallas would pull off the victory so that Brandon Johnson and CTU could be denied the keys to the Mayor's office. See our ward-by-ward election results map here. It looks like Johnson will end up winning by a margin of over 20,000 votes, with a coalition built with progressive white voters and large margins in African American majority wards in Chicago's south and west sides. Paul Vallas performed best in the 2nd, 11th, 13th, 19th, 38th, 41st, 42nd, 43rd, and 45th wards. He won the city's only Asian-American majority ward and won 6 Hispanic-American majority wards. Vallas had a pro-school choice & public and hard on crime message, but he isn't a Republican, didn't run as a Republican, and shouldn't be thought of as one. However, because of at least some values alignment, where he performed best though could be considered as areas for the Chicago GOP to go in and set up shop. If Republicans can perform in that 25%-30% area in future elections, a Republican has the chance to win statewide.

Lake County Turnout: Turnout in Lake County was 13.03%, with 28,716 uncounted ballots (213 provisional ballots, 628 returned mail ballots that haven't been counted yet, and 27,875 ballots sent in the mail but that haven't been returned... this will be disqualified if postmarked after April 4th, 2023). For perspective, turnout across Lake County in 2021 was 14.04% and in 2019 it was 11.17%. Election authorities across Illinois, including the Lake County Clerk's office, will make a list available of who voted following certification of the election results in about two weeks time. We'll use this data to determine how many Republicans cast ballots in Vernon Township and to see how permanent voting by mail changed the nature of the electorate (if at all). A more robust analysis will come from me after this information becomes available.

The SHS board result: Disappointing, but not unexpected. Aaron Glenn announced his campaign late in the game and didn't walk into the same network that Tolbert and Grimes had built in 2021. Aaron and his wife Eva should be commended for their commitment to our community. We also intend to hold the incumbents that "earned" the endorsement of the state Democratic Party accountable as well. They need to be asked what kind of support they accepted and whether or not they stand by that unprecedented endorsement and infusion of ideology on what should be a board free from those influences.

Vernon Hills: A long-time Vernon Hills trustee beat back a challenge from a Democratic endorsed upstart who received the backing of the Vernon Township Democrats. The Dems took a big chunk out of his vote total with their efforts, but they were defeated.

District 103: We were following the D103 board race closely, and we were sad to see that pro-SIECUS standard trustee Marissa Grossenbach was the highest vote getter (interestingly, she donated to ACT Unified in 2021).

Vernon Area Library: The appointed head of Vernon Township's new mental health board, and former Democratic candidate for county board, Akrom Hossain, lost his bid to join the Vernon Township Library board. He was endorsed by the Vernon Township Democrats.

D102 Referendum: The $49,000,000 D102 referendum looks to have passed with 792 votes for and 734 votes opposed

Long Grove Referendum: The $16,500,000 Long Grove Fire Protection District referendum looks to have passed with 338 votes for and 327 votes opposed

Lake Forest Mayoral Election: Lake Forest voters rejected a Kim Foxx + Lori Lightfoot donor who was running for mayor and instead gave 60% of the vote to now mayor-elect Randy Tack, who founded the Illinois Bone and Joint Institute.

CLC Board of Trustees: Of the two conservatives running for CLC regional board of trustees, Robert Tomei lost his seat while William Griffin was successful.  

Other results across Illinois: Other results across the rest of the state: Republicans won mayoral elections in Joliet, Naperville, Springfield, and Champaign this past Tuesday

Wisconsin Election Results: Please click here for an analysis on the election results in Wisconsin from the Chairman of the Wisconsin Republican Party