A Peoria County judicial race is still too close to call even as more mail-in ballots slightly widen challenger John Spears' lead.
Spears, a Democrat and Tazewell County public defender, now leads appointed Republican incumbent Frank Ierulli by 13 votes.
Ierulli was an associate judge before he was appointed to fill the vacancy created by the retirement of Judge Michael Risinger in 2022.
More than 3,000 mail-in ballots are still outstanding. Those can still be counted as long as they were postmarked by Election Day, and come in to the election commission office before the Nov. 19 vote tabulation deadline for mail-in ballots.
Peoria County is no stranger to nail-biter races in recent years. For instance, the 2021 Peoria mayoral race saw eventual victor Rita Ali defeat Jim Montelongo by just 43 votes.
