Peoria voters have soundly given Mayor Rita Ali a second term in office.
“I’m very excited that I had a high level of confidence from the voters to continue a second term and continue with the work that we started, and the investments that we’ve made,” said Ali.
With all precincts reporting Tuesday, results showed Ali with 59.6% of more than 16,700 ballots cast in her race against at-large Peoria City Council member John Kelly.
“The voters have said it’s OK to stay the course, and that’s what we’re going to do,” said Ali. “We’re going to continue to work our five-year strategic plan with the six priorities.”
The first-time challenger Kelly told WCBU he called Ali to concede the race.
“The numbers mean I lost and she won,” said Kelly. “More people wanted her than wanted me. The people are sovereign.”
Ali said her margin of victory indicates a strong majority of Peorians believe she’s done a good job over her first four years in office.
“We’ve made investments in infrastructure, we’ve made investments in neighborhoods and also in people. We’re going to continue to do those things, and even at a higher level.
“Because we’ve made some initial investments, we’re able to take it to the next step, to build a thriving downtown, to continue the investments in our infrastructure, our roads, our sidewalks, our curbs, our lighting, and continue with our efforts to bring passenger rail service to Peoria.”
Ali said she will continue to emphasize the six strategic plan priorities of community safety, downtown development, business growth and prosperity, infrastructure, quality of life, and embracing diversity, equity and inclusion.
“It’s the platform that I ran on when I ran four years ago; it’s the platform that I ran on this time now, implementing what the stakeholders have put together,” said Ali. “That’s what that strategic plan is all about, creating a thriving Peoria.”
The unofficial results from the Peoria County Election Commission show Ali with a significant advantage in pre-Election Day ballots, with 66.2% of vote-by-mail returns and 59.2% in early voting. Her margin with in-person Election Day ballots was a little more than 700 votes.
The win comes after Ali topped the three-way Feb. 25 primary with 52.2% of the ballots cast, while Kelly finished with 24.3% and advanced ahead of fellow city council member Chuck Grayeb by a little more than 100 votes. Grayeb later endorsed Ali’s re-election bid.
Ali and Kelly frequently were at odds over the course of the campaign, differing on issues ranging from homelessness, crime prevention, the need for DEI initiatives, and the pursuit of passenger rail service between Peoria and Chicago.
Ali said she hopes the two are able to improve their relationship as Kelly continues his current at-large term on the council.
“It’s not just about winning, it’s also about relationships and some of those relationships – not just with me, but with other members of the council – have been damaged. So I hope that he will work also to try to repair those damages,” she said.
Ali has experienced both decisive and tight elections in Peoria. She won her first mayoral bid four years ago by a mere 43 votes over Jim Montelongo.
In 2017, she lost her District 5 city council race against Denis Cyr by one vote, but two years later she outdistanced the field in the at-large council election with more than twice as many votes as any other candidate.
Ali said she was optimistic heading into this Election Day, and she’s eager to continue working with the other city council members.
“It’s all about collaboration. We can’t get anything done without working together,” she said. “I can’t get anything done without support from partners within our communities and other key stakeholders, not just in the city but also in the state and on the federal level. So those relationships, I’ll continue to nurture.”
