A tight race to fill the vacant District 2 seat on the Peoria City Council has drawn to a close.
The official cumulative results released Tuesday by the Peoria County Election Commission show artist Alex Carmona clinching the seat left behind by long-time council member Chuck Grayeb by 47 votes over Estrella Diaz.
“Basically half the people voted for me, half the people voted for her,” said Carmona. “Now it's my duty to show the people who voted for her and me that I was the right decision.”
Carmona finishes less than two percentage points ahead of Diaz (50.8%-49.2%), with the PCEC reporting voter turnout of around 24%.
Carmona ran his campaign with a strong focus on business growth and development. In interviews with WCBU, he emphasized his support for a “hands off” government approach to business, cutting through red tape.
In general, Carmona says listening to constituents is a key priority for the position.
“I just had a meeting this morning, people are already getting a hold of me, constituents are, and I’m meeting them and hearing their concerns,” he said.
The seat Carmona is now set to fill includes the Center and West Bluff neighborhoods and downtown. A strip of central Peoria in the district also includes Bradley University and Illinois Community College.
Diaz says while she admits the race for the seat is more than likely over, she does plan to request a recount.
“I've kind of accepted it, but I think I still would like a little bit of transparency, and just to give that to the voters as well,” she said.
Diaz says she plans to run for office again and will take the lessons learned from this first campaign into any future races. One of those lessons is including a wider range of issues in her platform.
"I think when you're running, you don't realize how many issues that the city has,” said Diaz. “Because along my journey, I started to just uncover more and more and more.”
Diaz hopes her first campaign will be generally encouraging for more people to attempt a run for political office.
“I want people to know that, if there's someone like me who is the working class person who just really has the heart and the ambition to run and the courage, I say, go for it,” she said.
Diaz argues that working class candidates can feel stretched thin by the demands of campaigning, but those interested shouldn’t let financial barriers stop them from building a run for office.
Both candidates have commended the other throughout the campaign for running a clean, fair race. Now at the end of that race, they both emphasize the importance of authenticity to their political aspirations.
“I'm not going to change who I am because I'm in this position,” said Carmona. “I'm going to continue to be basically a regular person who believes in Peoria, and that is there to talk to people and try to help them.”
Diaz has been outspoken in the community on issues like advocating for a Palestine ceasefire and other progressive causes. She believes the close race demonstrates an appetite for progressive politics in the district.
“In the sense of it being a shift in people like we saw now,” she said. “I definitely think that this is what people are wanting in regards to just, you know, not holding back anymore and not being afraid to take certain stances.”
Carmona will be sworn in during a special Peoria City Council meeting on May 6.
