Newcomers prevailed in several key races in Peoria and Tazewell Counties in the election Tuesday.
Peoria County:
Rita Ali was the big winner in the Peoria City Council race. She dominated the field with nearly 25-percent of the vote. Newcomer John Kelly earned the second-most votes among the 10 candidates. Incumbents Beth Jensen, Sid Ruckriegel and Zach Oyler retain their seats. Incumbent Beth Akeson failed to earn another term.
The Peoria Park District Board has a new leader. Robert Johnson Sr. defeated Michael Van Cleve for the four-year board president’s term. Long-time park board president Tim Cassidy chose not to run for re-election.
Peoria Park District Trustee incumbents Jackie Petty and Joyce Harant retained their seats and Joseph Cassidy earned the 3rd seat on the board. Those are four-year terms. We initially reported Kevin Burns won the 4th seat on the Peoria Park District Board. That is not correct. There were only three seats up for election. We apologize for the error.
Chase Klaus defeated incumbent Ernestine Jackson to win a five-year term in the 3rd District seat of the Peoria Public School board. That was the only Peoria District 150 School Board seat up for election on the ballot.
Tazewell County:
John Kahl will be East Peoria’s next mayor. He earned 66-percent of the vote to handily defeat Tim Jeffers in the race for the seat held by Dave Mingus since 2007. Mingus chose not to run for another term.
East Peoria Commissioner Dan Decker easily wins another term. He was the top vote getter in the seven-candidate field. Candidates Mark Hill, Mike Sutherland and Seth Mingus also earned seats.
Peking City Councilman Mark Luft upset incumbent John McCabe in the Pekin mayor’s race. Luft earned nearly 60-percent of the votes cast.
Karen Hohimer finished first in the race for three Pekin City Council seats. Voters returned incumbent John Able. Newcomer Rick Hilst secured the third seat.
Tazewell County voters said 'no' to the proposed 1-percent sales tax increase for school facilies improvements. That's the 4th time the referendum has failed.
All election results are unofficial until the vote is canvassed.
