Official final voting results from the April 1 consolidated election released recently confirmed that challenger Javier Banuelos defeated incumbent Brandon Tolliver in the tight race for the Aurora City Council’s 7th Ward alderman seat.
On election night, unofficial results from DuPage and Kane counties initially showed Tolliver leading at 50.48% of the vote compared to Banuelos at 49.12%. But now, official results from the two counties show Banuelos has won the seat at 50.66% of the vote to Tolliver’s 48.84%.
“This is a moment of pure joy and gratitude — one I will carry in my heart forever,” Banuelos said in a Facebook post last week about his win. “Thank you, Ward 7, for your trust and support.”
The final results were close — Banuelos received only 25 votes more than Tolliver. Results were also split by county, with Banuelos winning DuPage County by 92 votes but losing Kane County by 67 votes.
In total, Banuelos received 696 votes to Tolliver’s 671 votes, official results accessed on Tuesday show.
State law requires a canvass of votes, which makes results official, be completed no later than 21 days after the election, which for the April 1 consolidated election was Tuesday.
Banuelos is set to officially take office at the city’s Mayoral and Aldermanic Inauguration Ceremony at 6:30 p.m. on May 13, which will be held at the Paramount Theatre in downtown Aurora.
“No matter who you voted for, please know this: I’m here to serve our entire community,” he said in the Facebook post. “In the coming weeks, I’ll be meeting with residents, local leaders, and organizations to put our shared priorities into action.”
Tolliver has been Aurora’s 7th Ward alderman since he was appointed to the position after former longtime alderwoman Scheketa Hart-Burns died in June 2023.
Saul Fultz also campaigned for the 7th Ward alderman seat in the April 1 election, but he ran as a declared write-in and received less than 10 votes.
While official election results were available from DuPage, Kane and Will counties, Kendall County election results were still being shown online as unofficial at the time of reporting on Tuesday afternoon at 3 p.m., so vote totals for other Aurora city government races were still unofficial. But, the 7th Ward is fully within DuPage and Kane counties, so that race’s results were official on Tuesday.
rsmith@chicagotribune.com
