Incumbent Aurora Mayor Richard Irvin has admitted defeat to his challenger, Ald. John Laesch, in the Aurora mayoral election.
As of 9:40 p.m. Tuesday night, Laesch has 51.97% of the vote while Irvin has 48.03% of the vote, according to unofficial early voting results from DuPage, Kendall, Kane and Will counties, with nearly all precincts were reporting.
“We fought hard. We fought long. Unfortunately, we came up short,” Irvin said on stage at his campaign’s watch party at 1 E. Benton St. in downtown Aurora.
At his own campaign watch party, which was held at the Two Brothers Roundhouse in Aurora, Laesch said that “tonight, the candle of hope burns a little brighter in our city, in our state and across the United States of America.”
When asked earlier in the night for his reaction to his lead, Laesch said he has “probably known for the last two weeks that we were going to win.”
Tuesday’s consolidated election also included other local races, including several for seats on the Aurora City Council.
Laesch is a union carpenter and former Naval Intelligence analyst who previously lost the mayoral race against Irvin in 2021. Two years later he was elected to be one of two aldermen at-large on the Aurora City Council.
During his previous run for mayor and his time on the Aurora City Council, as well as during this campaign, Laesch has pushed against what he sees as “pay-to-play” happening in city government.
In an interview with The Beacon-News, Laesch said there are two Auroras: One that works “incredibly well” for Irvin’s donors and developers, and then the rest of the city that has to pay for it all.
Irvin, a lawyer who has been both a prosecutor and private defense attorney, was born and raised in the city of Aurora. He made history in 2017 when he was elected as the city’s first Black mayor after serving on the Aurora City Council as an alderman at-large for 10 years.
As he ran for his third term this year, it has been Irvin’s accomplishments as mayor that have been the main focus of his campaign.
Irvin previously told The Beacon-News that his accomplishments, as well as his plans for the future of the city, can be summed up with the acronym SEE: Safety, Education and Economy.
Irvin was endorsed by a number of local pastors, labor organizations and public safety organizations, among others. Laesch was primarily endorsed by elected Democrats at the local, state and federal levels, among others.
The state Democratic Party has also been sending out mailers and running online advertisements targeting Irvin, who unsuccessfully ran for governor as a Republican in 2022.
rsmith@chicagotribune.com