It was a close election in the Forest Park mayoral race between incumbent Anthony Calderone and Chris Harris, but election officials say the difference is great enough to call Calderone the winner.
As of Wednesday afternoon, Calderone was 86 votes ahead of Harris, earning 1,424 votes to 1,338. Courtney Greve, a spokeswoman for the Cook County Board of Elections, said in a telephone interview that 23 provisional ballots still need verification and 115 mail ballots have not been returned.
“Eighty-six [votes] is a lot,” Greve said, noting that the race is not on the board’s watch list for contested elections.
Harris could not immediately be reached for comment.
Greve said that vote totals posted on the county clerk’s website included mail-in ballots and early voting ballots.
That information was confirmed by Forest Park Village Clerk Vanessa Moritz.
“While we will not have certified election results for several weeks, there is every reason to believe that the totals received last night are accurate with the exception of verification of the 23 provisional votes cast,” Moritz said.
Contact: tim@oakpark.com
