Chlebek holds lead in Des Plaines’ 1st Ward race
More than a week after the final votes were cast, the winner of the race for Des Plaines’ 1st Ward aldermanic seat remains unknown — but the finish line is within sight.
As of Friday afternoon, Margaret Chlebek led with 369 votes, while Jessica Mastalski trailed with 347, unofficial results showed. That gives Chlebek nearly 52% of the total.
This upcoming Tuesday is the last day late-arriving mailed ballots and provisional ballots can be counted for the April 1 election. The Cook County clerk’s office has until April 22 to send the final tally to the Illinois State Board of Elections.
Chlebek and Mastalski battled for an open seat in the 1st Ward. A city ordinance prevented incumbent Mark Lysakowski, Chlebek’s partner, from running for a third consecutive term.
Chlebek had a four-vote lead on election night, and that expanded to 12 votes and then to 22 as more ballots were scanned. She never lost ground.
Given the votes already counted in the race and the time left for stragglers, a Mastalski victory is “highly unlikely,” said Melissa Mouritsen, a political science professor at the College of DuPage.
“In general, we don’t see more than a handful of ballots come in this late after the election, and I have never heard of a race that was determined by ballots received more than 10 days after the election,” Mouritsen said Friday.
But then again, Mouritsen said, anything is possible.
“Suppose there are 23 residents abroad who voted for Mastalski who mailed their ballots on Election Day,” she said. “It could take that long. But just your average, 1st Ward Des Plaines resident turning in their ballot even at 5 p.m. on Election Day — in all likelihood it’s been counted.”
Chlebek didn’t respond to interview requests Friday.
Mastalski, who has served as Des Plaines’ city clerk since 2021, hasn’t responded to requests for comment since before Election Day.
Five additional municipal seats were on ballots in Des Plaines this cycle.
In the 3rd Ward, Alderman Sean Oskerka won a second term by defeating challenger Debra Lester.
In the 5th Ward, Thomas A. Merlin defeated Michael Hardiman. Incumbent Carla Brookman couldn’t run again because of term limits and instead campaigned for clerk.
And in the 7th Ward, Alderman Patsy Smith beat challenger Bob Porada to secure a second term.
Mayor Andrew Goczkowski ran unopposed for a second term.
In the race for the city clerk’s office to be vacated by Mastalski, first-time candidate Dominik Bronakowski bested Brookman.