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Lake County Sheriff Curran not sure if he'll seek a recount

Lake County Sheriff Mark Curran said he's still deciding whether to seek a recount after final vote totals released Tuesday swept him out of office in a shocking upset.

Zion Democrat John Idleburg received 122,885 votes to Curran's 122,748, a 137-vote margin, unofficial results show. Curran, a three-term incumbent first elected as a Democrat in 2006 before switching parties two years later, has five days after the votes are canvassed Tuesday to file for a recount.

"I am grateful to the citizens of Lake County for the opportunity to serve as sheriff," Curran said Wednesday. "I'm still reviewing and deciding what to do next."

Idleburg did not return messages seeking comment Wednesday, but he did take to Facebook to remark on his victory.

"The votes are in and as the saying goes there's a new sheriff in town," the 62-year-old retired U.S. Treasury agent wrote. "To my family, volunteers, and supporters thank you for putting your faith in me. I share this victory with you. To the men and women in blue at the (Lake County Sheriff's Office), we begin a new chapter and I look forward to working with you."

Candidates are allowed to petition for a discovery recount if their vote totals fall within 5 percent of their opponent, Lake County Clerk Carla Wyckoff said. The discovery recount would review up to 25 percent of precincts. Depending on the results, the candidate can then petition a court to order a full recount.

Most discovery recounts do not end with vote totals changing, Wyckoff said.

Curran was ahead of Idleburg by 754 votes on election night, but late-arriving mail-in and provisional ballots put Idleburg up at the end.

Idleburg joins Treasurer-elect Holly Kim and Clerk-elect Robin O'Connor as Democrats who unseated Republicans for countywide posts in 2018. Democrats also won nine of the 14 county board seats up for election, giving them a board majority for the first time.

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