Horcher leads Wheeling village president race

Incumbent Pat Horcher was leading challenger Mark Smith in the race for Wheeling village president Tuesday night.

With Election Day ballots in all 19 precincts counted, Horcher was ahead 1,248 to 1,055, unofficial results showed. That's a margin of about 54% to 46%.

The tally doesn't include all the votes cast in the race. In addition to Election Day votes that hadn't yet been reported, ballots postmarked by Tuesday that arrive at election offices by April 20 will be counted, as will provisional ballots and early votes.

Smith is a real estate developer making his first bid for elected office.

Horcher, a former trustee and local florist, first was elected president in 2017. If he wins, he'll be the first multi-term president since Greg Klatecki, who was elected in 1997, 2001 and 2005.

The two mayors who preceded Horcher - Dean Argiris and Judy Abruscato - each served one term.