Casey Urlacher wins another term in Mettawa

Mettawa Mayor Casey Urlacher, who this year was pardoned in a federal gambling investigation, has won reelection after campaigning as a write-in candidate in Tuesday's election.

Tallies on the Lake County Clerk's website show Urlacher won 151 votes to Jess Ray's 105. Ray, Urlacher's predecessor, served as mayor of the village of about 550 residents in 2009-13.

On Tuesday night, before any write-in votes were counted, Ray had 104 votes. The clerk's office began counting write-in votes Wednesday, and the initial total - which includes all of Urlacher's Election Day, early and mail-in votes through Friday - was posted Friday, according to the Lake County News-Sun.

Facing federal gambling charges last year, Urlacher didn't file nominating petitions with the village clerk in December, keeping his name off the ballot. Urlacher, the brother of former Bears star Brian Urlacher, became a write-in candidate after he was pardoned Jan. 19 by then-President Donald Trump.

"I'm very happy, but as I always say this credit goes to the village residents," Urlacher told the Lake County News-Sun. "These residents really rallied for me. It was a team effort. There were a lot of people working behind the scenes. I'm honored to be elected for another four years. I plan on doing a great job for them."

The county clerk's website shows countywide turnout in the election was 14.01%, but in Mettawa it was 56.9%.