Challenger Vega has won the Lake County clerk race

Challenger Anthony Vega, a Grayslake Democrat, has defeated incumbent Lake County Clerk Robin O'Connor, according to the unofficial results Tuesday night.

Vega has earned 116,612 votes to O'Connor's 97,917 votes - a difference of just less than 18,700 votes. The unofficial total Tuesday night includes all ballots cast from early voting and vote by mail ballots received by the county before Tuesday. In addition, the unofficial total currently includes in-person votes cast on Election Day from all voting locations in the county but one, according to officials.

No late-arriving mail or provisional ballots have been uploaded Tuesday night. Vega's apparent victory won't be made official until the results are certified, which usually happens two weeks after Election Day.

O'Connor, 67, was elected in 2018 as a Democrat, riding a blue wave that saw the party grab a board majority for the first time in Lake County history as well as victories in all three competitive countywide races; she announced in February, though, she would change parties in her reelection bid. O'Connor said that, after two years as clerk, she decided the Lake County Republican Party was better suited to her beliefs of maintaining integrity in the office.

Vega, 30, who previously served as Lake County Sheriff John Idleburg's chief of staff, said he was troubled by O'Connor aligning herself with the party that has endeavored to undermine democracy by slinging outrageous election conspiracy theories.