The day has finally arrived. Peorians are about to select the city's next mayor.
At-Large Councilwoman Rita Ali and 4th District Councilman Jim Montelongo were the two candidates who made it through the February primary. Incumbent Mayor Jim Ardis opted not to run for a fifth consecutive term.
Ali is the vice president of workforce and diversity at Illinois Central College. She was elected to an at-large seat in 2019 after narrowly losing the 2017 race for the 5th District seat to Denis Cyr.
Montelongo is a three-term councilman and CEO of Advanced CAD/CAM Service Corporation, an engineering firm.
Andre Allen is running unopposed to replace Montelongo in the 4th District, after Stephen Kouri II dropped out of the race to take a state job.
Denise Jackson finished ahead of incumbent Denise Moore in the 1st District council primary. The two women are the candidates seeking to represent the district that includes Downtown, the North Valley, and the South Side, around the horseshoe.
In Council District 2, incumbent Chuck Grayeb faces Peter Kobak, who previously ran for an at-large seat in 2019. In District 3, incumbent Tim Riggenbach faces former 3rd District Councilwoman Gale Thetford. And incumbent Denis Cyr faces insurance agent Ryan Hite in District 5.
Contested races for Peoria City Treasurer and Peoria City Clerk are also on Tuesday's ballot. Voters in the Peoria Public Schools of Board of Education's Third District face a choice between incumbent Dan Walther and Mike Murphy, the president of Kellar Primary School's PTO.
Peoria voters also have a pair of public safety pension funding questions to weigh.
Voters in Chillicothe, Elmwood, and Bartonville will also cast ballots for mayor.
The Peoria County Election Commission says more than 4,000 early votes and nearly 2,400 mail ballots were cast ahead of Election Day. As of the 6 p.m. hour, the election commission reported more than 13,200 votes cast on Election Day.
And across the river in Tazewell County, voters in Washington and Delavan will vote for their next mayor. Pekin voters also have options in their contested city council race.
Polls close at 7 p.m. WCBU will have live election result updates on air and online throughout the evening.
Click here to check out the full WCBU's Voter Guide.
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