It appears there won't be a recount in Bloomington's closest city council race.Retired Illinois State University professor Tom Crumpler leads Realtor Jim Fruin by 19 votes in their Ward 9 race in northeast Bloomington.
The Bloomington Election Commission (BEC) said Thursday that 20 vote-by-mail and other outstanding ballots have been returned in that race. Commission Executive Director Tom Mitchell said another 29 ballots could still be counted if they are sent in and were postmarked by Election Day.
Outstanding ballots will be counted on April 20. That's when the ballot counts will become official.
“I am not expecting very many more that will be postmarked by 4/6/21 based on what we have seen in the past,” Mitchell said.
Mitchell said a majority of outstanding ballots are vote by mail, but that also include absentee ballots from the permanently disabled and ballots from those serving overseas in the military.
As of Tuesday, Crumpler had 951 votes compared to Fruin’s 932. Vote-by-mail and early voting tipped the scales in the race, according to BEC data. Crumpler won 62% of the votes by mail (101-61) and secured 65% of the early vote (131-71). Fruin won 53% of the election day vote (800-719).
Crumpler said on social media that Fruin has congratulated him on his election victory.
Mayor’s race
The commission also has about 150 outstanding ballots city-wide. Mike Straza trails Mboka Mwilambwe in the Bloomington mayor's race by about 200 votes. Straza has conceded.
Candidates who come within 5% of the top vote-getter can ask for a sample recount.
They can then go the courts to seek a complete recount.
New Bloomington city council members will be sworn in on May 1.
Editor's note: WGLT corrected this story to reflect Crumpler's retirement from Illinois State University.
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