Greg Wilson leads Paris McConnell and Dan Walther in close Peoria School Board race

Leslie Renken, Journal Star
·2 min read
Paris McConnell and Greg Wilson will represent District 2 on Peoria School Board

CLARIFICATION: An original version of this story declared two winners in the school board race, but didn't mention that vote totals aren't certified until mid-July. The candidate with the fewest amount of votes so far has not conceded in the race.

PEORIA – Three candidates are running for two seats on the Peoria School Board, but vote totals remain razor tight. Tuesday's election pitted incumbent Gregory Wilson and former board member Dan Walther against newcomer Paris McConnell for seats on District 2.

As of noon June 30, Wilson had 1,551 votes, McConnell had 1,463 votes, and Walther had 1,448 votes, but there were still 94 vote-by-mail ballots that were still unaccounted for.

Not all of those ballots will show up, however. Sometimes people request a ballot and then change their mind and vote in person, said Tom McBride, executive director of the Peoria Election Commission. There are also seven vote-by-mail ballots which have been challenged, which typically means the signature didn’t match with the signature on file.

Two days after the election, District 2 school board candidate Dan Walther still doesn’t know if he won or lost.

“That night, with three-fourths of the votes in, I was down by over 100 votes. Then there was a surge. Now I’m down by 15, and there’s more than 100 votes out,” said Walther, who is running neck and neck with Paris McConnell.

Voters may not find out who won until July 13, when the election commission canvasses the election returns.

“The canvass is when it becomes official," McBride said.

More: Election results from Peoria County

Previously: 3 candidates are competing for 2 seats on Peoria school board. Here's why they're running

As ballots continue to trickle in through the mail, there will be three more counts before the final results are canvassed. If either Walther or McConnell loses, they can request a recount. Walther said he would request one if he loses by a small margin.

Peoria Public Schools typically holds its reorganizational board meeting early in July, but chose this year to move it to the end of the month to accommodate the certification process, said Haleemah Na'AllahHalima Naallah, the district's new director of communications. The new school board members will be sworn in July 25.

This article originally appeared on Journal Star: Peoria School Board race still too close to call after primary