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Breaking: Will County Democrats turn table on 3 races

Three Will County Democrats who were down on Election Night appear to have won the races for sheriff, treasurer and a circuit court seat after a Tuesday count of more than 6,400 late-arriving mail-in ballots.

Will County Sheriff Mike Kelley and Treasurer Tim Brophy were leading Tuesday, according to the unofficial results once the Tuesday vote count was included.

Will County Sheriff Mike Kelley, left, watches as mail in ballots are counted on Tuesday at the Will County Office Building.

Will County Sheriff Mike Kelley, left, watches as mail-in ballots are counted on Tuesday at the Will County Office Building. (Gary Middendorf – gmiddendorf@shawmedia.com/)

Associate Judge Jessica Colon-Sayre now is the unofficial winner in her contest against Joliet Attorney Bob Bodach in an election for Will County circuit judge.

Mail-in votes yet to arrive and provisional ballots will be counted next week. But the numbers are not expected to be large enough to change the results from Tuesday.

Democrats believed they had a chance to win with the late mail-in count based on mail-in votes counted on Election Day and the trend seen in previous elections.

“I had the same situation eight years ago, and I came out on top,” Sheriff Mike Kelley said Tuesday.

Kelley now appears to have won the election by 2,144 votes. He was down by 289 votes on Election Night to Republican James Reilly, who was not at the vote count on Tuesday.

Republican treasurer candidate Raj Pillai watches as mail in ballots are counted on Tuesday at the Will County Office Building.

Republican treasurer candidate Raj Pillai watches as mail-in ballots are counted on Tuesday at the Will County Office Building. (Gary Middendorf – gmiddendorf@shawmedia.com/)

A similar reversal occurred in the treasurer’s race where Republican Raj Pillai saw his 478-vote lead turn into a 1,930-vote deficit.

“We’re proud of the campaign that we ran,” Pillai said acknowledging defeat after the mail-in count. “I hope that the race has brought to light some of the issues that Will County is facing.”

Colon-Sayre said she was told by the Democratic Party that mail-in votes were likely to go in her favor. But it was her first election, and Colon-Sayre said she did not know what to expect.

Democrat candidate for Will County Judge Jessica Colon-Sayre, front center, waits as mail in ballots are counted on Tuesday at the Will County Office Building.

Democrat candidate for Will County Judge Jessica Colon-Sayre, front center, waits as mail-in ballots are counted on Tuesday at the Will County Office Building. (Gary Middendorf – gmiddendorf@shawmedia.com/)

“I had to see it to believe it,” she said.

Colon-Sayre had the biggest deficit to overcome. She was down by 1,430 votes on Election Night. After the Tuesday county, she appears to have won the election by 1,322 votes.

Check back with the Herald-News for further updates.

Source: The Daily Chronicle

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