Candidate Bible widens lead in board race
By Cindy Wojdyla Cain ccain@stmedianetwork.com November 19, 2012 4:36PM
Reed Bible
Updated: December 21, 2012 6:20AM
Democrat Reed Bible, who ran for the Will County Board in the Nov. 6 election, picked up 273 votes during final vote counting in Aurora on Monday.
That means he led Republican incumbent John Argoudelis by 500 votes as of Monday afternoon.
After final Aurora totals were added to Nov. 6 vote totals, Bible had 7,803 votes to Argoudelis’ 7,303. Lee Ann Goodson (R-Plainfield) had 8,274. Only two candidates are elected.
But the race for county board District 5 isn’t over yet. Final absentee, provisional and grace period votes will be counted at 9 a.m. Tuesday at the Will County Office Building. They will be added to the votes from the Will County portion of Aurora, which were counted separately by the Aurora Election Commission.
If Argoudelis, of Plainfield, can overtake Bible, of Plainfield, he could still win. About 1,100 votes remain to be counted in District 5, according to Will County Clerk Nancy Schultz Voots. She said those ballots will be counted first on Tuesday.
The fate of the county board’s Democrat/Republican split hangs in the balance with this race. If Bible hangs on, the two parties will be tied at 13 each and the Democrats will have the edge because Will County Executive Larry Walsh, a Democrat, can cast tiebreaking votes on board issues.
If Argoudelis can gain enough votes to retain his seat, the Republicans will retain the county board majority, something they have held since 1980.
