The heat is on in the Cook County state's attorney Democratic primary as retired appellate court justice Eileen O'Neill Burke's lead over university lecturer Clayton Harris III tightens, per the latest vote tallies — with mail-in ballots from Chicago nudging the scales marginally closer to a deadlock. As reported by the Chicago Sun-Times, Burke, who has found robust support in the suburbs, still clings to the top spot, albeit by a trimmed cushion of 6,786 votes.
Counter to the runaway speculations and the hungry gaze of observers, the race remains far from concluded and although Burke maintains a 50.7% lead over Harris's 49.3%, it's a nail-biter with a bucketload of mail-in ballots yet to be counted—both in the bustling avenues of Chicago and the quieter streets of the suburbs. Friday witnessed Harris claw back with an additional 1,366 votes to his name, a reminder that the die is not cast, as per the same Sun-Times report. Meanwhile, the Chicago Board of Election Commissioners churned through 12,634 mail-in ballots but with a remaining herd of potentially unreturned forms numbering at 71,624, patience remains the word of the hour for both camps.
Harris, whose campaign pulse has been safety and justice entwined, stood before his supporters with an infused air of optimism after the polls shuttered on Tuesday, preaching patience while votes are being tallied. "That's what this campaign has been about," Harris told ABC7 Chicago. "Safety and justice. The fact that this is not an either or proposition. This is an and proposition." Burke, not resting on any proverbial laurels, has echoed a similarly restrained confidence from her campaign corner, declaring a belief "that we could make our justice system work for everyone in every neighborhood in every town across Cook County."
With a throng of poll watchers keeping eagle eyes on the methodical ballet of ballot counting, the process, unassailable by challenges at this stage, will press on until the April 2 deadline, as election officials have vowed to count every last vote provided it arrives by the cutoff and wears the proper Election Day postmark, however, with the shadow of a potential recount cast long by the close margin, the Democratic nominee's path to a November face-off against Republican Bob Fioretti and Libertarian Andrew Charles Kopinski could spelunk through further procedural caverns if the defeated campaign calls it into question. "We will see a drop off by this weekend of what has been appropriately postmarked, we anticipate an upload early next week with final results," Cook County Deputy Clerk of Elections Edmund Michalowski said in a statement obtained by ABC7 Chicago.
