Aurora, Illinois Mayor Richard Irvin concedes election to challenger John Laesch
City Councilman John Laesch defeated incumbent Richard Irvin to be elected mayor of Aurora, Illinois Tuesday.
Irvin publicly conceded the race Tuesday night.
"So as I serve out my last month as mayor, I will do it with pride," Irvin said. "I will do it with my head held high, knowing that I did so much for my hometown."
Laesch won with 53% of the vote to 46% for Irvin.
"This isn't my win. This is our win," Laesch said, "and I want to just say, there's no longer going to be two Auroras, because this is not just how we ran a campaign. This is how we're going to run the city together."
There is no love lost between Irvin and Laesch. Irvin said the city is stable financially and its schools and safety overall are on the rise, but Laesch loudly called Irvin out for what he says are major civility and ethical issues, including pay-to-play schemes where donors are awarded big city contracts.
Irvin denied that, and said contractors are allowed to donate.
Laesch has said he wants to lower debt in the city; invest in green energy; and improve street lights, curbs and water lines.
In his concession speech, Irvin emphasized the divisiveness of the campaign.
"I want to apologize to my family, my friends, my supporters. This hasn't just been a difficult race for me—this has been a difficult race for my supporters. They were attacked, they were maligned, they were disregarded, disrespected."
He said he hoped the residents and politicians of Aurora would put aside the "hatefulness" and "divisiveness," and "continue to work to make this city one of the best cities in the state of Illinois, and arguably one of the best cities in this entire country—because that's what we were about in the Irvin administration."
Laesch emphasized that he had campaigned for change from the beginning.
"I told you that in nine months, we would give birth to a radical new idea of a government, an economy that works for everybody," he said in his victory speech. "Tonight, we took a big step forward, and we did it together."
Laesch also denounced "ugly attacks" during the campaign.
