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Over two weeks after a tight election, Sen. Mike Connelly (R-Lisle) has conceded the 21st Senate District race to Laura Ellman of Naperville.
With Connelly's loss, Senate Democrats have now picked up three seats, giving them an advantage of 40-19 on the floor.
At the end of election night on Nov. 6 Connelly held a slim lead with 47,476 votes versus Ellman's 47,464 votes. However, after over 14,000 absentee ballots were counted at the DuPage Election Commission Ellman picked up the advantage she needed to defeat Connelly.
Mike Connelly (R-Lisle)
| Courtesy of SenatorConnelly.org
After all votes were counted Ellman gained more than 1,000 votes over Connelly, 49,928 to 48,749.
"I want to take this opportunity to thank everyone who supported my campaign," Connelly said in a Facebook post. "While Election night ended with us hopeful, we soon learned in the 3 days that followed that 14,000 absentee ballots arrived at the DuPage Election Commission...unfortunately, with those votes now counted, we are going to come up short. I congratulate my opponent and her supporters. I am proud of the campaign we’ve run, and I am forever grateful for the honor to represent the 21st Senate District."
The 21st Senate District covers portions of Naperville, Warrenville, Bloomingdale, Carol Stream, West Chicago, Winfield and Wheaton.
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