Irvin, Guzman advance in Aurora mayoral primary
Richard Irvin and Richard Guzman appear headed for an April 4 showdown to determine who will be the next mayor of Aurora, according to unofficial results from Tuesday's primary election.
Unofficial final vote totals from the Aurora Election Commission and the DuPage County Election Commission show Irvin led the four-way primary race with 3,025 votes and Guzman finished second with 2,713. The top two finishers advance to the general election.
The other two candidates on the ballot were Linda Chapa LaVia with 2,345 votes and Michael Saville with 1,306.
The vote totals do not include votes cast for five write-in candidates - Jeffrey Houghtaling, Daniel Hoffman, Thomas Benedetto, David James Howard and Eva Rodgers - whose presence in the race triggered the need for the primary to whittle the field to two candidates before the April election.
Irvin, a 46-year-old attorney and alderman at-large, said his status as the mayoral front-runner showed voters appreciated his vision for Aurora, which he sums up as C + E� = P, or focusing on decreasing crime and improving education and economic development will lead to prosperity.
"This is about leadership," Irvin said Tuesday. "Of all the people in the race, I'm the elder statesman in the city of Aurora. I'm the person that has been on the city council for the last 10 years. I haven't been an employee for the city; I haven't been in Springfield. I've been here in Aurora, boots on the ground, getting the job done."
Guzman, a 39-year-old first-time candidate who works as assistant chief of staff in the Aurora mayor's office, said Tuesday his candidacy is about moving the city forward to become a safer place and offering a higher quality of life. Making Aurora the "safest big city around" will help bring more development and vitality to the City of Lights, he said.
"I never have a conversation where I don't talk about the need for us to work together to build collaborations and partnerships and to include every single person in the solutions to build a stronger Aurora," Guzman said.
Both Irvin and Guzman say they're ready to hit the campaign trail again Wednesday, aiming to be the top vote-getter in the general election and officially claim the post as chief executive of Illinois' second-largest city.
The winner April 4 will be the first mayor to hold the position on a permanent basis since the resignation last fall of former Mayor Tom Weisner, who stepped down after 11 years at the helm because of health reasons.