Irvin, Laesch to face off in Aurora mayor race in April

Incumbent Richard Irvin and Alderman-at-large John Laesch will battle April 1 for who gets to be mayor of Aurora.

Unofficial results from Tuesday’s primary election in Kane, Kendall and Will counties showed Irvin with 3,776 votes and Laesch 3,344, as of 9:15 p.m.

1,200 people voted for Alderman Ted Mesiacos, 373 for Karina Garcia and 989 for former alderman Judd Lofchie.

In DuPage, Kane and Will counties, the counts reflected all early, vote-by-mail and Election Day votes. Two precincts had yet to be counted in Kendall, but it was not clear if the Aurora race occurred in those precincts. There was a primary election in Oswego in Kendall.

The totals do not include any outstanding vote-by-mail ballots.

Jazmine Garcia received 59 votes, but she withdrew from the race Feb. 17. It was too late to remove her name from the ballot.

In Aurora, a primary is required when four or more people run for an office.

Laesch and Irvin have butted heads frequently.

Lofchie and Laesch ran against Irvin in 2021.

Irvin is seeking a third term, having been first elected in 2017. Before that, he was an alderman. He also ran, unsuccessfully, for the Republican nomination for governor in 2022.

Laesch is in the middle of his first term as alderman. He previously served on the East Aurora District 131 school board.

An Irvin supporter tried to get Laesch thrown off the ballot, contending that Laesch, Jazmine Garcia and Karina Garcia had conspired to run as a party, when the election is nonpartisan. The supporter also argued that the trio had worked together to force a primary, calling them “sham” candidates. The Aurora Municipal Officers Electoral Board removed Karina Garcia on an issue with her statement of candidacy, but a Kane County judge overturned that decision.

Laesch acknowledged the three had worked together to get on the ballot, including collecting signatures for each other. He said he supported having the Garcias on the ballot because he thought the city’s large Latino population deserved to have Latino representation in the race.

He and Jazmine Garcia also worked together on trying to have an advisory referendum in April asking the city to limit the amount of campaign contributions any entity that has any business with the city could donate to $1,000 per calendar year. Laesch has criticized Irvin’s acceptance of campaign donations from firms that have contracts with the city.

The referendum effort stalled because they did not collect enough signatures.

When Jazmine Garcia withdrew, Irvin posted a letter saying “From day one, she was a pawn ... the time, energy, resources and tax dollars wasted on this scam should infuriate every voter.”