PEORIA, Ill. — Jim Montelongo on Tuesday announced he has conceded the Peoria mayoral race to Mayor Rita Ali, but that he is also filing a lawsuit against the Election Commission.
Montelongo lost the April 6 election with 8,197 votes to Ali’s 8,240 votes, according to official results from the Peoria County Election Commission.
Ali was sworn in as Peoria’s new mayor on May 4.
A discovery recount requested by Montelongo’s campaign was completed Monday with the final vote count unchanged.
“I congratulate Rita on her victory and extend my very best wishes for her service as our mayor. I called Rita last night and we had a very warm conversation.” said Montelongo in a statement on Tuesday.
His campaign announced the legal team will consist of Bill Atkins of Johnson, Bunce & Noble, P.C. in Peoria, and Mark Braden and Trevor Stanley of BakerHostetler in Washington, DC, and Rob Hanauer of Hanauer Law in Peoria.
“This is not an effort to change the outcome of the election. Our goal is to force the Peoria Election Commission to follow the law when storing and counting ballots,” Atkins said.
None of the issues outlined in the complaint would have arisen if the Election Commission had followed the law, Atkins added.
Montelongo’s team in April penned a letter to the commission, citing three grievances: no mail-in ballots received post election night were properly sealed with voter application; because the ballots weren’t properly sealed, they didn’t contain the proper endorsement from the handler of the ballot; and some mail-in ballots counted after election day were, in fact, received on election day.
The team alleged Commission Executive Director Thomas Bride responded by “raising his voice… and stomping out of the room” when it brought these issues to his attention.
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