Elmhurst’s mayoral race has been won by Scott Levin, according to unofficial results from the DuPage County Election Division website.
The unofficial results show Levin leading with 3,225 votes, or nearly 41% of the 7,871 votes cast. Second place finisher Michael Bram drew 2,645 votes, about 33%, followed by Mark Mulliner with 1,964 votes, about 25% of the total.
Levin, one of two aldermen from the city’s Fifth Ward for the last 10 years, ran on a platform of integrity, transparency and cooperation, according to his website.
In a League of Women Voters forum in February, Levin said his priorities included promoting responsible development and new business to increase city sales tax revenue, investing time and money in updating the city’s comprehensive plan and what he called “a full review” of the city’s many boards and commission.
In a conversation the morning after the election, Levin said he believed the results showed voters want to get away from political division. “In my opinion,” he said, “the election shows people are looking for someone who’s going to reach out to both sides — the progressive side and the conservative side — and govern from the middle and bring people together.”
Issues facing the new mayor and City Council members include tackling the city’s lack of a formal plan for affordable housing, which Levin described in February as “a tough topic,” and possible pandemic-related city revenue shortfalls.
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In that February forum, Levin with the others spoke of revisiting the subject of recreational marijuana sales, saying it might be time to look at the experiences of other towns and reconsider the potential revenue source, with community input.
He remains opposed to revisiting the question of video gambling in Elmhurst.
Finally, Levin acknowledged that in a world of political pundits, his election win had been forecast in another quite unusual forum. In a turtle race organized by First Ward aldermanic candidate Kevin Flanagan, a turtle labeled “Levin” beat turtles “Bram” and “Mulliner” in a late dash across the finish line.
The story has been corrected, Levin is not in favor of revisiting the question of video gambling in Elmhurst.