It’s official: Guerrero wins 3rd seat in Joliet City Council election

Cesar Guerrero held on to his 11-point margin of victory for a seat on the Joliet City Council after the results from the April 6 election were certified Tuesday.

The certification makes Guerrero, incumbent council member Jan Quillman and former police officer Joe Clement the official winners of the three at-large council seats that were on the ballot.

“It gives me a moment to take a breath and feel a little bit more confident now and think about preparing to actually serve on the council,” Guerrero said. “With it being this close of a margin, I certainly was anxious the last few weeks.”

A swearing-in ceremony for the newly elected council members will take place Monday at City Hall.

Robert Wunderlich, who finished behind Guerrero in the neck-and-neck contest, did not return calls for comment on the results and whether he would pursue a recount. Wunderlich said last week after final mail-in and provisional votes were counted that he would wait until the election was certified before commenting on Guerrero’s apparent victory.

Election results were certified in both the Will and Kendall county sections of Joliet on Tuesday.

Quillman was the top vote-getter in the election with 3,683 votes. Clement was second with 3,385 votes.

Clement and Quillman were assured victory on election night because of the size of their leads.

Wunderlich on election night had a 55-vote lead over Guerrero that disappeared when late-arriving mail-in ballots postmarked by Election Day were counted in the last two weeks.

Guerrero finished with 3,161 votes, and Wunderlich had 3,150.

There were 12 candidates in the contest.