15-vote margin separates Shorewood mayoral candidates

The two candidates running to be the next mayor of Shorewood were separated by a slim margin as of election night.

Clarence “CC” DeBold led Dan Anderson by a count of 1,055 votes to 1,040, a difference of 15 votes, according unofficial results from the Will County Clerk’s Office. Both Anderson and DeBold are sitting village trustees.

DeBold expressed cautious optimism about the result.

“We’re not celebrating anything,” he said on Wednesday. “We know it’s still a very close race.”

Anderson said he didn’t have much of a reaction to the result because he thought the vote would be close.

“I’m just waiting to see what happens,” he said.

In the coming days, the Will County Clerk’s office will have to process mail-in ballots which came in the last few days before Election Day and provisional ballots yet to be counted. Residents had until Tuesday to postmark mail-in ballots.

The village of Shorewood spans 10 precincts in Troy Township, according to the Will County Clerk’s website. The clerk’s office on Wednesday also released data on how many uncounted mail-in ballots it had as of Tuesday and from where in the county they came from.

The data show 90 uncounted ballots in the 10 precincts Shorewood voters were in, more than enough to swing the race one way or the other.

Whichever candidate comes out on top after the vote is certified will oversee a village of more than 17,000 residents.

The sitting mayor, Rick Chapman, chose instead to run for Village Board and won a seat, according to the unofficial results.