EAST SIDE — Ald. John Pope (10th) picked up one vote on Friday - the second day of absentee ballot counting.
With 25 votes trickling three days after the runoff election on the Southeast Side, Pope received 13 votes. Challenger and front runner Susan Sadlowski Garza received 12 votes in the battle for 10th Ward alderman.
The latest totals give Garza a 43-vote lead over the incumbent in the sprawling ward that includes the neighborhoods of South Chicago, East Side, Hegewisch, The Bush and South Deering.
Garza was confident enough in her lead on Wednesday to declare victory. She currently has 5,797 votes or 50.1 percent, while Pope has 5,754 votes, or 49.8 percent.
Pope has chipped away at her slim lead that was up to 89 votes after the final precinct was counted by the Chicago Board of Election Commissioners on Wednesday evening.
Pope's campaign manager Jake Breymaier on Wednesday called Garza's declaration of victory premature. He said Pope has no plans to make a concession speech anytime soon, and even went so far as to predict a win for the incumbent.
Both candidates are a lifelong residents of the 10th Ward. Pope served as an assistant to former Mayor Richard M. Daley before he was elected alderman in 1999.
Garza works as a Chicago Public Schools counselor at Jane Addams Elementary in the East Side neighborhood.
Absentee and provisional ballots will continue to be added until April 23.
