ALBANY PARK — With two precincts still to report, Aaron Goldstein held a narrow 143 vote lead over incumbent Dick Mell in the race for 33rd Ward Democratic committeeman, a post Mell has held for 40 years, according to unofficial election results as of Wednesday morning.
Goldstein was holding onto 50.72 percent of the vote versus 49.28 percent for Mell. Votes from the fifth and 19th precincts had yet to be tallied.
Goldstein had 5,044 votes to Mell's 4,901. Precincts already counted in the ward ranged from 171 total votes to 504 total votes cast.
In 2012, Mell won the committeeman race with fewer than 2,000 votes. In Tuesday's primary, nearly 10,000 total votes were cast.
Endorsed by Ald. Carlos Rosa (35th) and Northside Democracy for America, Goldstein ran on a platform of transparency and accountability, vowing to end the "political dynasty" that had ruled the ward for decades.
Goldstein, a former Cook County public defender, previously ran for state representative in the 40th District. He was bested in that race by Jaime Andrade, a Mell staffer who had been appointed to serve out the 40th representative term vacated by Deb Mell when she traded the statehouse for City Hall.
Stan Bartkus, who ran unopposed, was elected the 33rd Ward's Republican committeeman with 715 votes. Bartkus got into hot water with the Chicago Election Board on Tuesday when he attempted to serve as an election judge despite his status as a candidate.
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