ALBANY PARK — With votes from all precincts in the 33rd Ward now tallied in Tuesday's Democratic committeeman race, challenger Aaron Goldstein's lead over long-time ward boss Dick Mell has narrowed to fewer than 100 votes.
Vote counts from the fifth and 19th precincts, which were unavailable earlier in the week, have now been added to the previous total, pushing Goldstein to 5,331 or 50.44 percent of the vote versus 5,238 or 49.56 percent for Mell.
Vote-by-mail ballots have continued trickling into the Chicago Board of Elections, according to spokesman Jim Allen.
"In Ward 33, it looks like we'll be adding 122 to Mell's count, 91 to Goldstein's count," Allen said.
That would put Goldstein's lead at 62 votes, down from 143 on Tuesday night, before the latecomers were added.
By law, mail-in ballots can be counted up to two weeks after Election Day — which would be March 29 — provided they're postmarked by Election Day.
The Board of Elections expects to make final proclamations for all races on or about March 31, Allen said.
As elected offices go, the committeeman position is little understood yet highly influential, with committeemen bringing to bear the power of their party's resources to get out the vote for endorsed candidates.
Mell was elected 33rd Ward alderman in 1975, a post he held until his retirement in 2013, when his daughter Deb Mell was named as his replacement. He continued as the ward's committeeman, a job to which he was first elected in 1976.
Goldstein ran for committeeman on a platform of transparency and accountability, vowing to end the "political dynasty" that had ruled the ward for decades. He was endorsed by Ald. Carlos Rosa (35th) and Northside Democracy for America.
A former Cook County public defender, Goldstein 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.
In 2012, Mell won the committeeman race with fewer than 2,000 votes. In Tuesday's primary, nearly 11,000 total votes were cast.
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