Mohammed Saleem has won an excruciatingly close race for Lincolnwood village trustee, besting incumbent Ronald Cope by seven votes, according to the Cook County Clerk’s office.
On Tuesday, the Cook County Clerk’s Office planned to certify Saleem as a winner, stating on its website that he finished with 1,187 votes in the April 6 municipal election. Saleem squeaked ahead of Cope, who was vying for a third term on the village board and finished with 1,180.
“The results of this election as they stand will not change and they will be officially certified by the end of business today,” Cook County Clerk spokeswoman Sally Daly said.
After Election Day, the vote totals on the Clerk’s website changed frequently as votes from mail-in and provisional votes trickled in. The Clerk’s office accepted mail-in ballots through April 20, Daly said.
Saleem, a civil engineering consultant who has lived in Lincolnwood for eight years, expressed gratitude to his supporters Tuesday.
“I’m thankful to the Lincolnwood community who reached out to me and asked me to run for office,” Saleem said. “This was not my plan and I appreciate they saw something in me and I realize now how I can help the community.”
Cope, a municipal attorney, said he would talk with unnamed election experts and if there is a basis for a challenge to the results, he would do that. However, if he thought there were no grounds to proceed, he would accept Saleem’s victory.
“The people have a right to choose whoever they want and if they chose whoever they wanted, there is nothing I can do about that,” Cope said.
Incredibly close results are nothing new for Cope, as he was elected to the village board by a four-vote margin in 2013.
“It shows the importance of every vote,” Cope said. “I’ve always emphasized that. People don’t realize how important their vote is, especially in municipal elections.”
Saleem’s victory with 16.66 percent of the vote created a sweep for the Lincolnwood Alliance Party candidates. Grace Diaz Herrera was the top vote getter with 17.73 percent of the vote, followed by incumbent Jean Ikezoe-Halevi, who finished with just over 17.6 percent.
Also coming to a conclusion was a tight contest for mayor as village trustee Jesal Patel squeaked by fellow trustee Georjean Hlepas Nickell. Patel, who had the support of the Lincolnwood Alliance Party, finished with 51.53 percent of the vote to Nickell’s 48.47 percent, leading by an 81-vote margin. They were both vying to succeed Barry Bass, who did not seek a second term.
– Original Credit: Patel family
“I’m looking forward to it,” Patel said. “I don’t look at it as a challenge, I look at it as another experience or phase in my life. I want to do a great job and leave a lasting legacy and perform well for the village as I have as a trustee.”
Patel said he has been talking with Bass for transition purposes since the election, but he has not spoken with Nickell since the election.
“It’s not necessarily unexpected, but it is disappointing,” Patel said. “But what can you do?”
Nickell did not respond immediately Tuesday for a request for comment. However, she appeared remotely at the April 20 Committee of the Whole meeting and refrained from discussing one subject saying she had “one foot out the door.”
Nearly 2,700 people voted in the Lincolnwood municipal races, leading a to 25.57 percent turnout, the clerk’s website indicated.
That would put Lincolnwood far ahead of the pace set by the rest of the county, where overall turnout was 15.7 percent, Daly said.
