ROCK ISLAND, Ill. — Just over two weeks after the Illinois primary election that took place on June 28, Gregg Johnson was confirmed Wednesday, July 13 as the Democratic nominee for the state's District 72 House of Representative seat.
The Democratic primary election night results for District 72 had Gregg Johnson taking the lead with 2,830 votes and Thurgood Brooks coming in second with 2,802 votes, a 28-vote difference.
Following the dead heat race, Brooks took to social media to call for all votes to be counted before a winner was declared. In part, he wrote the following message to voters on his campaign's Facebook page:
Our fight to bring your voice to the table means remaining dedicated to having faith in the electrical process and our systems of democracy ... We have been in touch with the County Clerk regarding the number of outstanding mail-in ballots and the process leading up to the final canvassing of votes. We have also done our due diligence to collect information on our options to take part in this process and how we can ensure every vote is counted.
Because of the close voting margin, the Rock Island County Clerk's Office agreed to conduct a discovery recount. Election judges verified and tallied all late mailed-in ballots before adding them on July 12 to election night results.
The Rock Island County Clerk's Office's recount confirmed Johnson's lead, with a total of 2,843 votes. Brooks followed closely behind with 2,820 - just 23 votes shy of Johnson.
The new results moved on to final canvassing Wednesday afternoon, July 13 to be made official.