More than 1,600 mail-in ballots uncounted in counties that take in Briel-Bishop state rep. race

The race for state Rep. Lance Yednock’s seat is not over. Democrat Amy “Murri” Briel holds a lead over challenger Liz Bishop with as many as 1,700 mail-in ballots yet to be counted.

Briel held a 505-vote lead after all precincts were counted in La Salle, Bureau and DeKalb counties in the race to fill Yednock’s seat in the Illinois House. Briel has 23,459 votes, and Republican challenger Bishop has 22,954 votes in unofficial results.

With a lead of less than the number of votes outstanding, the race remains in play. These are mail-in ballots that were received in the clerk’s office and postmarked by the deadline.

“We’re close enough that we’re willing to wait it out, see where we are with mail-in ballots, and willing to let the system work,” Bishop said.

She further said a recount or legal remedy remains a possibility but “we’re not there yet.”

Briel deferred comment until additional information and vote tallies were made available.

La Salle County Clerk Jennifer Ebner said Wednesday that there were about 850 mail-in ballots waiting to be counted – Ebner’s staff has until 4:30 p.m. Thursday to count them. A final tally is due by Nov. 19.

The DeKalb County Clerk’s Office reported Wednesday that there still are 616 outstanding votes within the county.

Additionally, Bureau County Clerk and Recorder Matt Eggers estimated that he has “anywhere from 200 to 300″ mail-in votes to be tabulated, plus any stragglers that might come in, provided they were postmarked by Nov. 5.

The 76th District, however, doesn’t span the entirety of any of the three counties, so some of these votes will not include the Briel-Bishop race. Bishop won at a clip of 56% in La Salle County and 52% in Bureau County, while Briel won 62% of the votes counted in DeKalb County.

Yednock opted not to seek reelection. Briel, his chief of staff, emerged from a three-way contest for the Democratic nomination, while Bishop prevailed in a two-way primary contest.

“I couldn’t be more humbled by everyone who got involved,” Briel said as the final results came in during an election party at Alfano’s in Ottawa, “from folks who own businesses in Ottawa that let us shoot at their place for our commercials, to my staff and the many volunteers. If I win, I hope I can give them the same honor they’ve given me.

“I’m amazed at the amount of support from every place and the people that I met, and all of the brilliant points of light that are in this district that have fabulous ideas and are doing these great things,” Briel said during another outing in DeKalb County. “It just makes me so excited to maybe, hopefully, be able to represent all of them and make the 76th so incredibly brilliant.”

Yednock, D-Ottawa, opting not to run for reelection opened the door for a new face to represent the 76th District in Springfield. Briel, a Democrat from Ottawa, and Bishop, a Republican from La Salle, emerged as political opponents after the March primary. The 76th District was the only Illinois House district to have a contested primary for both parties.

The recently redrawn district comprises La Salle, DeKalb and Bureau counties. Yednock has served as the state representative in the district since 2019.