Mazzochi Weaker In Elmhurst Than in 2020

ELMHURST, IL – State Rep. Deanne Mazzochi found herself in a weaker position in Tuesday's election in Elmhurst than she was in 2020.

This followed months of the Elmhurst Republican's criticism of Elmhurst School District 205, in which she called for the superintendent to "clean house."

She focused on race issues in York High School's curriculum, reflecting conservative objections to schools across the country.

For Tuesday's election, the counting of votes continues, with mail-in ballots postmarked as of Election Day still coming in.

As of Monday morning, Elmhurst Democrat Jenn Ladisch Douglass was ahead of Mazzochi by 175 votes – 21,575 to Mazzochi's 21,400.

In the 2020 presidential election, Elmhurst was almost entirely a sea of blue, meaning Democrat Joe Biden prevailed over Republican Donald Trump. This represented a suburban trend across the country.

Despite Trump's weakness in the suburbs, Mazzochi defeated her Democratic opponent, Jennifer Zordani of Clarendon Hills, in most of Elmhurst. Zordani's strength was in Elmhurst's northeastern precincts, where Douglass also did well. Overall, Mazzochi received 54 percent of the vote in 2020.

This year, Douglass prevailed in most Elmhurst precincts.

With redistricting, Mazzochi's District 45 is largely the same as the new District 47, where Mazzochi and Douglass ran.

Mazzochi lives on Sunnyside Avenue, a couple of blocks northwest of York High School. In her precinct, Douglass defeated Mazzochi by 137 votes to 125. Two years ago, Mazzochi prevailed with 276 votes to Democrat Zordani's 270. (More people vote in presidential election years.)

Douglass lives a mile south of Mazzochi on Fairview Avenue, southeast of Sleepy Hollow Park. In her precinct, she prevailed with 215 votes to Mazzochi's 189. In 2020, though, Mazzochi won with 233 votes to Zordani's 204.

In the precinct that contains Elmhurst University and Wilder Park, Mazzochi defeated Zordani 263 to 217 in 2020. This time around, though, Douglass is edging out Mazzochi 182 to 179.

The precinct that includes Jefferson Elementary School showed Douglass ahead of Mazzochi 63 to 61. Two years ago, Mazzochi trounced Zordani with 324 votes to 248.

In the downtown precinct that includes City Hall, the Democratic candidate won both times, but the party's margin increased, from 53 percent to 57 percent.

In both elections, areas of the district outside of Elmhurst remained mostly red, representing Mazzochi's strength. Those areas included Hinsdale, Clarendon Hills and Oak Brook.

A few precincts changed in Douglass' favor. At least one, though, moved toward Mazzochi. In 2020, Zordani defeated Mazzochi 336 votes to 318 in the precinct that includes Walker Elementary School in Clarendon Hills. (Zordani lives a few blocks outside the precinct.) This time, Mazzochi took back the precinct 244 votes to 238.