Dan Brady

In an otherwise dreadful Election Night for Republicans in local races across much of the state, former state Rep. and House Minority Leader Dan Brady won the Bloomington Mayor’s Office in convincing fashion Tuesday.

Elsewhere down the ballot, voters approved a 1 percent County Schools Facility Tax intended to allow school districts to pay for capital and certain operational expenses.

While Brady didn’t win a majority, he won a strong plurality in the three-way race. With all precincts reporting Tuesday night, Brady earned a 2,411-vote victory over Ald. Cody Hendricks, 47.9 percent to 33.35 percent. Incumbent Mayor Mboka Mwilambwe was a distant third with 18.75 percent.

Mwilambwe became the first Black mayor of Bloomington in 2021, following 10 years on the City Council.

Speaking to supporters on Election Night, Brady expressed an inclusive tone, saying “The victory belongs to all of us here tonight.”

“And now the real work starts because it begins governing,” he said, “Let’s build a safer, strong and more vibrant Bloomington together.”

Part of that work, he said, will be “getting the guns and the drugs off the streets.”

Hendricks was elected Ward 6 alderman. His term on the City Council lasts until April, 2027.

Brady, 63, who was born and raised in Bloomington. represented McLean County’s 105th and 88th districts over a 22-year career from 2001-23, serving as the GOP’s minority leader his last six years. He was the GOP nominee for Illinois secretary of state in 2022, losing in the General Election.

County Schools Facility Tax

The race for Bloomington mayor had a higher than usual turnout, at 31 percent.

That, some say, was due to the presence of a referendum on the ballot seeking a 1 percent sales tax on non-grocery items to help fund certain expenses for school districts throughout McLean County.

Voters gave the proposal a definitive “yes,” with 17,415 approving and 15,427 “no” votes.

Since 2007, Illinois voters have had the option to approve a 1 percent county sales tax for specified expenditures by school districts. By law, any revenue raised through the County Schools Facility Tax must be dedicated to capital improvements including school buildings, school resource officers, safety and security costs, and mental health programs.

The tax revenue may not be used to pay for teacher and administrator salaries, books, school equipment or transportation expenses such as buses. Groceries, medications, seed and farm equipment are not subject to the sales tax, while gasoline, prepared foods, retail purchases and online sales are.

Unit 5 School District, the largest school district in McLean County, will receive an estimated $16 million to $20 million annually from the new sales tax. Unit 5 Superintendent Kristen Weikle has previously said her district needs an estimated $50 million for repairs and maintenance on its 26 buildings, including roof replacement.

District 87 Superintendent David Mouser called the sales tax revenue a way to “offset costs.”

He said his board intends to provide property-tax relief to homeowners from tax receipts.

Besides touting the sales tax as an alternative to relying solely on property-tax revenues, school officials had stressed that studies show that more than one-third of revenue collected through a County Schools Facility Tax would come from non-county residents.