How did voter turnout for Belleville’s mayoral race stack up with past elections?
A contentious mayoral race in Belleville brought about 400 more voters to the polls on Tuesday than in the last consolidated election, but some people were surprised that turnout wasn’t higher.
The race had pitted incumbent Mayor Patty Gregory against City Clerk Jenny Gain Meyer. It also represented a split between two powerful Democrats in the metro-east. St. Clair County Board Chairman Mark Kern supported Gregory, and Illinois Rep. Jay Hoffman supported Meyer, who won handily.
Some 5,388 people voted for mayor, representing 18.5% of the city’s 29,075 registered voters, according to unofficial election results released Tuesday evening by St. Clair County Clerk Tom Holbrook’s office.
That doesn’t include about 700 mail-in ballots for races all over the county that are still being counted, said Elections Supervisor Laura Kaemmerer. So the turnout percentage for Belleville’s mayoral race could increase slightly.
The unofficial results included 3,399 votes (about 63%) for Meyer, 1,972 (36%) for Gregory and 17 (less than 1%) for write-ins, with at least eight for declared write-in candidate Ryan Musick.
At a recent candidate forum, Meyer brought up the issue of low voter turnout in the 2021 city election.
“We have to do better at getting people involved,” she said.
So what is “normal” turnout in Belleville mayoral elections, and how has it changed over the years? Answers can be found in online records maintained by Holbrook’s office and the BND’s election coverage. Here are the basics on six other races this century:
26% turnout in 2001
The campaign leading up to the April 3, 2001, mayoral election got confusing with two candidates named Mark A. Kern. Mark Alan Kern, a local businessman, challenged incumbent Mayor Mark Andrew Kern, a distant relative.
Some 6,799 people voted for mayor, representing 26% of the city’s 26,093 registered voters. The incumbent Kern won with 4,340 votes (about 64%), compared to 2,459 votes (36%) for challenger Kern.
18% turnout in 2005
Candidates in the April 5, 2005, mayoral election included incumbent Mayor Mark Eckert, who had been appointed four months earlier, when former Mayor Kern became county chairman. Eckert ran as part of a Good Government Party slate. He was challenged by local businessman Robert O’Rear.
Some 4,972 people voted for mayor, representing about 18% of the city’s 27,712 registered voters. Eckert won in a landslide with 3,750 votes (about 75%), compared to 1,222 votes (25%) for O’Rear.
10% turnout in 2009
Eckert ran unopposed in the April 7, 2009, election, leading to the phenomenon that many people who cast ballots didn’t even bother to vote for mayor, focusing on other races instead.
Some 3,769 Belleville residents voted in the consolidated election, representing nearly 13% of the city’s 29,286 registered voters. But only 2,895 voted for mayor (less than 10%). Eckert received 2,699 votes. Some 196 people submitted names of write-in candidates.
24% turnout in 2013
Eckert faced two challengers in the April 9, 2013, election. The heated campaign featured strong criticism by candidates Joe Hayden and Phil Elmore, both insurance agents and aldermen.
Some 6,506 people voted for mayor, representing nearly 24% of the city’s 27,278 registered voters. Eckert won with 2,732 votes (about 42%), compared to 2,261 (35%) for Hayden and 1,513 (23%) for Elmore.
21% turnout in 2017
Belleville City Clerk Dallas Cook challenged Eckert in the April 4, 2017, election. He was trying to follow in the footsteps of his father, Rodger Cook, who served as mayor in the 1990s.
Some 6,527 people voted for mayor, representing about 21% of the city’s 30,421 registered voters. Eckert won easily with 4,342 votes (66.5%), compared to 2,185 votes (33.5%) for Cook.
15% turnout in 2021
Eckert was challenged in the April 6, 2021, election by Gregory, a retired schoolteacher and founding director of Art on the Square, as well as write-in candidate J.D. Dixon.
Some 4,987 people voted for mayor, representing about 15% of the city’s 32,389 registered voters. Gregory unseated the incumbent, who had served more than 16 years, with 2,806 votes (about 56%), compared to 2,145 for Eckert (43%) and 36 (less than 1%) for Dixon.
This story was originally published April 5, 2025 at 6:00 AM.
