Terry Vorderer Elected Mayor of Oak Lawn

OAK LAWN, IL — Terry Vorderer fulfilled a childhood dream by being elected mayor of Oak Lawn in Tuesday's election, according to unofficial vote tallies.

Last year, current Mayor Sandra Bury announce that she would not be seeking a third term. Bury has served as mayor for eight years.

Vorderer's only competition was 91-year-old resident Tom Karones, who ran as a write-in candidate. Write-in votes won't be counted for the next several days, but it is not likely that Karones can overcome a deficit of the 2,884 votes won by Vorderer.

All results are unofficial until elections are certified by the Cook County Clerk. As soon as write-in votes become available we’ll post them on Patch.

Vorderer headed the Oak Lawn First slate, which included village clerk candidate Claire Henning, and trustee candidates Alex Olejniczak (Dist. 2), newcomer Jamie Pembroke (Dist. 4) and Tom Phelan (Dist. 6).

Vorderer was first elected as a village trustee in 2013 and was prepared to serve under then-incumbent mayor Dave Heilmann before Bury's upset win. Vorderer went in to win a second term as trustee in 2017.

Vorderer is a decorated Vietnam War veteran and retired Oak Lawn police officer who rose through the ranks to become division chief of patrol upon his retirement. He served on the Oak Lawn Park District Board for many years, and has also advocated on behalf of disabled military veterans.

Keeping a strong and professional police presence, continuing and maintaining strong village services, and holding a responsible line on property taxes are among his priorities if elected mayor. Vorderer is also eyeing turning a blighted, underdeveloped section of Southwest Highway between 95th Street and Ridgeland Avenue into a medical corridor.

Included in the unofficial election day results are early votes and votes that were cast in precincts on election day. Mail-in votes received during the early voting period are also figured into Tuesday’s totals. The Cook County Clerk has two weeks to count the mail-in ballots trickling in after election day, as long as they are postmarked by April 6, 2021.

Early voting in the April 6 consolidated election was higher than the past two consolidated elections in 2019 and 2017. Requests for mail-in ballots were also up.

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