Challenger Sharon Waller bested incumbent Daniel “Pogo” Pogorzelski in the Democratic race to claim a seat on the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District’s board of commissioners. (Provided)

Challenger Sharon Waller has bested incumbent Daniel “Pogo” Pogorzelski in the Democratic primary race to claim a seat on the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District’s board of commissioners, according to unofficial results from the Chicago Board of Elections released Tuesday evening.

Per Illinois election code, Tuesday was the last day to count all late-arriving but properly postmarked mail-in ballots.

With four candidates on the Democratic slate to fill three 6-year terms, Waller and Pogorzelski were in a fight for the third slot, after incumbents Kari Steele (the current board president) and Marcelino Garcia easily advanced to November’s general election.

Waller initially held a roughly 13,000-vote lead, which narrowed just slightly as more mail-in ballots were tallied. By Tuesday, her unofficial margin of victory — including Chicago and Cook County votes — was approximately 11,100. Results will be certified April 9.

In a statement emailed to WTTW News, Waller thanked voters for their trust, and credited her staff and volunteers for powering her campaign. Though the election results are still unofficial, Pogorzelski called her Tuesday to concede, Waller said.

Steele, Garcia and Waller will now face one Green Party and three Republican challengers in November.

Waller, who holds a doctorate in water quality, campaigned on her experience as a water engineer. She ran unsuccessfully in 2022 for the MWRD board, where she finished fourth in a crowded field. Three of the board’s nine seats are up for election every two years.

Pogorzelski was elected in 2022 to complete the remainder of outgoing Commissioner Deborah Shore’s term, after Shore was appointed the regional administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency’s Region 5.

Contact Patty Wetli: @pattywetli | (773) 509-5623 | [email protected]