Carolin Harvey wins election to become first Black mayor of Carbondale

CARBONDALE, Ill. (KFVS) - Illinois held its own municipal election today. One of the big races on the ballot was the mayoral race in Carbondale.

On Tuesday, April 4, just after 9 p.m., mayoral candidate Harold Visser conceded, giving the win to opponent Carolin Harvey. Harvey has been acting mayor, or mayor pro tem, since Mayor Mike Henry took a leave of absence.

She is now the City of Carbondale’s first Black mayor. Her platform includes curbing crime in the city and increasing the availability of housing for low and middle income families.

Harvey addressed the crowd at her thank you party, sending her gratitude to everyone who voted and supported her during the campaign.

”I want to say thank you and I would like to say hopefully we all can work together whether you voted for me or not,” Harvey said. “We’re all part of Carbondale and we want to move forward to do what’s best for all of the citizens of Carbondale.”

Harvey added that she looks forward to getting into office.