(East St. Louis, IL) — East St. Louis has a new mayor. Voters helped Councilwoman Emeka Jackson-Hicks defeat incumbent Alvin Parks Jr. by a large margin. The mayor’s race became interesting last month when the Illinois Supreme Court kicked Parks off the ballot because he didn’t get enough qualifying signatures. He then registered as a write-in candidate. Leadership changed hands in two other Metro East elections. Mark Kupsky beat aldermen Joshua Frawley and Speed Allen in Fairview Heights to replace longtime Mayor Gail Mitchell. In Cahokia, Curtis McCall Jr. defeated incumbent Gary Cornwell in the race for village president.