Democrats to maintain supermajorities in Illinois General Assembly
SPRINGFIELD — Democrats will maintain their supermajorities in the Illinois General Assembly but appear unlikely to expand them as Republicans fended off several well-funded challenges in legislative districts across the state.
The Illinois Senate will likely maintain its 40-19 Democratic majority to Republicans while a handful of races remain uncalled in the House, where Democrats hold a 78-40 majority.
But it appears unlikely the Democratic Party will net any seats there, despite a gerrymandered legislative map favoring the majority party and a massive fundraising advantage over Republicans.
It appeared the Democrats' expansion plans were impeded by significant underperformance at the top of the ticket by the party's presidential nominee, Vice President Kamala Harris, who leads the typically safe blue state by just 8 percentage points against President-elect Donald Trump.
House Speaker Chris Welch, in a statement, said despite being on offense this cycle, defense of the supermajority was the first goal. He noted "in a national environment we knew would be challenging," all House Democratic incumbents were reelected on Tuesday.
"Our victory Tuesday is why we will be able to continue to defend Illinois' values from Donald Trump and his extremist allies, and why we are poised to continue to defend and expand our majority in 2026 and beyond," Welch said.
But Welch wasn't the only one spinning Tuesday's results as a win.
House Republican Leader Tony McCombie, R-Savanna, despite earlier this year eyeing a five-seat gain in the House, said that fighting Democrats to a draw "was a victory for House Republicans."
"Holding our caucus together is a testament to our grassroots operation — the heart of our team, undeterred by the most partisan gerrymandered map in the nation and exponential spending against us," McCombie said. "Illinois voters are exhausted by decades of one-party control. House Republicans remain committed to delivering economic growth, ending corruption and putting Illinois families first."
Across Central Illinois, incumbent lawmakers in both parties held their own and will likely return to Springfield.
In the 91st House District, which stretches from Bloomington-Normal to the eastern suburbs of Peoria, state Rep. Sharon Chung, D-Bloomington, defeated Republican challenger Desi Anderson to earn a second term.
With 71% of precincts reporting, Chung had a 50.1% to 49.9% lead over Anderson, a margin of just 69 votes, per data from the Associated Press.
However, the newsgathering organization had yet to add tallies from Bloomington that would give Chung a more than 3,500-vote lead, thus securing her reelection. Anderson conceded Wednesday morning.
In an interview with The Pantagraph Wednesday morning, Chung said she "feels great" about where the race landed.
"It's clear that we won by a bigger margin than last time," Chung said. "So, that's great. I think it's just the advantage that incumbency has. People knew I was — I've been very present in the community not just campaigning, but just being in the community, showing up to things, events, making all those connections."
"I'm happy that the voters in my constituency were able to recognize that and vote for me so that I can go back for a second term," she said.
In the 105th House District, Rep. Dennis Tipsword, R-Metamora, seeking a second term, easily defeated Democratic challenger Morgan Phillips. Tipsword received 70% of the votes to Phillips' 30%.
"We're happy with those results and we're just looking to move ahead into our second term (and) looking forward to getting back to Springfield," Tipsword told The Pantagraph Tuesday night.
In the 87th House District, Rep. Bill Hauter, R-Morton, defeated independent David Gill 77% to 23%, with nearly all the votes counted.
For the second time in as many elections, state Rep. Sue Scherer, D-Decatur, defeated Republican Lisa Smith in the race for the 96th House District.
Unofficial results show Scherer with 22,879 votes to Smith's 16,297 votes. The district includes Macon, Christian and Sangamon counties.
Rep. Mike Coffey, R-Springfield, defeated Democrat Kristen Chiaro, a Village of Chatham trustee, by an unofficial vote total of 34,239 to 22,736. That district covers parts of Sangamon, Christian and Macon counties.
In the 104th House District, Rep. Brandun Schweizer, R-Danville, leads Democratic challenger Jarrett Clem 51% to 49%, with just under 800 votes separating them with 92% of the vote in.
In the 114th House District in the Metro East region, Rep. Kevin Schmidt led former Democratic Rep. LaToya Greenwood 52% to 47%, with 78% of votes counted.
In the Chicago region, two Republican incumbents in suburban districts targeted by Democrats held onto narrow leads. Democrats also appear poised to hold the open 76th House District seat in the Illinois Valley.
On the Senate side, only 24 of 59 seats were up for reelection this cycle.
In the 46th Senate District, which includes Bloomington-Normal and Peoria, state Sen. Dave Koehler, D-Peoria, defeated Republican challenger Sally Owens 57% to 43%, with about 76% of the votes counted.
"I think we had a very good showing tonight, both in Peoria and Bloomington-Normal," Koehler told The Pantagraph Tuesday night. "I'm always very humbled and very grateful to the voters to send me back to Springfield to represent them in the Senate."
In the 40th House District, which includes Cook, Will and Kankakee counties, state Sen. Patrick Joyce, D-Essex, easily defeated a challenge from Republican Phillip Nagel. It was viewed as the most competitive Senate race this cycle.
Illinois lawmakers return to Springfield for their annual fall veto session next week.
Contact Brenden Moore at . :
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