By JEREMY GORNER, OLIVIA OLANDER, ADRIANA PÉREZ and KARINA ATKINS | Chicago Tribune
Democrats were poised to defend their supermajority in the Illinois General Assembly on Tuesday but Republicans appeared set to prevent the opposition party from expanding their control.
Democrats, who enjoyed a significant funding advantage over Republicans in this election, thanks to billionaire Gov. JB Pritzker and other sources, were holding on to several seats targeted by the GOP, according to unofficial results in an election where all 118 state House seats and 24 of the 59 state Senate seats were in play.
“Our historic Democratic majority will continue to advance our vision for opportunity, dignity, and freedom for all,” House Speaker Emanuel “Chris” Welch, Hillside Democrat, said in a statement Tuesday night.
Several races remained undecided as ballots continued to be counted late Tuesday.
In the northwest Chicago suburbs, Republican Rep. Martin McLaughlin held a slight edge over Democratic challenger Maria Peterson, a former labor attorney from North Barrington, with 91% of the estimated vote total reporting.
Just after 11 p.m., votes for the two candidates were almost evenly split, according to AP.
Peterson said her campaign will wait for all mail-in ballots to come in.
Democratic campaign organizations backed Peterson with more than $300,000 in in-kind contributions, campaign finance records show.
Peterson’s campaign spent nearly five times more than McLaughlin’s during the last quarter, the records show.
Read more here.
Editorial note: As of 5 AM today with all four counties in Barrington Hills reporting a 100% count, Martin McLaughlin received 28,487 votes to Maria Peterson’s 27,563 for a difference of 924 votes.
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