Illinois swings Democrat in the State House, White House and U.S. Senate.
Few Republicans saw it coming. The influx of Democrat votes throughout President Barack Obama’s home state gave the sitting president a second term while ensuring Democrats a supermajority in both chambers in Springfield and strengthening the party’s hold in the U.S. Senate. Illinois Republicans lost five of the six hotly contested congressional races in the state, which came as a surprise to many members of the opposing party that had labeled 2012 a comeback year for the GOP.
All Eyes on Washington
In what could have been a narrow victory for then-Republican Presidential candidate Mitt Romney, President Obama sealed wins in several swing states—including the coveted Ohio and Florida—ensuring him four more years in the White House. With 99 percent of precinct reporting, Obama claimed 57 percent of the vote and Romney 41 percent. Obama promised an audience of thrilled supporters in Chicago that “for the United States of America, the best is yet to come.” In Boston, disappointed Romney supporters listened in silence as Romney conceded the election, promising to “pray that the President is successful in guiding our nation.”
In Florida and Virginia, only one percentage point separated both candidates. Florida wasn’t called until the Saturday following the election. Ohio was tied at 49 percent shortly before the state was called in Obama’s favor.
Although Democrats maintained control of the Executive Branch, Republicans retained their grip on the U.S. House, a much-needed victory after Democrats kept a lock on the Senate. Democrats would have needed to pick up 25 Republican seats to regain control. Republicans controlled the House by 242-193 going into the election. Thanks to the Tea Party movement, the GOP seized control of the House two years ago. This year, Democratic efforts to link the Tea Party with Washington gridlock ousted Illinois Congressmen Joe Walsh and Bobby Schilling.
In the congressional race for the 17th district several Bobby Schilling supporters thought the race would be close but said Schilling could pull off a win. Instead former East Moline alderwoman Cheri Bustos claimed a narrow victory when she ended the race with 53 percent of the vote to Schilling’s 47 percent, setting herself up for a career in Congress. With all precincts reporting, Bustos finished with 150,575 to Schilling’s 132,033 votes.
Bustos called the impressive number of Peoria votes “unbelievable” and thanked Peorians for their support. She said her first order of business will be to set up a bi-partisan retreat for new members of Congress. She also plans to host an economic summit during her early days in office, as she promised during her campaign.
The congresswoman-elect’s win comes on the heels of a brutal campaign characterized by nasty attack ads during which GOP groups spent in excess of $4 million and Democrat-leaning groups spent another $4 million on campaign ads. The candidates butted heads on issues including free trade and the most efficient ways to put constituents in the 17th district back to work. While Schilling supports the free trade agreements with Columbia, Panama and South Korea, Bustos says such trade agreements have led to job losses and says trade must be free but fair.
The 17th district includes Peoria south of War Memorial Drive and the southern half of Peoria County and stretches through most of northwest Illinois. It also covers a portion of the Tazewell County communities.
Republicans did keep seats in the 13th and 16th Congressional districts. In the 13th District, Republican Rodney Davis won over Democrat opponent David Gill, 47 to 46 percent respectively. Incumbent Adam Kinzinger maintained his seat in the 16th district defeating Democrat challenger Wanda Rohl with a wide lead of 62 to 38 percent.
Returning to Springfield
The race for the 46th state senate district, one of the most expensive downstate legislative races in history, ended in a victory for the Democratic party with Republican Pat Sullivan losing to Democrat incumbent David Koehler. Sullivan is a Veteran of the U.S. Army and co-owner of Kellehers Irish Pub and Eatery, established in Peoria in 2001. Koehler, who has served the 46th district for the past six years after working six years on the Peoria County Board and eight years on the Peoria City Council, won by a margin of 39,149 to 31,684 votes or 55 to 45 percent. Koehler stated his campaign team “accomplished every goal we set out to accomplish.” Now serving his second term, Koehler will now begin a comfortable four-year term in the state capitol before having to run again should he decide to seek another term.
Top priority for Koehler upon returning to Springfield is pension reform and continuing to work on mitigating Illinois’ fiscal quandary with the implementation of a sound budget. Koehler says any changes made to Illinois’ pension system should be fair and in the best interest of constituents and state workers. In order to protect workers with low pensions, Koehler has promised to support an income cap on pension reforms.
During the campaign, Koehler and Sullivan disagreed on a number of issues, most poignant being the best ways to cut the state budget. While Koehler advocated for gradual spending cuts and an income tax increase from 3 to 5 percent, widely unpopular among Republicans, Sullivan argued for across-the-board spending reductions and criticized Koehler for voting in favor of the income tax increase in 2011. Both candidates did manage to agree in support of civil union legislation and concealed carry in Illinois.