IFCA’s 2024 Election Roundup
Illinois House R’s Out Pace Expectations
This fall, Speaker Chris Welch spoke of the possibility of House Democrats picking up 4-5 seats on Tuesday. The House Republicans’ determination in these precincts paid off, despite being vastly outspent. There is a real possibility that the House Democrats might not pick up any new seats this cycle. As of this writing, without a full count and late-arriving mail-in ballots yet to be tallied, House Democratic challengers were behind in four races, even though they had massively outspent the Republicans. If those results hold up, the Democrats will not pick up a single seat and might even lose one. But all votes have yet to be counted as the current vote is still in flux.
In House District 52, Rep. Marty McLaughlin (R-Barrington Hills) leads Democrat Maria Peterson by 969 votes with 100% of precincts reporting. (A difference of 28,532 to 27,563)
In House District 47, Rep. Amy Grant (R-Wheaton) leads Democrat Jackie Williamson by exactly 500 votes with 100% of precincts reporting. (A difference of 29,531 to 29,031)
In House District 104, Rep. Brandun Schweizer (R-Danville) leads Democrat Jarrett Clem by 771 votes with 100% of precincts reporting. (A difference of 23,163 to 22,392)
In House District 114, Rep. Kevin Schmidt (R-Millstadt) leads Democrat LaToya Greenwood by 1,844 votes with 100% of precincts reporting. (A difference of 22,669 to 20,825)
Other results: The Associated Press had Rep. Sharon Chung (D-Bloomington) up by a narrow margin but votes in her home turf of McLean County had yet to been counted by the AP, so she is expected to win by a comfortable amount.
Rep. Jackie Haas (R-Bourbonnais) is comfortably ahead of former Pat Quinn aide Billy Morgan by almost nine points.
The Senate Republicans tried to topple Sen. Patrick Joyce (D-Essex), but they eventually dropped out of the race and Joyce is ahead at 59-41 after a million dollars spent in advertising.
Trump Returns to the White House
Former President Donald Trump will return to the White House. Trump won the key states of Wisconsin and Pennsylvania, with a combined 29 electoral votes to clinch the 270 necessary to win the presidency. As of early this morning, Trump had 277 electoral votes total.
This morning, Donald Trump was up 71,681,676 to Kamala Harris’s 66,770,049 in the popular vote.
In Illinois, Donald Trump was trailing Kamala Harris by just 8 points. All votes are yet to be counted, of course, but that margin is less than half the 17-point margin he lost by in his last two presidential elections in the state. If Trump’s 45 percent holds up, that would be the best showing for a Republican presidential candidate in Illinois since 1988, when George H.W. Bush won the state with 51 percent. George W. Bush scored 44.5 percent 20 years ago. Trump is so far doing a few points better in the suburban collar counties than he did four years ago, and has, with votes yet to be counted, improved his percentage by 7 points in Chicago (currently winning one ward) and 5 points in suburban Cook County. Those margins will likely decrease as late-arriving vote by mail ballots are counted, but the Republicans put an emphasis on “bank the vote,” so the final numbers might not change much.
Republicans Claim US Senate Majority Outright
Republicans gained control of the US Senate early this morning, with GOP wins in a handful of key races cementing the new majority and flipping party control of the upper chamber.
With a Senate map heavily in their favor, Republicans flipped West Virginia and Ohio, giving them at least a 51-seat majority as a handful of races remained as toss ups. One race that became surprisingly competitive in the final stretch of the campaign was Nebraska, which brought the GOP over the finish line.
Democrats currently have a 51-49 majority in the Senate.
Republicans last won a majority in the Senate in 2018, before Democrats went on to secure a narrow majority in the two most recent elections.
The senate win tees up a high-stakes race for leadership of the chamber, after Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell announced plans earlier this year to step down from leadership. Minority Whip John Thune, a South Dakota Republican, and Sen. John Cornyn, a Texas Republican, are considered the front-runners in the race to replace the longest-serving party leader in Senate history.
US House Still Too Close to Call
As of this morning, there will be no major changes in Illinois on US House seats. Democrats will hold 14 of the 17 seats in Illinois. The three Republicans will be Mike Bost, Mary Miller and Darin LaHood.
In the 2018 midterm election, Democrats took wide control of the US House picking up forty-one seats. Republicans responded by picking up a handful of seats in the 2020 General Election before taking back control of the House in 2022. As of this morning, it is too close to call on what party while control the House beginning in January, though, if trends continue, Republicans may retain the House. It may be several days before we know which party will control Congress.
In Illinois, 15 out of 17 members of the congressional delegation had opponents in this election. However, only one race was considered to be competitive, and that was the race between Congressman Eric Sorensen (D) and challenger Joseph McGraw (R). While this was not thought to be a "tier one" race by many political pundits, Republicans were hopeful that they could pick up the seat and eventually fell short.
This fall, Speaker Chris Welch spoke of the possibility of House Democrats picking up 4-5 seats on Tuesday. The House Republicans’ determination in these precincts paid off, despite being vastly outspent. There is a real possibility that the House Democrats might not pick up any new seats this cycle. As of this writing, without a full count and late-arriving mail-in ballots yet to be tallied, House Democratic challengers were behind in four races, even though they had massively outspent the Republicans. If those results hold up, the Democrats will not pick up a single seat and might even lose one. But all votes have yet to be counted as the current vote is still in flux.
In House District 52, Rep. Marty McLaughlin (R-Barrington Hills) leads Democrat Maria Peterson by 969 votes with 100% of precincts reporting. (A difference of 28,532 to 27,563)
In House District 47, Rep. Amy Grant (R-Wheaton) leads Democrat Jackie Williamson by exactly 500 votes with 100% of precincts reporting. (A difference of 29,531 to 29,031)
In House District 104, Rep. Brandun Schweizer (R-Danville) leads Democrat Jarrett Clem by 771 votes with 100% of precincts reporting. (A difference of 23,163 to 22,392)
In House District 114, Rep. Kevin Schmidt (R-Millstadt) leads Democrat LaToya Greenwood by 1,844 votes with 100% of precincts reporting. (A difference of 22,669 to 20,825)
Other results: The Associated Press had Rep. Sharon Chung (D-Bloomington) up by a narrow margin but votes in her home turf of McLean County had yet to been counted by the AP, so she is expected to win by a comfortable amount.
Rep. Jackie Haas (R-Bourbonnais) is comfortably ahead of former Pat Quinn aide Billy Morgan by almost nine points.
The Senate Republicans tried to topple Sen. Patrick Joyce (D-Essex), but they eventually dropped out of the race and Joyce is ahead at 59-41 after a million dollars spent in advertising.
Trump Returns to the White House
Former President Donald Trump will return to the White House. Trump won the key states of Wisconsin and Pennsylvania, with a combined 29 electoral votes to clinch the 270 necessary to win the presidency. As of early this morning, Trump had 277 electoral votes total.
This morning, Donald Trump was up 71,681,676 to Kamala Harris’s 66,770,049 in the popular vote.
In Illinois, Donald Trump was trailing Kamala Harris by just 8 points. All votes are yet to be counted, of course, but that margin is less than half the 17-point margin he lost by in his last two presidential elections in the state. If Trump’s 45 percent holds up, that would be the best showing for a Republican presidential candidate in Illinois since 1988, when George H.W. Bush won the state with 51 percent. George W. Bush scored 44.5 percent 20 years ago. Trump is so far doing a few points better in the suburban collar counties than he did four years ago, and has, with votes yet to be counted, improved his percentage by 7 points in Chicago (currently winning one ward) and 5 points in suburban Cook County. Those margins will likely decrease as late-arriving vote by mail ballots are counted, but the Republicans put an emphasis on “bank the vote,” so the final numbers might not change much.
Republicans Claim US Senate Majority Outright
Republicans gained control of the US Senate early this morning, with GOP wins in a handful of key races cementing the new majority and flipping party control of the upper chamber.
With a Senate map heavily in their favor, Republicans flipped West Virginia and Ohio, giving them at least a 51-seat majority as a handful of races remained as toss ups. One race that became surprisingly competitive in the final stretch of the campaign was Nebraska, which brought the GOP over the finish line.
Democrats currently have a 51-49 majority in the Senate.
Republicans last won a majority in the Senate in 2018, before Democrats went on to secure a narrow majority in the two most recent elections.
The senate win tees up a high-stakes race for leadership of the chamber, after Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell announced plans earlier this year to step down from leadership. Minority Whip John Thune, a South Dakota Republican, and Sen. John Cornyn, a Texas Republican, are considered the front-runners in the race to replace the longest-serving party leader in Senate history.
US House Still Too Close to Call
As of this morning, there will be no major changes in Illinois on US House seats. Democrats will hold 14 of the 17 seats in Illinois. The three Republicans will be Mike Bost, Mary Miller and Darin LaHood.
In the 2018 midterm election, Democrats took wide control of the US House picking up forty-one seats. Republicans responded by picking up a handful of seats in the 2020 General Election before taking back control of the House in 2022. As of this morning, it is too close to call on what party while control the House beginning in January, though, if trends continue, Republicans may retain the House. It may be several days before we know which party will control Congress.
In Illinois, 15 out of 17 members of the congressional delegation had opponents in this election. However, only one race was considered to be competitive, and that was the race between Congressman Eric Sorensen (D) and challenger Joseph McGraw (R). While this was not thought to be a "tier one" race by many political pundits, Republicans were hopeful that they could pick up the seat and eventually fell short.