18th Congressional District (Republican)

The only thing surprising about the outcome of this race is the margin of victory. Schock was expected to win with at least a plurality, but most likely a small majority of votes. Instead, he won in a landslide, getting over 70% of the vote in a three-way race. I don’t think this can be characterized as anything less than a mandate. This primary gives Schock tremendous momentum going into the general election in a traditionally conservative district.

Republican voters evidently were not concerned about Schock’s early foreign policy gaffe when he suggested that the U.S. sell “Pershing nuclear missiles” to Taiwan in an attempt to pressure China to stop aiding Iran. Rather, they looked to Schock’s constituent services, his conservative record, and his youthfulness and energy. Schock’s name recognition and campaign experience certainly helped him as well.

92nd Legislative District (Democrat)

County Board member Allen Mayer did very well in the county, collecting roughly two-thirds of the votes there. However, in the city, Jehan Gordon won well over half the votes, and since the city has more voters than the county, she rode those city votes to a slim victory. Only 362 votes separated the two candidates when all was said and done. There was a large number of undervotes in this race (voters who skipped this contest, not voting for either candidate), as much as 10% in the county and 11% in the city.

Gordon did better in early voting results than in the election, likely due to controversy that came to light late in her campaign. A radio ad indicated she had graduated from the University of Illinois, when in fact she was still three hours short of a degree. Then, just a couple weeks before the election, she admitted to select news outlets (WEEK-TV and the Journal Star only) that she had been convicted of shoplifting in Champaign County nearly eight years ago when she was 18. Her missteps evidently turned off a few voters, but enough were unconcerned or forgiving, making her the primary winner.

Not reported in the mainstream media was the fact that she left her shoplifting fines unpaid until January this year, almost eight years after the incident, after she entered the race, and just days before she admitted her indiscretion to select media. Why this information went unreported is mystifying to me, but journalists I’ve talked to frankly didn’t find it all that newsworthy.

Ms. Gordon goes into the general election without a mandate, and the issues that came out in the primary are likely to follow her through this year’s campaign. She’ll face Joan Krupa, CEO of Heartland Community Health Clinic. Cindy Ardis-Jenkins is the candidate that appeared on ballots for the Republican nomination, but she dropped out of the race before the primary, and Republican party officials appointed Krupa to run in the general election.

U. S. Senate (Republican)

Willowbrook medical doctor Steve Sauerberg won the nomination handily, beating out perennial candidate Andy Martin and truck driver Mike Psak. The Senate race hasn’t gotten much coverage because it would take a miracle for anyone to unseat Democrat Dick Durbin. He’s the second-highest ranking Democrat in the Senate and has a huge campaign war chest. It’s not unprecedented for such a strong incumbent to lose in a general election, but it is rare, and highly unlikely this year especially.

Peoria County Auditor (Democrat)

When Rotherham got on the phone to talk about conceding to Van Winkle in this race, he sounded incredulous. Van Winkle was appointed to the position after Steve Sonnemaker took the Peoria County Clerk position, and she’s not a certified public accountant. Rotherham, a CPA himself, says that not having a CPA as county auditor is like not having a lawyer as state’s attorney. He’s considering running against Van Winkle again in the general election as an independent candidate.

Peoria County Coroner (Republican)

Ingersoll handily dispatched challenger George Blackburn in the coroner’s race. There had been some controversy in the past over how quickly she got the county morgue established and operational, and how long it took to hire a forensic pathologist. But since those issues have been resolved now (and resolved well, I should add; the forensic pathologist is shared with McLean County and is paid on a per-incident basis rather than being on salary with benefits, which saves the county money), Blackburn was unable to get any traction on them in his bid to unseat the incumbent Ingersoll. Blackburn also tried to make hay of Ingersoll’s lack of a college degree, but that didn’t give him much of a boost either.

This race is deja vu all over again for all the candidates — the same candidates ran in the primary four years ago, with the same outcome. Ingersoll will face Democrat Steve Schmidt in the general election; that’s also a repeat of the last election. It’s hard to unseat an incumbent in races that are not high-profile, and in the absence of any scandal to compel voters to look to another candidate.