Election Day Blog: Results and news from Bloomington-Normal and McLean County

Brady Johnson

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WGLT

Democrat Eric Sorensen has declared victory in the 17th Congressional District.

His opponent, Republican Esther Joy King, has not conceded and did not address her supporters at her campaign watch party in the Quad Cities.

With 86% of precincts reporting, Sorensen was leading with 51.7% of the vote, or a 7,500-vote margin:

The 17th Congressional District was considered a toss-up. It’s an open seat, after incumbent Rep. Cheri Bustos decided not to run for re-election after a tighter-than-expected win over King in 2020.

Republicans need to net just five seats to take control of the House. House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, who could become the next speaker of the House, campaigned for King in Normal on Friday.

The 17th Congressional District includes parts of Bloomington-Normal, Peoria, Rockford and the Quad Cities. President Biden won this territory by 7 points in 2020.

The McLean County Board appears headed toward an even 10-10 split between Republicans and Democrats — again.

There were 20 races on the ballot Tuesday, two in each district. With preliminary results as of midnight, 10 Republicans and 10 Democrats appeared headed to victory. That would maintain the current split on the County Board.

Democrats have never held a majority on the McLean County Board. As recently as 2018, Republicans held a 15-to-5 majority. It was a 10-10 split heading into Tuesday's election, following Democratic gains in recent elections and, most recently, member Josh Barnett switching parties (from GOP to Democrat).

The County Board controls a $129 million budget for county government, which includes the courthouse and jail, county-owned nursing home, and several mental and behavioral health initiatives.

Democrat Sharon Chung has claimed victory in the hotly contested Illinois 91st House District race. She'll be the first Democrat to represent Bloomington-Normal in the House since 1982. She's also believed to be the first Korean American elected to the General Assembly.

Republican Scott Preston conceded just before midnight Tuesday.

Chung was delivering remarks late Tuesday at the McLean County Democrats' watch party in north Normal.

The 91st House District includes much of Bloomington-Normal, stretching west along Interstate 74 to include parts of East Peoria and Bartonville. President Biden won the district by seven points.

The Unit 5 tax referendum appears headed toward defeat.

With over 32,000 ballots already counted, the "no" votes were leading with 54%. Referendum supporters issued concession statements:

From School Board President Barry Hitchins: "Obviously the Board is disappointed with the outcome of this vote. While we didn’t get the result we would have liked, we would still like to thank members of the Illinois Education Association, local trades and labor unions, the Yes for Unit 5 committee, and especially Dr. Weikle and her administrative team for their effort in telling Unit 5’s story and getting our message out. The Board will take some time to digest these results, have conversations with some key stakeholders and those involved in the referendum effort; and work to determine our path forward."

From Superintendent Kristen Weikle: "I first want to thank everyone who worked so hard to try to ensure the future financial stability of Unit 5. I am extremely appreciative of everyone who voted but obviously we are disappointed with the results. We are going to have to take some time to evaluate the outcome and see what this may mean in the future for Unit 5. There are very difficult decisions that will have to be made in the next several months. I know we have a strong school district and supportive parents and we will continue to work together for the students of our district."

From Patrick Manieri, spokesperson for the Yes For Unit 5 community group: "We knew countering skepticism - about both the dire nature of Unit 5’s financial situation and that property taxes would go down if the referendum passed - would be an uphill battle. Still, this is a missed opportunity for our community, and it hurts. To all of those who have so much for this effort, we sincerely thank you. To the kids, parents, teachers, staff, and administrators of Unit 5, we are sorry we couldn’t do more.

Many who voted “no” will no doubt come to regret it in the months and years ahead. With time, we hope the Unit 5 school board tries again, and that enough voters will realize the seriousness of the situation to make that effort successful. Sadly, the kids impacted in the meantime won’t get that time back.

Yes For Unit 5 has always solely been about advocating for this referendum and how important it is for our kids’ futures. As community members, we stand ready to advocate for our public school whenever we can."

For those watching contests in McLean County, the county clerk's office says around 4,500 vote-by-mail ballots continue to be processed. More results are expected to be released around 10:45 p.m. Full details and a timeline of updates are available on the clerk's website.

There are still a lot of votes to be counted ... but the race between Democrat Sharon Chung and Republican Scott Preston is definitely too close to call.

Just before 10 p.m. with 26,000+ ballots tallied, just 21 votes separated the two candidates for Illinois' new 91st House District. That includes parts of Bloomington-Normal, East Peoria, and Bartonville. President Biden won the district by seven points. You can follow our multicounty vote tally here. Those are preliminary (not final) results.

The 91st House District was considered one of the most competitive in the state. After redistricting, it was one of only five open seats (no incumbent) out of 118 in the Illinois House.

Chung and Preston received major financial support from their respective parties. Chung campaigned repeatedly alongside Democratic Gov. JB Pritzker, U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin, and House Speaker Chris Welch. The Illinois House GOP campaign chair called Preston’s race “one of the most important races in the state.” Republicans need to pick up three seats to end the Democrats’ veto-proof supermajority in the House.

Both campaigns blitzed voters with mailers and TV/online ads. Chung ran in part by trying to link Preston to anti-abortion Republicans, in the wake of Roe v. Wade being overturned. Preston attacked Chung and Democrats’ support for the criminal justice reform law known as the SAFE-T Act. Preston serves on the Normal Town Council. Chung is on the McLean County Board and would be the first Democrat to represent Bloomington-Normal in the House since 1982.

U.S. Rep. Darin LaHood is addressing his supporters tonight at Lariat Steakhouse in Peoria after what appears to be an easy victory in Tuesday's election.

LaHood is up for re-election in the new 16th Congressional District. He faced Democrat Lisa Haderlein, but the race is not expected to be close. The 16th District, which includes parts of north Normal and east Bloomington, was drawn by Democrats to be ... heavily Republican. (Redistricting!) President Trump won that territory in 2020 by 21 percentage points.

As of 10:15 p.m., with 34% of the vote in, LaHood was ahead with more than 65% of the vote.

LaHood is also watching the national results. He is the National Finance Chair for the National Republican Campaign Committee.

With about one-third of the votes tallied, the 17th Congressional District race between Republican Esther Joy King and Democrat Eric Sorensen is as close as we expected it to be.

With 33% of the votes in at 9:15 p.m., King led Sorensen with 52.5% of the vote.

King is a lawyer from East Moline who also serves as a JAG Officer in the U.S. Army Reserve. Sorensen is a former TV meteorologist vying to be Illinois’ first LGBTQ member of Congress.

Both candidates are viewing election results from the Quad Cities. Sorensen’s watch party is at Pour Bros. Craft Taproom in downtown Moline. King’s watch party is at the Bend Events Center in East Moline.

The 17th Congressional District was considered a toss-up. It’s an open seat, after incumbent Rep. Cheri Bustos decided not to run for re-election after a tighter-than-expected win over King in 2020.

Republicans need to net just five seats to take control of the House. House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, who could become the next speaker of the House, campaigned for King in Normal on Friday.

The 17th Congressional District includes parts of Bloomington-Normal, Peoria, Rockford and the Quad Cities. President Biden won this territory by 7 points in 2020.

Emily Bollinger

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WGLT

Three Republicans who are running unopposed for Illinois legislative seats — Dennis Tipsword, Travis Weaver and Bill Hauter — have joined Illinois House hopeful Scott Preston at his campaign watch party at Fiala Brothers Brewery in Uptown Normal.

Each of them said they want to see Preston win election to move one step closer to breaking the Democrats' supermajority in the Illinois House.

“That means they got to talk to us in order to sign stuff,” Weaver said of the Democrats.

Preston, a Normal Town Council member and small business owner, is running against McLean County Board member Sharon Chung, a Democrat. Hauter said he believes Preston will gain enough support in more rural parts of the new 91st District to carry him to victory.

“Sharon Chung does not represent the values of Central Illinois, especially the areas of Morton, Goodfield, Washington, some of the these very conservative areas,” Hauter said.

One of Preston’s former instructors at Illinois State University, retired professor Bob Bradley, said he’s supporting Preston because “he’s very civil, very cordial,” and said Preston has always been willing to listen to people who have opposing viewpoints. Bradley said he knew after seeing Preston the student interact with lawmakers and others during civic engagements trips to Washington, D.C., he was destined to run for public office.

“He would go up to every speaker, whether he agreed with them or not, and thanked them for their time and effort and said complimentary things about ISU,” Bradley said “I told the rest of the students you need to do what Scott’s doing."

One set of results being watched closely tonight is a referendum on school funding.

McLean County’s largest school district, Unit 5, asked voters to approve an 88-cent increase to its education fund tax rate. Unit 5 leaders say such an increase could add $20.5 million in property tax revenue, and help offset the district’s $11.7 million structural deficit that shows no signs of slowing.

But if this proposal fails, the district likely faces larger class sizes, fewer teachers, and cuts to course offerings and extracurricular activities. Unit 5 relies on local property tax revenue; that covers about 60% of its operating budget.

What voters really are deciding in this election is what happens in 2026 – when building bonds are paid off. Will the district’s overall tax rate go down by $1.58 per $100 of equalized assessed value (EAV), or by a smaller decrease of 70 cents?

What if it passes?

If the referendum passes, Unit 5’s overall tax rate of $5.61 per $100 of equalized assessed value (EAV) decreases toward a $4.91 rate by levy year 2026, as building bonds are paid off.

What if it fails?

If the referendum fails, that overall tax rate of $5.61 decreases, as building bonds are paid off. If nothing changes before then, the district’s rate drops to $4.03 in levy year 2026.

Emily Bollinger

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WGLT

Republican state Rep. Dan Brady of Bloomington on Tuesday conceded the election for Illinois Secretary of State to Democrat Alexi Giannoulias.

“I’ve always had wins in the political arena. This is my first loss. But as the saying goes, success is never final, and failure is never fatal,” Brady said during his concession speech.

Despite the loss, the atmosphere at Brady’s election night party at Rob Dob’s Restaurant and Bar in Bloomington was celebratory of a hard-fought campaign.

“If hard work still counts for anything in this country, then we know who really won," said Campaign Chair Millicent Roth.

Brady, who has served in the Illinois House since 2000, announced his statewide candidacy in November 2021.

Brady took the GOP primary by a landslide over his party’s chosen candidate, former U.S. attorney John Milhiser, and raised nearly $250,000 in campaign funding.

The Giannoulias campaign raised 10 times the funds of the Brady campaign.

This was Brady’s first run for statewide office, and the loss could possibly be the end of his decades-long career in elected office. He was previously the McLean County coroner and is still a funeral home director professionally.

“I don’t know what the next chapter is exactly, but I do know one thing: that as long as I can help other people, that’s what makes me happy, and I’ll do it the best I possibly can,” Brady said.

Brady was trying to become the first McLean County resident to win a statewide race since 1962, when Robert Underwood was elected to the Illinois Supreme Court. There are currently no Republicans in statewide office.

McLean County saw an increased presence of poll watchers Tuesday, with the McLean County Republican Party sending about 100 throughout the county.

It’s something they’ve done in the past, but not nearly on this scale.

“Three or four years ago, we might have just had a little handful, a couple of poll watchers,” Connie Beard, chairman of the McLean County Republican Party, said at Tuesday night's election-results watch party.

She called this election’s presence a “big push forward,” and said it was prompted by more than just national politics.

“I think we experienced some concerns out of the last few election cycles. And not just — you know, everybody thinks the focus is on the national election — but we live in Illinois, and there have been recurring issues with election cycles for up in Chicago and southern Illinois and east St Louis and that area that we just all have thought there’s problems with the elections system.”

And what did they find? Confidence in the election system.

“We really were not expecting any big issues because we are blessed with have two good election authorities,” Beard said.

“It also was a good reminder to the voters that we can have confidence in our election system because people are watching and holding others accountable.”

Lauren Warnecke

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WGLT

Lauren Warnecke

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WGLT

Illinois State University’s Extending Empathy Project and American Democracy Project gathered local scholars with expertise in rhetoric, communications, psychology and race for “Election Night Live,” a discussion broadcast live on YouTube from ISU’s Social Media Analytics Command Center (SMACC).

Panelists discuss cross-sections between empathy and democracy as ISU students track election results and social media trends in real time.

School of Communications director Dr. Steve Hunt hosts the evening in conversation with Drs. Scott Jordan, Byron Craig, and Steve Rhako, with additional guests joining via Zoom. SMACC coordinator Nathan Carpenter provides technical direction. Viewers streaming the three-hour conversation can submit questions for the panelists in the YouTube chat box.

At the Holiday Inn in north Normal where some 200-250 people were expected to arrive at the McLean County Democrats election night celebration, party chair Patrick Cortesi said the mood is "cautious, but optimistic."

Among the attendees were several McLean County Board candidates, as well as state senator Dave Koehler of Peoria. (Sharon Chung, the Democratic candidate facing Republican Scott Preston in the race for a seat in Illinois' new 91st House District, is expected to be among attendees as well.)

Both Koehler and Cortesi told WGLT that if Democrats do well in the area tonight, it will be the byproduct of a large student effort.

Illinois State University junior Braxton Meyers is one of those students. A junior studying political science, Meyers said he grows weary of older adults assuming students won't turn out to vote.

"A lot of people, when pushed and told, 'Your vote really matters,' are really active," Meyers told WGLT. "If you went to ISU's Bone Center ... people came out in the masses. I would just say that a lot of politicians take the student vote for granted. I'm not saying it's done here at all, but ... especially on the national level, they take the student vote (and) the younger vote for granted. And that's a travesty."

The 17th Congressional District includes parts of Bloomington-Normal, Peoria, Rockford and the Quad Cities.

Polls have just closed — and two important statewide races are already been called.

Democratic Gov. JB Pritzker has won re-election over his Republican challenger, Darren Bailey, according to The Associated Press. Pritzker was ahead in the polls leading up to Election Day.

Democratic Sen. Tammy Duckworth, Illinois' junior senator, also won re-election over Republican Kathy Salvi, The AP called.

Here's an explanation for how The AP can call certain races so quickly after polls close.

Find more Illinois election results from NPR and AP.

Counting in these midterm elections could likely go on a while, at least nationally. Results and control of Congress might not be known for days or weeks.

Here in McLean County, here's what we know. We have two election authorities: the McLean County clerk's office (handling voters in Normal and rural communities), and the Bloomington Election Commission (everyone else).

Both the county clerk's office and the BEC say they'll count all their early votes and vote-by-mail ballots first. So those will likely be the first results you see pop up on their online results pages. Here's where you can watch things unfold:

• McLean County clerk results page
• Bloomington Election Commission results page
• WGLT results page (for races in multiple counties/jurisdictions)
• Illinois statewide and congressional race results

WGLT's team of reporters will be all over Illinois tonight covering the election.

WGLT's Brady Johnson will be covering the 17th Congressional District candidates from their watch parties in the Quad Cities. Closer to home, Eric Stock and Lyndsay Jones will be with the Illinois 91st House District candidates: Republican Scott Preston and Democrat Sharon Chung. We'll also have reporters covering Dan Brady's bid for Illinois Secretary of State, the Unit 5 referendum, an election-viewing online forum hosted by Illinois State University, and much more. We'll also have our Statehouse crew covering all the important statewide races.

You can get the latest results here on the WGLT Election Day blog, or listen for on-air local and statewide news updates on 89.1 FM or streaming at WGLT.org. You'll hear those updates about every 20 minutes starting at 7 p.m.

If you want to get a quick understanding of the key races WGLT will be following tonight, listen to this rundown from news director Eric Stock. It's airing tonight at 5 p.m. on WGLT's newsmagazine Sound Ideas:

Illinois State University canceled classes and declared Election Day an official holiday to encourage more people to vote.

For many ISU students, this election marks the first time they've been able to cast a ballot.

ISU senior Finn Upchurch, who cast a ballot at Bone Student Center, said it's important to be to take part in the democratic process.

“I think if you want to have a say in your community, it’s a part of being an active citizen of the United States or anywhere that’s a democracy, which is a lot of places,” Upchurch said.

Junior Josh Ririe said education was the main issue that brought him to the ballot box.

“I want to see overall increased government spending on education. I feel like our education system is falling behind in Illinois and I would like to see changes in that area,” Ririe said.

Student Beth Halsey, who is working on a second bachelor’s degree, said she was set to vote on abortion rights and to support the Workers Rights Amendment.

“If nobody voted, then nothing would happen,” Halsey said.

Melissa Libert

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WGLT

Jayla Johnson

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WGLT

Election workers say turnout has been heavier than expected at one polling site in Bloomington. Wesley United Methodist Church near downtown saw 77 voters in less than three hours after the polls opened.

One of those voters, Don Stonesifer, says he always votes on Election Day. He said it helps his polling place is a four-block walk from his home.

Stonesifer said he doesn't see this election as more significant than others, even if the intensity seems greater.

"A lot of people are a little more upset than usual, so you just gotta go out and do your thing and let the process take its course," he said.

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  Eric Stock

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  WGLT

The U.S. Department of Justice says it’s ready to deter and combat discrimination and intimidation at the polls, threats of violence directed at election officials and poll workers, and election fraud.

Supervisory Assistant U.S. Attorney Darilynn J. Knauss in Peoria has been appointed the District Election Officer for this area. Knauss can be reached at (309) 671-7050.

It’s part of the DOJ’s longstanding Election Day Program, giving the public the ability to report possible federal election law violations.

Federal law protects against such crimes as threatening violence against election officials or staff, intimidating or bribing voters, buying and selling votes, impersonating voters, altering vote tallies, stuffing ballot boxes, and marking ballots for voters against their wishes or without their input.

The FBI also says it’s “assessing election-related threats, tracking significant complaints, and identifying trends indicative of a coordinated nationwide effort to disrupt the election process.” FBI Springfield will have special agents available throughout the coverage area to receive allegations of election fraud and other election abuses on election day. FBI Springfield can be reached at (217) 522-9675 or via email at springfield@fbi.gov.

In the case of a crime of violence or intimidation, please call 911 immediately.

Don’t be too surprised if just over half of registered voters cast ballots in this election.

That would be right in line with historical precedent in McLean County, according to our twin election authorities (the McLean County clerk and Bloomington Election Commission).

2018 was our last governor’s/midterm election. Turnout in McLean County (including Bloomington) was 61% that year. The previous one (2014) saw a turnout of 49%. Here's what local election officials are expecting this year.

Turnout is typically higher in presidential elections. For example, in 2020, McLean County’s turnout hit 76%.

We’ll see what impact, if any, the rise of early voting and vote-by-mail will have on turnout locally.

Every 10 years, lawmakers use the latest Census data to redraw political maps. That process is called redistricting.

As a result, you may be living in a different congressional district than you were two years ago, or a new Illinois House district, or a new McLean County Board district. Or all of the above!

The League of Women Voters of McLean County has a handy tool called Vote411 to help you figure out what will be on your ballot. Vote411 also has some basic candidate information for each of those districts. You can also check out WGLT’s Voter Guide for our in-depth reporting on those races.

Here are some interactive maps you can use to find out which district you live in:

• Congressional district map
• Illinois House districts map
• Illinois Senate districts map
• McLean County Board map

After all those TV ads and all those mailers, Election Day is finally here. Polls are open today from 6 a.m. to 7 p.m.

You can find your polling place by plugging your address into the State Board of Elections website.

Or you can pull up McLean County’s interactive map and zoom into your neighborhood to find your polling place.

mcggis

Colleen Reynolds

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WGLT

Marie and Dave Blume of Bloomington were among the last early voters to their cast their ballots at Eastland Mall on Monday night.

Marie said she works during the day Tuesday and didn’t want to run the risk of long lines. This was her first time voting early.

“That was important, to make sure we got in and got my vote counted,” she said, noting things like women’s rights and voting rights are on the ballot.

“There are a lot of things on the ballot this time that have not been before. So I think it’s really important to come out and vote and make your voice known. Because otherwise, you don’t know what’s going to happen,” Blume said.

They brought along their 11-year-old granddaughter, Addison Fleming, who was curious to see the voting process. She left with a “Future Voter” sticker.

“I’ve never really gone to vote, so I wanted to see what it was like,” Fleming said. “It was kind of cool.”

Thousands of people in McLean County have voted in this midterm.