Bill Hauter

The McLean and Tazewell county Republican Party chairs have chosen Morton doctor Bill Hauter to finish state Rep. Keith Sommer's term in office.

Bloomington-Normal residents will have their first Democrat representing them in Springfield in decades when the 103rd General Assembly is sworn in in January. But much of rural McLean County is still beet-red Republican. Three Illinois House Republicans will represent McLean County, including Bill Hauter of Morton.

Republican leaders in McLean and Tazewell counties are taking applications for a short-term appointment to the state legislature. Longtime lawmaker Keith Sommer of Morton has submitted his resignation, effective Dec. 31.

An emergency room physician from Morton says his victory in an Illinois House primary represents a rebuke against what he calls the Pritzker administration's "authoritarian" protocols regarding COVID-19.