North Cook News

Tired of the status quo when it comes to the budget and the current situation in Illinois politics, Republican candidates took a stand in the 2016 election against incumbent Democratic senators and representatives.

However, their efforts to unseat the incumbents in North Cook County were not successful this time around.

Park Ridge's Mel Thillens, the GOP candidate for the District 28 state Senate seat, attempted to oust incumbent state Sen. Laura Murphy (D-Des Plaines). Thillens ran with the goal of reforming state government, previously telling North Cook News that under the current law politicians get to “choose” their voters when they draw the lines of their districts. By allowing them to draw the lines, they can ensure the majority of the voters in that district favor the politician's party. Voters should be choosing their representatives, not the other way around, he said. Voters, however, choose to stick with Murphy who collected 45,468 votes, while Thillens received 39,869 votes.

The race for the 59th House District saw negative campaign tactics targeted at an incumbent state House Democrat rather than the Republican vying for the seat. Mailers targeted at incumbent state Rep. Carol Sente (D-Vernon Hills, said “Blank Check Carol Sente created this monster” and showed a picture of the face of House Speaker Mike Madigan (D-Chicago) with Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump's hair and Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton's earrings.

Despite the negative ads, Sente was able to retain her seat with 25,443 votes. Her opponent, Republican Dawn Abernathy of Lincolnshire, received 16,415 votes. Abernathy had promoted giving power back to the people. In December 2015, she voiced support for the Illinois Opportunity Project that would provide a procedure to recall Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel if residents petition for his removal.

The race for the 55th House District wasn't much prettier for Republicans. Hoping to bring integrity back to the Illinois legislature, Park Ridge Republican Dan Gott came out of retirement to challenge incumbent state Rep. Rep. Martin Moylan (D-Des Plaines). Gott accused Moylan of running “smear campaign” against him. Moylan told the North Cook News previously Moylan was lying about his positions on issues like family values and the Second Amendment. Gott also said Moylan was on-board with Madigan when it came to spending taxpayer money. Illinois has become a corrupt one-party system, Gott said. Despite Gott's call for voters to “fire” Moylan, Moylan retained his seat by winning 24,787 votes to Gott's 17,259 votes.

Republican Jessica Tucker, who was vying for the state House seat in District 18, wanted legislators to stop pointing fingers and blaming the state's budget problems on each other and fix the problem. Instead, the seat when to incumbent state Rep. Robyn Gabel (D-Evanston) who took 35,462 of the votes. Tucker received 19,966 votes.

In an attempt to reform spending in Illinois, Republican Benjamin Salzberg of Lake Forest hoped to prevail in the 29th Senate District. One way he promoted reforming spending was to stop paying lawmakers when they are not working. The state had been without a budget for almost a year when a lawmaker complained that lawmakers were not being paid. Salzberg previously told the North Cook News the needs of the people should be addressed before those of the leadership. He said the inaction plaguing the house and senate had to be stopped. He received 36,573 votes, not enough to take the seat from incumbent state Sen. Julie Morrison (D-Deerfield), who was able to capture 52,532 votes.

Political games being played in Springfield stop things from getting done, Schmaumburg's Jillian Bernas, the Republican seeking the 56th House District seat, told the North Cook News previously. The way to get a budget and stop the games is to break the supermajority, she said. Despite her efforts to unseat incumbent state Rep. Michael Mussman (D-Schaumburg), she won just 19,259 votes compared to Mussman's 24,096 votes.

Republican Joan McCarthy Lasonde, the co-founder of the non-profit Policy Circle, hoped to focus on jobs and the economy as a U.S. Representative if she won 9th U.S. House District. The race became even more important to Lasonde when video was released by James O'Keefe's Project Veritas alleging the Democratic National Committee was involved in provocative tactics against Republicans. Lasonde told the North Cook News previously the video appears to show that her opponent's husband, a Chicago activist, consulted with the DNC when it came to the organizing, filming and publicizing acts against Republicans.

Despite the video being revealed, Lasonde's Democratic opponent, incumbent state Rep. Jan Schakowsky, retained the seat by winning 203,776 votes. Lasonde received 105,900 votes.