* ICYMI: Democrats poised to keep supermajorities intact in Illinois legislature. Tribune…

- Several races remained undecided as ballots continued to be counted late Tuesday.
- Republican Rep. Amy Grant, who is vying for a fourth term, was in a 50-50 dead heat with Democrat Jackie Williamson of Wheaton with about 99% of the estimated vote total counted, according to unofficial results from The Associated Press.
- Republican Rep. Martin McLaughlin held a slight edge over Democratic challenger Maria Peterson, a former labor attorney from North Barrington, with 91% of the estimated vote total reporting.

*** Isabel’s Top Picks ***

* Block Club Chicago | Man Awaiting Trial For Jan. 6 Attack On Capitol Worked As Portage Park Election Judge: Sen. Robert Martwick, who represents District 10 and is up for reelection, said he recognized Ligas when he went to drop off pizzas at the Shabbona Park polling location about 12:30 p.m. Tuesday. “I walked into the polling place, and he was there holding a clipboard, but he wasn’t wearing any credentials,” said Martwick, who faces Republican challenger Jon Luers. “I thought, ‘Who is that guy? Wait a minute, that’s Larry Ligas — isn’t he under an indictment for January 6th?’”

* WTTW | Barbara Taylor Bowman, Founding Mother of Early Childhood Education, Dies at 96: Bowman is known not only for her lifelong work in the field and for co-founding the Erikson Institute, but also as the mother of Valerie Jarrett, an advisor to former President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama. “Her legacy is one of transformation, not only of Erikson but of the entire early childhood education landscape,” said Erikson President Mariana Souto-Manning in a statement. “She didn’t just shape an institution — she helped shape the very foundation of the field. Barbara’s commitment to justice, equity, and the well-being of all children will continue to animate our mission, inspire our work, and guide the field for generations to come.”

* Eye On Illinois | As this election ends, another campaign cycle is already spinning: In two years we’ll be choosing a U.S. Senator, governor, attorney general, secretary of state, comptroller and treasurer. Only six members of the Senate are older than Dick Durbin, who turns 80 this month. Illinoisans only once elected any governor three times. If Durbin and/or Gov. JB Pritzker opt not to seek reelection – or if Pritzker pursues Durbin’s Senate seat – that shakes up the entire Democratic ballot.

*** Statehouse News ***

* WGLT | Sharon Chung defeats Desi Anderson; fellow incumbents win in Illinois House: Democrat Sharon Chung won reelection to a second term in the Illinois General Assembly with a victory over Republican Desi Anderson. Chung, a Democrat from Bloomington, won 53% of the vote. She defeated Anderson by around 3,500 votes, according to unofficial totals compiled by WGLT and WCBU.

* Daily Southtown | Hastings, Joyce lead state Senate races as incumbents lead in House:
In the 19th Senate, unofficial results show, that with 85% of precincts reporting, incumbent Michael Hastings, a Frankfort Democrat, had 59% of the vote to 41% for Republican Samantha Jean Gasca, of New Lenox. Hastings began serving in the Senate in 2013. Gasca was one of three candidates in the Republican primary in March while Hastings was unopposed on the Democratic side.

* KWQC | Bradley Fritts wins Illinois 74th District: Republican Bradley Fritts will serve his second two-year term in the Illinois House of Representatives. Fritts won with a total of 31,350 votes over Democrat challenger David Simpson with 16,934 votes.

*** Ballot Measures ***

* Crain’s | ‘Millionaire tax’ advisory ballot measure appears headed for a win: With ballots still being counted late Tuesday evening, Illinois voters appeared to be overwhelmingly backing an advisory question that could give state lawmakers a tool to push for higher taxes on wealthy residents — a tax that supporters argued would clear the way for property tax relief. With 71% of votes counted as of 11 p.m., the referendum was leading 60.5% to 39.5%, based on 4.2 million total votes cast. Supporters are calling the result a mandate to enact legislation.

* Daily Northwestern | Illinois voters approve advisory measure expanding coverage for IVF treatments: The ballot measure, one of three advisory referenda voters considered in Illinois, won with 72.5% in support and 27.5% in opposition. The Associated Press called the race at 11:39 p.m. The referendum does not have any direct legal effect. However, legislators could consider support for the referendum indexed by tonight’s results when making decisions about assisted reproductive treatments.

* The Daily Northwestern | Election worker protection referendum overwhelmingly favored by voters: Illinois voters voted in overwhelming support of a non-binding advisory referendum to impose civil penalties on candidates who interfere or attempt to interfere with election workers’ duties. With 68% of the votes counted as of 10:30 p.m. Tuesday night, 88.9% of voters were in favor of the referendum, according to data from The Associated Press. The New York Times called the race at about 9 p.m.

* WBEZ | Illinois voters approve an advisory referendum calling for higher taxes on income over $1 million: The tax measure called for imposition of a 3% levy on individual income over $1 million, which state revenue officials say could pump at least $4.5 billion more each year into the state’s treasury to then divert to property tax reduction. […] The measure carried 60% of the vote, with 83% of the estimated vote counted, the Associated Press reported, and the agency called it a win Tuesday night.

* NBC Chicago | 7 Illinois counties vote to explore seceding from state: Iroquois County: With all 37 of the county’s precincts reporting, 72.85% of votes were in favor of the advisory question, with more than 9,000 “yes” votes counted.

*** Chicago ***

* Eater Chicago | Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson Floats a Liquor Tax Increase in His 2025 Budget: The Distilled Spirits Council of the United States, a national lobbying group, has come out against the budget. The council sent out a news release. “The hospitality industry has been relentlessly hit with economic challenges over the last four years starting with the pandemic and followed by supply chain disruptions, staffing shortages, and record inflation,” says Andy Deloney, Distilled Spirits Council’s vice president and head of state public policy.

* Block Club | South Shore Neighbors Vote In Favor Of Housing Protections: About 89 percent of voters in four South Shore precincts showed support for housing protections like property tax relief and affordable housing developments in a non-binding referendum.

* Chicago Mag | In a new exhibition, photographer Mark Ballogg lets us into local artists’ workspaces.: Ballogg brought what he considered an outsider’s eye to the project, despite his own history as a collector of local art and a nearly four-decade career as an architectural photographer. “I have always struggled with calling myself an artist,” he says. “So the project started to become a way for me to suss out my path for myself with my own practice, seeing into the lives of artists and the way they work, and starting to realize that the sky’s the limit and that I can do whatever I decide I want to do.”

* Tribune | Chicago Bears Q&A: What will it take for Matt Eberflus to keep his job? Why wasn’t Shane Waldron demoted?: I don’t believe Eberflus was under a playoffs-or-else mandate when the season began. At 4-4 and coming off consecutive dispiriting road losses, things are trending in the wrong direction. That’s fair to say. But Eberflus’ removal at the end of the season isn’t a fait accompli. A lot of football remains to be played with nine regular-season games, including the entire division slate.

*** Cook County and Suburbs ***

* WTTW | O’Neill Burke Declared Winner in Race to Replace Kim Foxx as Cook County’s Top Prosecutor: The AP declared Burke the winner just before 9 p.m. in one of the most closely watched races on Election Day in Chicago. Burke, a former circuit and appellate level judge who also served as both an assistant state’s attorney and defense attorney, received 65% of votes to defeat Republican former alderperson Bob Fioretti (31%) and Libertarian Andrew Charles Kopinski (4%) with 59% of votes counted, according to unofficial results.

* Daily Herald | Krishnamoorthi declared winner in 8th District reelection bid: AP declared Krishnamoorthi the winner at 8:35 p.m., when an estimated 72% of the vote had been counted. By the time the count reached 91%, Krishnamoorthi was ahead 162,522 votes to 126,448 votes, unofficial results showed. That gave Krishnamoorthi about 56.2% of the total.

* Daily Southtown | Will County incumbent Democrats in countywide races lead with 84% votes counted: Incumbent Jennifer Bertino-Tarrant, a Shorewood Democrat seeking a second term as county executive, had 53% of the unofficial vote while Republican candidate Charles “Chuck” Maher of Naperville had 46% with about 84% of the votes reported. Bertino-Tarrant said she was wanted to continue her work to improve public safety, ensure the county remains the best in the state for job creation and collaborate with the Veterans Assistance Commission to bring a new veterans-centric campus to Joliet.

* WBEZ | Democrat Monica Gordon clinches Cook County clerk seat: In a county where Democratic voters dominate, Monica Gordon easily defeated her GOP and Libertarian rivals Tuesday to become the next Cook County clerk. With more than half of the estimated vote counted, Gordon was headed for a landslide victory, with more than 65%

* Daily Herald | ‘I’m humbled’: Rinehart wins in race for Lake’s top prosecutor: Lake County State’s Attorney Eric Rinehart emerged victorious after a tough election against Republican challenger Mary Cole late Tuesday in his bid for another term as the county’s top lawyer. Democrat Rinehart had about 54% of the vote to Cole’s nearly 46%, according to unofficial tallies.

* Crain’s | How this Chicago suburb is riding a retail renaissance: “Schaumburg is lucky because every retailer wants to be there,” said John Melaniphy, president of Melaniphy & Associates, which tallies local retail sales using Illinois Department of Revenue sales tax data. Schaumburg has the third-most retail space of any suburb at 10.7 million square feet and raked in more than $4.2 billion in retail sales in 2023, coming in second behind Naperville, according to data from real estate information company CoStar Group and Melaniphy & Associates.

*** Downstate ***

* PJ Star | Illinois 2024 election results: Ranked choice voting referendum in Peoria Township: According to the Peoria County Election Commission, with over half of all precincts reporting, “Yes” leads “No” by just over 9,000 votes, with 18,449 voting in the affirmative (66%) and 9,397 voting to reject it (34%).

* WSIL | “No Drink Water” order no longer in effect in Vienna: The “No Drink Water” order in the City of Vienna is no longer in effect. The Vienna Police Department posted the update, stating multiple water samples have shown the water is safe to drink. The Illinois EPA sampled the water and approved lifting the order, city officials stated.