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More election results: Rep. Schmidt declares victory over Greenwood, HD97 called for Rep. Benton (Updated x2)

Wednesday, Nov 6, 2024 - Posted by Isabel Miller

* Subscribers know more. Daily Line legislative reporter Ben Szalinski…

Rep. Kevin Schmidt declared victory this morning in his St. Clair County district. He's currently up 1,845 votes. LaToya Greenwood got 94% of the vote in East St. Louis and Republicans are still able to hold the seat for two cycles in a row #twill https://t.co/jl4Qul9Ktd

— Ben Szalinski (@BenSzalinski) November 6, 2024

* Results as of 11:20…

Rep. Kevin Schmidt GOP
22,670
52.1%

LaToya Greenwood DEM
20,825
47.9%

100% of precincts reporting
77.7% of expected votes counted

Speaker Welch pointed to this district as flippable in August.

* HD 97…

Harry Benton wins District 97.

AP race call at 8:29 AM on Nov. 6, 2024.

Rep. Harry Benton DEM
24,571
52.1%

Gabby Shanahan GOP
22,546
47.9%

100% of precincts reporting
92.4% of expected votes counted

I’ll be updating this post throughout the day as races are called.

…Adding… Leader McCombie…

Today, Tony McCombie, Illinois House Republican Leader, released the following statement:

“Election night was a victory for House Republicans. Holding our caucus together is a testament to our grassroots operation—the heart of our team, undeterred by the most partisan gerrymandered map in the nation and exponential spending against us. Illinois voters are exhausted by decades of one-party control. House Republicans remain committed to delivering economic growth, ending corruption and putting Illinois families first.”

* …Adding… More…

* Capitol News Illinois | Early results show Democrats likely to maintain supermajorities in Illinois General Assembly: Preliminary, unofficial election results show no seats in the state House or Senate have changed party hands, although a few races remained too close to call according to the Associated Press. That means Democrats will maintain supermajorities in each chamber of the General Assembly even as President Donald Trump appears to have vastly outperformed his previous two showings in the state in 2016 and 2020.

* WBEZ | Jennifer Custer wins in Far Northwest Side District 1 Chicago School Board race: Stay-at-home mom and former educator Jennifer Custer beat veteran educator Michelle N. Pierre by just under 2,000 votes in the race to represent District 1 on the elected school board with 98% of precincts reporting, according to the Associated Press. Pierre conceded on Wednesday. Custer, a former assistant principal and suburban union leader was endorsed by the Chicago Teachers Union, which strongly supports a neighborhood school focus.

* News-Gazette | Election ‘24:’I can’t believe that we have this issue’: The one thing a combustible election didn’t need got a heaping helping of it just as the first wave of voters showed up to cast their ballots Tuesday morning in Champaign County. Polling place problems — and not the kind involving Trump supporters in MAGA hats that led County Clerk Aaron Ammons to hire outside security to patrol precincts — dominated the discussion of the day, drawing unwelcome attention from USA Today, The Associated Press and other media outlets near and far. It started bright and early, at 6 a.m. That’s when Colleen and Mark Ruebke of rural Urbana went to vote at the Somer Township Building, one of 65 polling places due to open at that time around Champaign County. Only when they showed up, they found it closed, along with the three St. Joseph’s Sterling Frye tried on his way to work in Champaign.

* BND | Schmidt holds onto 114th State House District. What does that mean for southwest Illinois?: Schmidt has said he thinks voters in District 114 support him not because he’s a Republican but because he represents their interests. “I’ll continue to work hard in Springfield and give the people what they need,” Schmidt said Wednesday. “I’m definitely gonna work on funding for infrastructure as far as the sewage/drainage problem — yesterday we all saw how bad it was in Cahokia Heights and East St. Louis — and fight tax increases.”

* KHQA | 2024 Illinois Election Results: Reproductive Health Ballot Question: With 73% of the vote, Illinois voters said YES to the ballot question: “Should all medically appropriate assisted reproductive treatments, including, but not limited to, in vitro fertilization, be covered by any health insurance plan in Illinois that provides coverage for pregnancy benefits, without limitation on the number of treatments?”

* Block Club | Trump Attracted More Voters Than Ever In Chicago Amid Overall Victory: While Kamala Harris won Chicago with about 77 percent of the vote, support for Donald Trump went up by up 6 percentage points in the city compared to 2020. In Chicago, Harris received 652,919 votes, or about 77 percent of the vote, while Trump received 187,137 votes, or about 22 percent of the vote, according to early results.

* WICS | Planned Parenthood of Illinois respond to 2024 presidential results: “This is a devastating loss. I want to reassure the public that the full spectrum of reproductive health care is still safe and legal in Illinois including abortion, gender-affirming care and birth control. However, we will take our rage, sadness, loss and fear to fuel the next phase of our fight. The fight for reproductive freedom does not end here. The majority of Americans believe that sexual and reproductive health decisions — including abortion — should be made by patients, not politicians. PPIA and our supporters will turn our anger into action and work closely with elected officials at both the state and federal levels to continue making Illinois the strongest haven state for reproductive care possible.”

* News-Gazette | Danos celebrates likely reelection, failed referendum to eliminate office: Democratic county Auditor George Danos appears headed for re-election to an office that will continue to exist, as a referendum asking voters to eliminate it was losing by a margin of 60 to 40 percent and Danos was ahead of his Republican challenger, Alan Anderson, by 54 to 46 percent. “I was gratified to enjoy the loyalty of rank-and-file Democrats, who also agreed with me on the referenda,” Danos said. “The Champaign County Democratic Central Committee, led by Mike Ingram, has egg on its face: when all the votes are counted I’ll have a sound 55-45 victory, despite their treachery. Their pet referenda went down 2-1 (the tax) and 3-2 (the power grab to eliminate the Auditor).”

* PJ Star | Ranked choice voting referendum passes in Peoria Township: An advisory referendum asking Peoria Township voters if the state of Illinois should implement ranked-choice voting in statewide elections garnered strong support. According to the Peoria County Election Commission, with 100% of precincts reporting, “Yes” leads “No” by more than 11,000 votes, with 22,536 voting in the affirmative (66.98%) and 11,108 voting to reject it (33.02%).

* Daily Herald | Mosser wins second term as Kane County state’s attorney: Jamie Mosser defeated her Republican rival Tuesday to secure a second term as Kane County’s top prosecutor. Mosser, a Democrat, had 112,962 votes compared to 99,081 for Andrew Sosnowski, her challenger in the race for state’s attorney, according to unofficial totals.

* 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.

* SJ-R | All incumbents on Sangamon County Board returned by voters; Milhiser, Roesch other winners: All seven incumbent Sangamon County Board members in contested races prevailed on Tuesday, including one cliffhanger. State’s Attorney John Milhiser and Circuit Clerk Joe Roesch both easily held on to their seats, while Recorder Josh Langfelder, the only Democrat to hold county-wide office, trails challenger Frank Lesko by 68 votes. Eight county board seats up Tuesday were uncontested.

* WCIA | Champaign County votes ‘no’ to public safety tax: A proposition to increase the sales tax for safety purposes has been rejected in Champaign County. WCIA previously reported that voters were asked if the tax should be raised a quarter cent for every $100 spent in the county. It failed with 66% of the community voting to reject the measure.

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News coverage roundup: Chicago school board election results (Updated)

Wednesday, Nov 6, 2024 - Posted by Isabel Miller

* [Note from Rich: I would disagree that CTU picked up four seats. District 1’s apparent winner Jennifer Custer was, indeed, endorsed by CTU, but she criticized the mayor numerous times and, by extension, the union. She won’t be an automatic CTU vote.] Tribune…

Chicago voters have rejected Mayor Brandon Johnson’s education agenda as only four of 10 candidates endorsed by the powerful teacher’s union will hold seats on the city’s new hybrid Board of Education.

Though the races began as sleepy provincial contests, they quickly became a referendum on Johnson and his closely allied Chicago Teachers Union. The new mayor, whose 2023 campaign was bankrolled by the CTU, has struggled to retain control of the nation’s fourth-largest public school district and drawn criticism for plans to take out a high-interest, $300 million loan. […]

CTU spent at least $1.7 million in direct contributions to candidates as of Monday, largely in-kind contributions for field staffing, polling, advertising or voter outreach. In all but two races, the CTU-backed candidate had raised the largest sum. Spending caps were also lifted on nine of the races.

The Illinois Network of Charter Schools Political Action Committee had devoted nearly $2.3 million to either supporting or opposing school board candidates during that same time period. A second pro-school-choice PAC, the Urban Center, had devoted another $770,000.

Districts 1, 9, and 10 have yet to be called. Click here for the up-to-date totals.

…Adding… Jennifer Custer wins in Far Northwest Side District 1

* Sun-Times…

Three races didn’t yet have a winner, and two of them remained neck-and-neck — the 1st District on the Northwest Side with a union hopeful with a small lead, the other in the South Side’s 10th District with an independent candidate slightly ahead. Another independent led in the 9th District by a wider margin.

With the union failing in six districts, a school system that has been under mayoral control for 30 years now looks likely to have a caucus of board members for the first time who aren’t in the mayor’s corner. Some of the groups that opposed the CTU in these elections called that a victory against Mayor Brandon Johnson, a former organizer for the union that vaulted him into office last year and remains a strong ally. […]

Candidates who received financial support from anti-CTU corners won in the 3rd, 4th and 8th Districts — Carlos Rivas Jr., Ellen Rosenfeld and Angel Gutierrez, respectively.

CTU-backed Yesenia Lopez won in the 7th District, adding to the wins by Brown and DeBerry. Jennifer Custer, another candidate endorsed by the CTU, held a small lead in the 1st District but hadn’t yet been declared the winner by the AP.

* Chalkbeat Chicago…

At a union election watch party Tuesday night, Chicago Teachers Union president Stacy Davis Gates led the crowd in a chant of “Whose Schools? Our schools!”

She framed the election, which the union advocated for well before Johnson’s election as mayor, as a success: While not all union-endorsed candidates prevailed, Johnson, a close CTU ally, still gets to appoint 11 out of 21 members of the new, partly elected board.

“You all created an expansion of democracy in an entire society that’s toying with the idea of fascism,” Davis Gates said.

She decried an influx of large checks, including some from out-of-state billionaires, in support of pro-school choice candidates.

* Sun-Times…

A pair of candidates running for spots on the first elected school board in Chicago said they were surprised at the level of political attacks against them during the campaign.

“The amount of attack ads from the Chicago Teachers Union was crazy,” Carlos Rivas, running to represent District 3, said at a Chicago Democrats for Education election party in River North on Tuesday night.

Rivas said some were comparing him to Republican former president Donald Trump, which made no sense.

“I’m a gay Latino man raised in the neighborhood,” he said.

* More…

Sun-Times | Ellen Rosenfeld wins in North Side District 4 Chicago School Board race:

* WBEZ | Che “Rhymefest” Smith leads in South Side District 10 Chicago School Board race: Smith was gracious when reached Tuesday night. He said all the candidates in District 10 were solid and he learned a lot from his competitors. At more than $500,000, Norington-Reaves had, by far, the most in financial support. Some of it was spent on behalf of her campaign and not coordinated with it, and some was given to her campaign fund. She was supported by two anti-Chicago Teachers Union, pro-charter school super PACs — the Illinois Network of Charter Schools and Urban Center Action.

* Axios | Results: Chicago’s first elected school board: he board is only partially elected for now. Mayor Brandon Johnson will appoint the other 10 members, one from each district, and the board president. The 21-member board will start in January and faces a looming budget gap, a CEO at odds with the mayor and an unsettled teachers union contract.

…Adding… INCS Action…

INCS Action Congratulates Newly Elected CPS Board of Education Members

CHICAGO – INCS Action congratulates the newly elected members of the CPS Board of Education and extends its best wishes as they prepare to take office in January. INCS Action is the political and advocacy arm of the Illinois Network of Charter Schools (INCS), an advocacy organization focused on the improvement of public education by establishing high-quality charter public schools.

The INCS Action-backed members of the Board include:

District 3: Carlos Rivas
District 4: Ellen Rosenfeld
District 8: Angel Gutierrez

In addition to the three INCS Action-endorsed candidates who won outright, three other independent candidates secured victory last night, meaning that six of the nine contested races went to candidates who will center students ahead of adult interests in making policy decisions for our state’s largest school district. One of the winners, Carlos Rivas in District 3, is a graduate of the INCS Action campaign school and fellowship program, a program designed to prepare the next generation of elected officials.

“I’m proud to have this opportunity to serve not only the families of District 3, but across Chicago,” said Carlos Rivas, a charter school educator. He noted that his win, “is an example of a candidate thinking for themselves and not being defined by outside groups.”

“The election of these candidates who center school quality, rather than school type, reflects a new beginning for Chicago’s education agenda,” said INCS Action President Andrew Broy. “Despite CTU’s best efforts, independent candidates prevailed because Chicagoans know students are more important than politics. Now that campaigning is over, we look forward to partnering in good faith with all CPS Board members to advance the interests of our city’s school children.”

These Board members will serve Chicago’s 325,000 students, including 60,000 charter students and their families. Charter students, 96.4% of whom are students of color and 85% of whom receive free or reduced lunch, are just as much a part of CPS as their counterparts in district-operated schools. It is our hope that the Board will continue to value these students as they do any other child in our city, and the charter community stands eager and ready to support the Board’s commitment to educational equity.

INCS Action has proudly been politically active in city and state elections since 2014.

* CPS Parents for Buses…

“All ten victorious school board candidates support the restoration of busing to magnet and selective enrollment students, according to their response to our candidate survey.”

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*Live* election night coverage - Election results

Tuesday, Nov 5, 2024 - Posted by Rich Miller

* Our live coverage app has been glitching hard tonight, which has distracted me from posting stuff. Rather than delve even further into the intricacies, I’ve decided we will combine the coverage with the election results in one post.

* Election Results: Sun-Times - Tribune - Daily Herald - NYT - Capitol News Illinois - Block Club Chicago

* Live news updates: Sun-Times/WBEZ - Daily Herald - Tribune - NBC 5 - Block Club Chicago - WTTW - 25News Now - Rockford Register Star - Peoria Journal Star

* Our live coverage and results…

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Some midday campaign updates (Updated)

Tuesday, Nov 5, 2024 - Posted by Rich Miller

* From a subscriber in the 66th House District, currently held by Rep. Suzanne Ness (D-Bennington)…

If the [mail-in/early voter] numbers I see are correct, I think it may be closer than some of the districts that have been targeted.

Before the remap, Skillicorn almost won in 2020 despite having moved to AZ and not campaigning. The new lines helped Ness but she only won by 6 in 2022. They’ve spent a ton on Ness despite Parman having almost nothing. That was smart on their part.

Rep. Ness has reported raising $697,700 since July 1.

* Chicago…

Please see below for the updated Chicago Voter Turnout as of 12:00 Noon on Election Day, 11/5/24:

729,075 total ballots cast (includes Early Voting and Previously Processed Vote By Mail)
1,498,873 active registered voters in Chicago
48.64% citywide turnout so far

Ballots Cast By Age Group:

18 -24: 49,097 ballots cast
25-34: 152,098 ballots cast
35-44: 127,334 ballots cast
45-54: 106,888 ballots cast
55-64: 114,801 ballots cast
65-74: 105,888 ballots cast
75+: 72,951 ballots cast

Ballots Cast By Gender:

Female: 406,296 ballots cast
Male: 320,666 ballots
Non-Binary/X: 685 ballots cast
Undeclared: 1,428 ballots

Ballots Cast Per Hour:

6:00am-7:00am: 20,442
7:00am-8:00am: 13,876 (*updated as epollbooks caught up past 9:00am)
8:00am-9:00am: 35,960 (*updated as epollbooks caught up past 9:00am)
9:00am – 10:00am: 35,513
10:00am – 11:00am: 35,320
11:00am – 12:00pm: 14,089 (as reported by epollbooks at this moment, will be updated)

* Cook County…

Suburban Cook County Voter Turnout as of 1pm

- Mail Ballots: 129,419
- Early Voting: 466,101
- Election Day: 241,494

Total Ballots: 837,014 (51%) pic.twitter.com/fBRagGIkIO

— Cook County Clerk's Office (@cookcountyclerk) November 5, 2024

* DuPage County…

DuPage County Noon Voter Turnout Update

As of Noon on Nov. 5th, 2024 in DuPage County, IL:

Election Day Voters: 83,553 (13.1% turnout)
In-Person Early Voters: 210,426 (33.0% turnout)
Vote-By-Mail Ballots Processed: 81,953 (12.8% turnout)

Total Turnout: 375,932 out of 638,103 registered voters (58.9% turnout)

“24,211 voters turned out for the last day of in-person Early Voting, nearly double the 12,846 who voted the day before Election Day in 2020. This enthusiasm has continued into a strong start to voting this morning,” DuPage County Clerk Jean Kaczmarek says. “DuPage County voters are encouraged to take advantage of the opportunity to Vote Anywhere today and visit whatever polling place is most convenient to cast their vote if they have not done so already.”

* WCIA…

UPDATE (8:44a) – Voting locations in Champaign County are back online. Voters are now able to vote this morning normally after the earlier issues have been resolved.

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. (WCIA) – Many voters in Champaign County are not able to vote this morning after an issue that has brought most polling locations down.

The Champaign County Clerk Aaron Ammons confirmed to WCIA this morning that there are network issues that are preventing people from voting. He told us there is no timeline to be resolved. He states it is all polling locations.

More…

The Champaign County State's Attorney files a Motion for Injunctive Relief — requesting polling places be extended to 9 p.m.

The hearing will take place at 1:30 p.m. @wandtvnews pic.twitter.com/GFLOLPrGTo

— Caryn Eisert (@CarynEisert) November 5, 2024

* WCIA…

Sangamon County Clerk Don Gray is letting residents know that polling locations are completely up and running.

In a statement Tuesday morning, Gray said despite inaccurate reports, all polling locations in the county are fully operational, and have been since opening at 6:00 a.m. He acknowledges that other state counties are facing major issues, but not Sangamon County.

The only issue he noted is one that has been plaguing all of Illinois.

“This morning, as part of a statewide vendor error, we did face a minor inconvenience: The new same-day voter registration process required an additional phone call to our downtown office from the polling place,” Gray said. “Voters could still register in person at the courthouse without any issue.”

The third-party vendor is Platinum Technology Resource.

* This was a problem in several places…

Platinum Technology Resource, a Batavia, Illinois-based election service provider, called this morning’s database system failure “a temporary issue that affected the speed of voter searches and not a system outage.”

In an email to clients like the Rockford Board of Elections, Platnium explained that its database, which stores and protects the city’s electronic voter registration log, locked up causing an error message.

…Adding… No extended hours…

Champaign County will not keep polls open past seven after a technical glitch caused a delay in the start of voting this morning.

— Doug Wolfe - WAND TV (@WANDTVDoug) November 5, 2024

* Sun-Times…

Election Day got off to a rocky start at Ogden Elementary School, 24 W. Walton St. in Chicago’s Gold Coast neighborhood, where some voters were told their entire precinct had already cast their ballots.

The issue, which affected 12th precinct voters only, stemmed from the site’s electronic pollbooks, said Max Bever, director of public information for the Chicago Board of Elections. Poll workers directed voters to instead go to the nearest voting center if they could not stay in line or to return before polls close at 7 p.m.

An election official on site told WBEZ shortly before 9 a.m. that the issue had been resolved and that things were now running smoothly.

* From a pal on the Southwest Side…

I think this combined with the Jesse Jackson endorsement should push him over the top 🤣

More…

O’Neill Burke’s response: “Bob says a lot of things. I don’t pay much attention to them.” https://t.co/VDZlgrSiDL

— Paris Schutz (@paschutz) November 5, 2024

* Democratic Party of Illinois…

Chicago, IL — Today, Democratic Party of Illinois Chair Lisa Hernandez and Illinois Democratic leaders will hold a press conference at Manny’s Deli to stress what’s at stake this election, encourage Illinoisans to cast their ballots before polls close and highlight why down-ballot races are critically important. The press conference follows weeks of voter information, voter protection and get out the vote efforts by the Party.

WHO: Democratic Party of Illinois Chair Lisa Hernandez, U.S. Senator Dick Durbin, U.S. Representative Danny Davis (IL-7), U.S. Representative Jonathan Jackson (IL-1), Cook County Board of Commissioners President Toni Preckwinkle, Illinois State Comptroller Susana Mendoza, Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul and Illinois Secretary of State Alexi Giannoulias

WHAT: Remarks followed by brief media availability

WHEN: Tuesday, November 5, 2024
1:00 PM - 1:30 PM CT

WHERE: Manny’s Cafeteria & Delicatessen
1141 S Jefferson St.
Chicago, IL 60607

From Manny’s…

Democratic candidate for Cook County States Attorney Eileen O’Neill Burke greets Gov Pritzker at Mannys pic.twitter.com/GwBPgNo01p

— Paris Schutz (@paschutz) November 5, 2024

* Live updates from various news organizations…

Rockford Register Star

Peoria Journal Star

* More from Isabel…

* Fox 32 | Gov. J.B. Pritzker among Illinois politicians visiting Manny’s Deli for Election Day: It’s an Election Day tradition for local politicians to head to Manny’s Deli while voters hit polling places.

* Chalkbeat Chicago | Chicago high schoolers get a crash course on the city’s first school board election: Inside Room 105, Odeth and 20 of her peers dug into the day’s civics lesson: Chicago’s historic school board elections. They would learn that the board has immense power, including to change school policies and curriculum and adopt the district’s budget. “I feel like the fact that they’re being elected in the first place is really cool, because I feel like we should have a say in deciding, like, how we’re going to learn,” she said. “It was interesting to learn how much they actually control.”

* USA Today | Georgia secretary of state blames polling place bomb threat on Russians: Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger confirmed Tuesday a bomb threat was made against a polling place, but he said it was of Russian origin and not credible. Raffensperger later clarified in a subsequent press conference that the threat affected between five and seven precincts in multiple Georgia counties. “In the interest of public safety, you always check that out,” Raffensperger said. “They’re up to mischief it seems,” he added, about the Russians. “They don’t want us to have a smooth, fair and accurate election.”

* CNN | A pro-Trump influencer says a Russian agent paid him $100 to post a fake voter fraud video. It wasn’t the first time: The pro-Trump influencer, who uses the @AlphaFox78 handle on X, is an American man living in Massachusetts, CNN has learned. He agreed to speak to CNN about the posts on condition of anonymity. […] “I don’t have any idea where it came from or anything - I’m just the guy who shared it,” he said. The man said Simeon Boikov, a Russian propagandist podcaster known online as “AussieCossack,” offered him $100 to post the video, which he agreed to. A person with knowledge of the situation confirmed to CNN that multiple payments were sent from Boikov to the Massachusetts man.

* NYT | What We’ll Know and When We’ll Know It: A Guide to Election Night: Like in 2020, the vote count will still feature “blue mirages” or “red mirages,” in which one candidate builds a fleeting lead simply because mail or Election Day ballots are counted first. (Mail ballots have tended to be more Democratic, and Election Day ballots more Republican.) But this year, these mirages won’t be as extreme.

* Forbes | These Key Swing States Don’t Count Mail Ballots In Advance—Results May Take Days: Pennsylvania: The state will be one of the slowest to release results from mail-in ballots because officials can’t start processing absentee ballots—taking steps like removing ballots from envelopes and verifying voter signatures—until the morning of Election Day, and cannot record any vote totals until after polls close at 8 p.m.

* USA Today | Sign of the times in front yard political wars: A campaign to make America laugh again: In the thicket of political campaign signs at a busy intersection in Goffstown, New Hampshire, Andy Brown decided to plant a message of his own: “Andy Brown: Not running for anything. Just wanted a sign.” Soon a friend of a friend surprised Brown by adding another sign “paid for by friends of Andy Brown.” So, Brown doubled down on the joke and headed back to the sign store for a 3-foot-by-5-foot custom banner with a new campaign slogan. “I like big signs, I cannot lie” − a creative riff on the Sir Mix-A-Lot lyrics − struck a nerve on social media where one local person responded: “And G-town can’t deny…”

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