Four area incumbent lawmakers faced challenges this year. But all were able to fend off their opponents.
Here's the rundown.
96th House
Incumbent Rep. Sue Scherer, D-Decatur, fended off challengers from the left and right to win another term Tuesday.
With 100% of the precincts reporting, Scherer was drawing nearly 52% of the vote to 44% for Republican Charlie McGorray. Green Party candidate John Keating had 4%.
Scherer said she appreciated voters who stood in long lines during a pandemic to vote in the election.
"They didn't let that keep them home," she said. "They saw how very important that was."
Scherer said that in her new term she wants to work on education issues, particularly those arising from students being forced to take classes remotely because of the pandemic. She said there will be "really tough choices to make on funding things" with the graduated tax amendment apparently going down to defeat. She also said she wants to continue working to make the Department of Children and Family Services more accountable.
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McGorray said he felt he ran a good campaign.
"Everything we put on social media and the regular media is true about what she's done," he said. "Michael Madigan has an awful lot of power and a lot of money. Am I disappointed, yes. Am I surprised, no."
Scherer had the advantage of being a Democrat in a district that was drawn to favor Democrats and she holds a substantial fundraising lead over her two opponents.
But as the election neared, McGorray aired extensive radio advertising tying Scherer to the widely disliked House Speaker Michael Madigan, D-Chicago.
Scherer, a former school teacher, is a union supporter and supports the effort to bring a graduated income tax to Illinois.
McGorray, a retired firefighter, endorses several traditional Republican issues like state support for business development and the need to reduce workers' compensation costs. He opposes the graduated income tax proposal because he thinks it will hurt small business.
Keating, an activist with the Black Lives Matter movement, said Scherer is too conservative for the district. Scherer is a social conservative who voted against legalizing marijuana and who enjoys support from the National Rifle Association. He said his major issues are passage of the Clean Energy Jobs Act and criminal justice reform.
Keating said Madigan should step down as leader of the House while a federal investigation into his activities continues. Scherer said Madigan should resign if he is found guilty of wrongdoing while McGorray said the speaker should cooperate with a House investigation into his activities.
The 96th House district includes portions of Macon, Christian and Sangamon counties, including the city of Decatur and the southeast portion of Springfield.
87th House
Incumbent Rep. Tim Butler, R-Springfield easily won another term by defeating Green Party candidate Angel Sides of Springfield.
With 100% of precincts reporting, Butler had nearly 85% of the vote to Sides' 15%.
Butler said he was honored that more than 41,000 people voted for him the first time he has faced an opponent since being appointed five years ago.
With the graduated income tax amendment apparently headed for defeat, Butler said he wants to focus on improving state finances.
"Instead of talking about a tax increase, we need to talk about passing a truly balanced budget," Butler said. "We need to find some spending restraint."
Sides unsuccessfully ran for Congress and the Springfield city council before making this run for the Statehouse. In challenging Butler, she took on someone who has been in the House since 2015 and holds the leadership position of assistant Republican leader.
Like most incumbents, Butler held a huge fundraising lead over Sides, who said she decided against fundraising. That allowed her to criticize Butler for taking money from companies she said are socially irresponsible. Butler said many of the companies cited by Sides are based in Illinois and employ Illinois workers. He said he is glad to have their support.
The two candidates agreed on some key issues. Both support term limits and think House Speaker Michael Madigan, D-Chicago, should leave. Both also support efforts to reduce the influence of money in politics.
Sides said a possible way to control property taxes would be for the state to get into the broadband business and use revenue from that to defray local government costs. Butler said eliminating unfunded mandates passed by state government would cut property taxes.
The 87th House district includes the northeast part of Sangamon County, including the north half of Springfield, all of Menard and Logan counties and part of Tazewell County.
95th House
Incumbent Republican Rep. Avery Bourne of Morrisonville sailed to victory in a rematch with Democrat Chase Wilhelm of Coffeen.
With nearly 85% of precincts reporting, Bourne was getting nearly 73% of the vote to Wilhelm's 27%.
Bourne said her top three priorities in the next legislative session will be economic recovery from the coronavirus pandemic, bringing fiscal discipline to the state budget and passing ethics reforms.
"There is a lot more for us to do (on ethics)," she said.
Wilhelm could not be reached for comment.
Bourne has won all three of her contested races since being appointed representative in the district in 2015. She has risen to the position of assistant Republican leader.
Wilhelm has had the support of organized labor as well as establishment Democrats in his efforts to unseat Bourne.
Bourne has emphasized her fiscal conservatism and her ongoing efforts to push for ethics reform as reasons she should be returned for another term. She also said she has the ability to work in a bi-partisan manner to pass things like school funding reform.
Wilhelm said he hoped to be a voice for downstate within a Democratic caucus that is heavily dominated by lawmakers from the Chicago area. He also said he would vote for an alternative to Michael Madigan as House Speaker, part of his desire to see ethics reforms passed by the General Assembly.
Wilhelm faced an uphill battle in a district that is strongly Republican and where Bourne had a commanding lead in fundraising.
The district includes all of Montgomery County and portions of Christian, Macoupin and Madison counties.
100th House
Incumbent Rep. C.D. Davidsmeyer, R-Jacksonville, defeated two challengers Tuesday in his bid to return to the House.
Davidsmeyer was getting more than 74% of the vote with 76% of the precincts reporting. Democrat Brandon Adams of Jacksonville was polling about 21% and Ralph Sides of Jacksonville, who is running as a Pro-Gun Pro-Life candidate, had 5%.
Davidsmeyer could not be reached for comment.
Adams said the election "seems pretty partisan. That's the way it is going across the country."
"I'm glad I gave people a choice," he said.
Adams said he got into the race because he saw that many legislative races are uncontested and he said voters should have a choice.
Davidsmeyer, in office since 2012, had a distinct edge in both experience and fundraising over his two opponents. Both Adams and Sides are making their first run for state office, although Adams is a member of the Jacksonville city council.
Many of the issues Sides discussed in the campaign had more to do with Congress and national politics than the Illinois legislature.
Adams survived two months in a coma after contracting the West Nile virus. He lives in public housing on Social Security disability payments.
Adams said that led him to want to improve health care for the poor, including expanding Medicaid to cover everyone. Davidsmeyer's health care focus is on reducing workers' compensation costs by reducing rates paid to treat certain injuries.
Davidsmeyer has been a vocal critic of Gov. JB Pritzker's efforts to control the coronavirus, including ordering business to close outright or reduce hours and service to control the spread. He thinks the governor should work with lawmakers and business owners to develop more reasonable control measures.
Adams said he thinks Pritzker is doing an acceptable job on the pandemic.
Adams proposed shortening the campaign season as a way to reduce the influence of money in politics. He would not say if he would vote for Madigan to continue serving as speaker.
Davidsmeyer said lawmakers should be barred from also working as lobbyists and they should be required to state conflicts of interest when voting on bills.
The 100th district covers all or parts of seven counties stretching from the Sangamon County line to the Mississippi River and southeast to the Metro East area.