When Rep. Dan Caulkins (R-Decatur) ran for the House for the first time in 2018, he had a hard three-term limit for himself.

Democratic Congresswoman Nikki Budzinski (D-Springfield), a former aide to Gov. JB Pritzker, testified Monday in the corruption trial of former House Speaker Michael Madigan.

As outgoing Rep. Kelly Burke (D-Evergreen Park) drove home from the final day of her final veto session last month, she dealt with high winds, heavy snow, and drivers who weren’t acclimated to winter weather in Illinois.

Sen. Win Stoller (R-East Peoria) won his Peoria-area seat in 2020, but was appointed to the seat a few days early, during the 2021 lame duck session. He got a crash course in legislating.

Rep. Lance Yednock (D-Ottawa) never really imagined politics was a part of his plan. A longtime heavy machine operator and Business Agent for powerful union Local 150, Yednock said he was “plucked” to run against a scandal-plagued Republican lawmaker and unpopular Governor in Republican Bruce Rauner.

A Republican Senator from southern Illinois is continuing to raise the alarm about illegal drugs being smuggled into Illinois prisons.