Five Open Seat Races I'm Watching on June 28
Former Rep. Mary Edly-Allen and Rep. Sam Yingling (D-Grayslake) are battling for the open 31st Senate seat in Lake County.
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OPINION
16th Senate (Democrats)
This is the race to replace Sen. Jacqueline Collins (D-Chicago), who is running for Congress. The heavily African American southside district runs from around 79th and the Chicago Skyway west to Hickory Hills and Justice.
Construction and landscape business owner Willie Preston faces attorney Lamont Williams. Williams has the endorsement of Congressman Danny Davis, Collins, and Secretary of State Jesse White.
Preston had around $12,000 cash at the beginning of April and has reported around $10,000 in large donations since. Williams had around $17,000 on hand at the end of March and has raised well in excess of $150,000 in large donations since. He’s in the catbirds seat, it seems, but I’m very interested it see who working class voters in this district gravitate to.
31st Senate (Democrats)
This could be one of the tougher primaries on the docket on June 28. Sen. Melinda Bush (D-Grayslake) isn’t seeking re-election and Rep. Sam Yingling (D-Grayslake) and former one-term Rep. Mary Edly-Allen are both seeking the seat.
The Lake County-based district runs from the Wisconsin state line to Libertyville and includes Zion, Lindenhurst, and Grayslake. President Biden won the district by around 23 points, but Governor Pritzker won it in 2018 by under 9 points.
Yingling has harshly attacked Pritzker for his endorsement of Edly-Allen, known to many as MEA. Bush has also endorsed MEA, who served one term in the House before being upset by Rep. Chris Bos (R-Lake Zurich) in 2020. Most Lake County lawmakers, like Reps. Joyce Mason, Rita Mayfield, Daniel Didech, and Jonathan Carroll have all endorsed Yingling.
Yingling has argued he has a track record of getting things done in Springfield while Edly-Allen had a less successful term in Springfield.
MEA had around $13,000 on hand at the end of March, but has raked in over $350,000 in large donations since. Yingling had around $110,000 on hand on April 1 and has raised around $108,000 in large contributions since then.
This race could be incredibly close.
13th House (Democrats)
The race to replace House Majority Leader Greg Harris (D-Chicago) looked to be relatively sewn up by Eileen Dordek, a social worker and longtime abortion rights activist. But, it appears Hoan Huynh, a fundraiser for educational philanthropic group Chicago Beyond, has seemingly vaulted into the race in the last few weeks.
The district includes Uptown, Lincoln Square, and parts of Lakeview on Chicago’s north side.
Dordek has the endorsement of both Governor JB Pritzker and Sen. Dick Durbin, as well as Congresswoman Jan Schakowsky and Congressman Mike Quigley.
Dordek had around $200,000 on hand at the end of March and has raised around $60,000 in large donations since. Huynh had around $18,000 on hand at the end of March and has only raised around $30,000 in large donations since then, but seemingly has a large door knocking operation, from what we’re told.
Dordek is the favorite, but Huynh could be a real threat in the district that is becoming more progressive and more Asian.
87th House (Republicans)
Tazewell County Treasurer Mary Burress put up a respectable showing in 2020 in an underfunded, uphill battle against Sen. Dave Koehler (D-Peoria). Koehler held on to a 54%-46% victory. Burress is back for an open House race in 2022 that includes all or parts of DeWitt, Logan, Macon, McLean, Sangamon, Tazewell, and Woodford counties.
Burress faces Morton Doctor and Tazewell County Board Member Dr. Bill Hauter, who is running to the right opposing vaccine mandates and “passports.”
Burress had around $19,000 on hand at the end of the first quarter and has raised a little over $60,000 in large donations since April 1. Hauter had around $50,000 on hand at the end of March and has raised around $25,000 since then.
Nobody has raised the money for TV or a serious mail program, so competition for voters outside of their home of Tazewell County appears like it will be a total crapshoot.
90th House (Republicans)
Former Rep. John Cabello, who lost a Rockford-based district two years ago is seeking a return to the chamber in a newly drawn district that runs from Freeport along the Wisconsin state line to areas in Winnebago County north of Rockford.
Cabello faces union-backed Roscoe Mayor Mark Szula, who has been buoyed by around $350,000 in union bucks.
Szula has raised around $290,000 in large contributions, mainly from unions, since April 1. He had around $160,000 on hand at the end of the quarter. Cabello has the support of much of the GOP establishment in the area, had around $45,000 on hand at the end of March and has raised around $160,000 in large donations since then. The two are on TV and duking it out. I hear from folks in the area that the race is considered a total toss up.
105th House (Republicans)
This is a seemingly legitimate tossup race without a clear favorite. The district includes much of the area being vacated by Rep. Dan Brady (R-Bloomington), who was drawn into a different House district anyway. It runs from far northeast Bloomington-Normal to the Illinois River, east to Pontiac, and north to nearly LaSalle-Peru.
Kyle Ham, the former Chief of Staff to then-State Treasurer Dan Rutherford, has long been involved in local politics. Ham had around $45,000 cash on hand at the end of March and has raised around around $50,000 in large contributions since then.
Livingston County Board member and farmer Mike Kirkton of Gridley has the endorsement of the Illinois Farm Bureau, which carries weight in the rural area. Kirkton had around $12,000 on hand at the end of March and has raised around $27,000 since.
Woodford County Sheriff’s Chief Deputy Dennis Tipsword had around $23,000 on hand at the end of the first quarter and has raised around $18,000 in large donations since.
I’ve talked to a lot of folks in the area and Woodford County folks seem to think Tipsword has the edge, Livingston County folks think Kirkton has the edge, and Bloomington folks think Ham has the best shot.
We’ll know in two weeks.
