Rep. Tom Bennett to Seek Barickman's Senate Seat
Rep. Tom Bennett (R-Gibson City) has served in the House since 2015 and will seek the Senate seat being vacated by Sen. Jason Barickman (R-Bloomington).
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Rep. Tom Bennett (R-Gibson City) confirmed Tuesday he will seek the appointment to the Senate seat being vacated by Sen. Jason Barickman (R-Bloomington).
“With my years of experience, knowledge, and ability to develop relationships, I believe it will help me hit the ground running in the Senate,” Bennett said.
With that, Rep.-Elect Dennis Tipsword, who was just elected to the new 105th district in the House, says he will support Bennett.
“I am supporting Tom Bennett as long as Tom Bennett is interested,” Tipsword said.
Bennett, 66, ran for the House in 2012, losing to eventual Rep. Josh Harms. When Harms stepped aside in 2014, Bennett was appointed to the ballot and has held the seat since then.
He missed veto session last week while home recuperating from a car accident.
Bennett could be in good shape to get the coalition he needs to get the appointment done. If you combine Ford County, his home county, and Iroquois County, where he is well known and popular, he has about a quarter of the weighted vote for the appointment. If he can get Livingston County on board (which he already represents most of in the House), it would put him right under the 50% + 1 threshold.
Interestingly enough, if Bennett were to ascend to the Senate, he would join his nephew, Sen. Scott Bennett (D-Champaign).
