Working for Illinois Caucus

Illinois will see a couple of big changes at the top of the state government when the next legislative year begins.

JB Pritzker’s decisive win in the governor’s race signals the state will be moving in a different direction than under outgoing Governor Bruce Rauner.

Pritzker’s win wasn’t a surprise given the polls showed him with a big lead for months.

He won by a comfortable margin of 54 percent to 39 percent. The race was called less than an hour after the polls closed.

Pritzker will enjoy strong Democratic majorities in the House and Senate to pursue his policies.

Another key win for Democrats came in the race for attorney general.

Lisa Madigan’s decision not to seek another term made it a wide open race.

Kwame Raoul kept it in the hands of Democrats, defeating Republican Erika Harold 54 percent to 43 percent.

Democrats added to their stranglehold in the general assembly.

Democrats went into the election with  a 67 to 51 majority in the House. Preliminary results pending potential runoffs show it could end up at 73 to 45 in favor the Democrats.

That would be a two-vote cushion for the 71 supermajority needed to override any veto.

Democrats in the Illinois Senate went into the midterms with a 37 to 22 advantage. That extended to a 39-20 stronghold.

It was a great night for incumbents from the greater Quad Cities area.

State Senator Neil Anderson won a second term in a very tight race against Democratic challenger Gregg Johnson. Anderson with 51 percent of the vote.

The margin of victory was a little more than 1,300 votes.

Republican Tony McCombie made it look easy by comparison, winning second term in the Illinois Statehouse with 59 percent of the vote to defeat Joan Padilla.

Democrat Mike Halpin made it look even easier, coasting to a second term representing Rock Island County in Springfield with 62 percent of the vote over Republican Glen Evans.

It all sets the stage for things to feel different in Springfield for the same people who will be representing the Quad Cities area.

Representatives Halpin and McCombie joined 4 The Record for a conversation.

New dynamic

So the Democrats in Illinois got what they wanted. That’s total control.

McCombie and Halpin talked about what they expect the dynamic to be in Springfield and if Republican voices will be shut out of the process.

They also discussed how much this changes what they do to influence the policies important to their respective districts that have a lot of common interests.

Governor stalemate over?

We saw the stalemate with Governor Bruce Rauner and the Democrats.

Former Governor Pat Quinn didn’t always see eye to eye with his fellow Democrats in the legislature. That was before their tenure. But Democrats are out of excuses.

Halpin and McCombie discussed how they expect things to work with a Governor Pritzker and the legislature dominated by Michael Madigan.

Local 4 News, your local election headquarters, is proud to present 4 The Record, a weekly news and public affairs program focused on the issues important to you.  It’s a program unlike any other here in the Quad Cities. Tune in each Sunday at 10:30 a.m. as Jim Niedelman brings you up to speed on what’s happening in the political arena, from Springfield, Des Moines, Washington, D.C. and right here at home.