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By Bill Dwyer for Chronicle Media — October 5, 2025

Harry Benton (Harry Benton Facebook photo)

Gabby Shanahan (Gabby Shanahan Facebook photo)

It appears State Rep. Harry Benton and GOP challenger Gabby Shanahan will reprise their 2024 race for the 97th House in 2026.

The 97th House, which runs from the west side of Joliet and to Plainfield and Oswego, is a bit of a swing district, one the GOP controlled until four-term State Rep Mark Batnick declined to run for a fifth term in 2022, and one Democrats have shown they will spend heavily to defend.

Shanahan, who calls herself a “working mom who represents the people,” and “not a career politician,” has been circulating petitions in late September. Petitions can be filed with the State Board of Elections starting Oct. 27.

Shanahan holds dual majors in U.S. History and Political Science and a master’s degree in business administration. She works as the executive assistant to the President of the conservative Illinois Policy Institute. She also serves as the national committeewoman of Illinois for the Young Republican Nation Federation and is the county chairwoman for the Kendall Young Republicans.

There is some bad blood between Benton and Shanahan that goes beyond party affiliation. Shanahan’s employment by the notably anti-union Illinois Policy Institute is an oil and water mix with Benton, a union Ironworker who enjoys significant union support. And Republicans have criticized Benton as a “double dipper” due to his recent election in April to the paid position as Wheatland Township Highway Commissioner.

Shanahan has criticized what she sees as government “plagued by corruption” and the “extreme politics” in Springfield. She says she will help assure a more prosperous state “by supporting policies that keep tax rates low, communities safe, small businesses prospering, and giving children the education opportunities that suit their families’ needs.”

Republicans are publicly expressing confidence that they take back Benton’s seat. “Harry Benton eked out a victory last cycle by spending millions of dollars lying about his opponent because he couldn’t defend his record,” a House GOP campaign arm spokesman told the Illinoize’s Patrick Pfingsten recently.

Benton won the seat in 2022 by just 1,163 votes, 51.7 to 48.3 percent against Republican Michelle Smith. The Democratic pick-up became possible when Batnick, of Plainfield, declined to run for reelection after four terms.

The 2024 race saw a marked increase in voter turnout of more than 50 percent, from 35,027 in 2022 to 52,745 in 2024. Benton improved on those totals against Shanahan in 2024, doubling his winning margin with 2,335 votes, 52.2 percent to Shanahan’s 47.8 percent.

“Lying” aside, that contention is only a slight exaggeration. Republican leadership will have to up the ante significantly if they hope to compete with the anticipated flood of Democratic media and direct mail pieces in the general election. It’s notable that Benton’s doubled vote total in 2024 came as Democratic leadership upped his support by $500,000, up from $1.22 million in 2022 against Michelle Smith.

However, the district has voted for Democrats across the board in statewide contests since 2018, with Benton underperforming most of those Democratic candidates.

Democratic leadership spent big behind Benton, including more than $1 million on broadcast TV ads in the last week or so of the campaign. Benton took in a total of more than $1.7 million, with $1.43 million coming in after Oct. 1.

That was a more than 7-to-1 advantage in critical fourth quarter support over Shanahan, who took in just $192,500 after Oct. 1, and around $460,000 in total.

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October 5, 2025 at 09:06PM

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September 17, 2025 at 04:30PM

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BLOOMINGTON, Ill. (WMBD) — State Representative Sharon Chung said in a town hall Tuesday she hopes to change the estate tax to help Illinois farmers.

"Farmers tend to really take the brunt of the estate tax more than your everyday people," she said.

An estate is taxed a percentage of all the properties, investments and all other belongings when the owner dies.

Currently, if a person’s estate is $4 million or less, they are exempt from the tax. The problem is, generally farmers own a lot of property, not only the land itself, but also farming equipment.

Chung said farmers are land rich but cash poor. They get hit with a high estate tax often without the funds to pay it.

Her proposal would increase that exemption to $6 million, which she hopes will put more farmers under the exemption threshold.

"I’ve met people who paid the estate tax five times over," she said. "That sort of thing makes farmers, especially for the younger generations, consider not taking over the modern family farm."

This proposal is similar to another bill filed in the Spring that never made it past committee. It was filed by a Republican.

Chung’s proposal will also require the exemption to be adjusted annually according to the increase in the Consumer Price Index.

In simple terms, the exemption value will adjust to the value of property year by year. That means they won’t have to pass a new bill every time property values go up.

She said she hopes to get this bill passed in the 2026 Spring session.

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September 17, 2025 at 01:59PM

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PEORIA, Ill. (WMBD) — Bloomington Normal’s state Representative said she would not support a statewide tax to save Chicago transit, which is facing a fiscal cliff by January 2026.

"We would be actually then paying for transit up in Chicago, and that’s something I’ve been very opposed to from the beginning," said state Rep. Sharon Chung. "I will continue to fight against any sort of tax that will disproportionately affect us down here."

In the last moments of the Spring session, the Senate passed a bill to fund Chicago transit through a flat $1.50 tax on all non-grocery or medication deliveries statewide.

For every $1.50, Downstate transit would get $0.30 while Chicago and Suburban transit would receive $1.20. This proposal was dead on arrival in the House according to House Speaker Chris Welch.

But Chicago transit still needs the money, or thousands could lose their jobs. Chung said she could potentially support a different fiscal plan, it if meant downstate got more of the pie.

"While we will get some money for downstate transit, when you think about it as a whole, it’s such a small piece of the pie when it comes to overall public transportation," she said. "So, we down here in Central Illinois should not be paying taxes in terms of delivery taxes."

She also says she would support a plan that would only requiring funding from Chicago and the surrounding area, leaving downstate out of new taxes.

Outside of Chicago issues, Chung led a bill in the Illinois House to allow the Twin Cities to use treated wastewater as a coolant for data centers.

That bill was recently signed into law by the Governor.

"We worked with the Bloomington-Normal Water Reclamation District to sponsor this bill," she said. "This really great idea where we use our treated wastewater, which is not really used for drinking, but we can use this water to help with cooling with these data centers."

Veto session is coming up, as lawmakers will return to Springfield to pass clean up legislation. On the potential agenda includes funding the Chicago transit fiscal cliff, funding the Chicago Public Schools fiscal cliff and energy reform.

Chung said when she talks with constituents, she hears that housing and childcare are too expensive.

"We also have a sort of a housing crisis in Central Illinois where we have a lot of people who want to come and live and work. But there might not be enough housing," she said. "Also, the prices are kind of high and out of reach for a lot of people."

"The other issue, as people are trying to put down their roots in Central Illinois, they want to have families, and childcare costs are also really high. Those are the two issues that seem to be on a lot of people’s minds."

State lawmakers will return to Springfield for veto session on Oct. 14.

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September 16, 2025 at 03:43PM

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Shown, from left, are Paul Wellhausen and Kayla Boesing, Madison County Employment & Training; Stacey Coleman-Braggs and Dionne Jackson, Illinoins Department of Human Services; Darlene Ladd, Madison County Employment & Training; State Representative Katie Stuart; ACT Apprentice Jamall Arnold; Jamall’s mother, Estelle Fields; ACT Executive Director SJ Morrison and ACT Board President Mark Achenbach.

Agency for Community Transit (ACT) hosted a recognition ceremony during its regular board meeting on Thursday, Sept. 11, honoring Jamall Arnold, a recent Edwardsville High School graduate and participant in ACT’s one-year apprenticeship program. The event was attended by family, friends, and local elected officials.

ACT, in collaboration with Madison County Employment and Training and the U.S. Department of Labor, launched an innovative apprenticeship program designed to equip high school students with essential job skills and prepare them for future careers in the transit sector.

Arnold began his apprenticeship in August 2024, working as a bus cleaner under the mentorship of seasoned ACT employees for several hours after school.

This paid program not only provides students like Arnold with valuable skills but also offers meaningful professional experience before graduation. Arnold successfully completed his apprenticeship in August and has now accepted a full-time position at ACT.

“Once again, an apprentice from this impressive program has come to work for ACT on a full-time basis,” said ACT Executive Director SJ Morrison. “I’m proud that ACT supports this program and that it is yielding such hard working, dependable employees to join our team.”

Photo courtesy ACT.

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