Article Summary
- Illinois’ constitutional offices will all remain in Democratic hands, though the state will have a new U.S. senator and state comptroller.
- The party also expanded its majorities in the Illinois General Assembly, picking up races that were widely considered safely Republican.
- The state races were all called early amid a national “Blue Wave” election that saw the party retake Congress.
This summary was written by the reporters and editors who worked on this story.
Democrats once again cruised to an easy sweep of statewide offices Tuesday night as the party gained ground across the nation — including in an Illinois General Assembly where they already held supermajorities.
Among the victors was Margaret Croke, a state representative from Chicago and ally to Gov. JB Pritzker, who will be the state’s first new comptroller in a decade. She defeated southern Illinois attorney Bryan Drew, with the Associated Press calling the race at about 11 p.m. and Croke holding an 800,000-vote lead with 90% of votes counted.
Democrats in the General Assembly, meanwhile, had eyed a handful of seats in each chamber that they’d hoped could be swept up in a Blue Wave. They won them and then some, potentially felling both a House GOP assistant minority leader and the party’s conference chair. Suburban lawmakers who’d once been viewed as safe were also swept up in the wave, and a 30-year incumbent from Rockford was behind in a tight race that was still too close to call.
With three Senate races and seven House contests still not called as of Wednesday morning, the Democrats had grown their ranks to 44 in the Senate, up from 40, and 80 in the House, up from 78. The margins could grow as high as 46-13 in the Senate and 85-33 in the House — a striking expansion of power, even on a map that was drawn to keep the General Assembly deeply blue.
Seats flipped in the House
The flips included a 52nd District race that was decided by 47 votes in 2024. This year, the same candidates — incumbent Republican Martin McLaughlin and Democratic challenger Maria Peterson — were back for a rematch, with Peterson winning by over 11 points.
In other suburban races, Democrat Amanda Zahorak ousted incumbent Jennifer Sanalitro in the 48th district — a seat Sanalitro won by nearly 16 points two years ago. In the 47th House district, Democrat Erica Bray-Parker of Wheaton won an 18-point victory for an open seat being vacated by Republican Amy Grant.
GOP Conference Chair Jeff Keicher, of Sycamore, trailed Veronica Garcia-Martinez in the 70th District by more than 1,800 votes with 74% of votes counted as of Wednesday. Assistant Minority Leader Dan Ugaste, R-Geneva, in the 65th, trailed Ricky Rivard by 16 points with 64% counted. Both men have occupied seats that have generally been safe for Republicans even since the 2021 remap.
In the Danville area, incumbent Republican Brandun Schweizer trailed Mary Catherine Roberson by nearly 800 votes with both counties in the district near full reporting. He’d won by 269 votes in 2024.
In the 114th District near the Metro East, Republican Rep. Kevin Schmidt trailed Democrat George McLellan by fewer than 600 votes with 96% of votes counted.
Seats flipped in the Senate
The 33rd District currently held by popular outgoing Republican Sen. Don DeWitte of St. Charles is going blue. Michele Clark, of Algonquin, beat fellow first-time candidate Danielle Penman, R-St. Charles, by nearly 25 points.
Democratic Rep. Nabeela Syed, D-Inverness, won the only race that featured two incumbent lawmakers, rising from the House to the Senate. She ousted incumbent Sen. Darby Hills, R-Barrington Hills, by about 14 points.
Moderate Republican Sen. Seth Lewis, R-Bartlett, was also a casualty of the Blue Wave in a suburban district, losing to challenger Ben McAdams by over 9 points. Sen. Craig Wilcox, another suburban incumbent, trailed Democratic challenger Karen Battaglia by more than 5 points in a surprise to many observers.
In the Metro East, incumbent Erica Harriss trailed challenger Marsia Geldert‑Murphey by nearly 6 points.
While he could still pull it out, 33-year incumbent Republican Dave Syverson was also on the ropes. He has represented the Rockford area in the Senate since 1993 but trailed his Democratic challenger by more than 900 votes with 85% of the votes counted in the 35th Senate District. It was a race almost no one had on their radar as a potential Democratic flip opportunity.
Statewide races
Croke will replace outgoing Comptroller Susana Mendoza, a Chicago Democrat who’s held the job since late 2016 but decided to run a for mayor of Chicago instead of seeking another term.
“It’s been a really long campaign, to think that I announced on July 18 of last year, and this is where we’re at is — it’s really surreal,” Croke told Capitol News Illinois, adding seeing the looks on her children’s faces made the hours “totally worth it.”
Drew, a newcomer to state government, mounted an underdog campaign that coincided with his career as an attorney in Benton. He pitched himself as a necessary check on Democratic authority but ultimately lacked the fundraising support to get his name out to voters.
Croke had disclosed raising just under $3 million as of the end of October. Most of that came before the March 17 primary, when Croke eked out a 2-percentage-point victory over three opponents. Major donors included Democratic megadonor Michael Sachs at over $300,000, Pritzker’s campaign at $72,800, and influential trade unions.
Drew had reported raising just under $200,000 in 2026, per an analysis of Illinois State Board of Elections data, more than a quarter of that self-funded. He received more votes than any other statewide Republican candidate as of Wednesday morning.
Her more challenging campaign was in the primary, in which she defeated two other state lawmakers and a county treasurer.
Democrats fared just as well in other statewide races, with Pritzker and Lt. Gov Juliana Stratton once again coasting to an immediate victory upon the closure of polls. Stratton will be part of a newly minted Democratic majority in the U.S. Senate.
Here’s a rundown of the other races:
- Attorney general: Kwame Raoul won a third term in a race against perennial candidate Bob Fioretti. Raoul told Capitol News Illinois he’ll be seeking a funding boost after his budget was reduced this year, in part to help improve retention within the AG’s office. He’ll also continue to challenge President Donald Trump in court. Fioretti now adds the AG’s office to the list of races he’s lost, having mounted failed bids for Cook County state’s attorney, Chicago mayor and Cook County Board president in the last decade.
- Secretary of state: Alexi Giannoulias won another term as secretary of state ahead of his run for mayor of Chicago in February’s municipal election. Diane Harris, a Joliet Junior College trustee, had tried to hit Giannoulias on his double office run, but she only reported spending about $3,400, giving Giannoulias and his fundraising machine the massive advantage. He’s got about $20 million in the bank ahead of his mayoral run.
- Treasurer: Mike Frerichs won an easy victory over Max Solomon, a suburban attorney who earned his spot on the general election ballot via a write-in campaign in the primary. Frerichs, who looked likely to win by double digit percentages, has come a long way since his 9,220-vote election win that put him into statewide office in 2015.
Capitol News Illinois is a nonprofit, nonpartisan news service that distributes state government coverage to hundreds of news outlets statewide. It is funded primarily by the Illinois Press Foundation and the Robert R. McCormick Foundation.
