Democrats held on to majorities in both chambers of the Illinois General Assembly on Tuesday, but skirmishes in legislative battlegrounds throughout the state imperiled or toppled several incumbents, including the longest-serving member of the House.
Voters in Southern Illinois also cast ballots in a contentious and costly Illinois Supreme Court race as worries over medical malpractice costs took center stage, infusing a host of downstate legislative races with voter concern about attracting and retaining doctors in underserved areas.
With early returns, Judge Lloyd Karmeier, a Republican, was leading Judge Gordon Maag, a Democrat, by a slim margin in a race to replace a retiring Democratic justice.
A Republican win would shift the high court’s current 5-2 Democratic majority to 4-3.
In a House race in which one incumbent had to lose, Rep. Michael McAuliffe (R-Chicago) declared victory over Rep. Ralph Capparelli (D-Chicago), a longtime friend of McAuliffe’s late father, Roger, a former lawmaker who died in 1996 and was succeeded by his son.
Puffing on one of his father’s cigars, kept in a freezer for years, McAuliffe accepted congratulations and promised fellow lawmakers who called that he would see them in the state Capitol. The younger McAuliffe, 40, said he thought his father would have been happy with the night’s events.
“We didn’t get a Cubs victory, but we got a McAuliffe victory,” McAuliffe said. “I’d rather have a McAuliffe victory.”
The battle of two Northwest Side stalwarts was the only contest pitting two sitting legislators against each other.
In other Chicago races, indicted Democratic Rep. Patricia Bailey, who faces charges of perjury and falsifying election documents, ran unopposed after besting two primary challengers, including former Death Row inmate Aaron Patterson.
In another Northwest Side race, Democrat John D’Amico of Chicago, a district foreman with the Chicago Department of Water Management whose parents were convicted in a ghost-payrolling scheme, defeated Republican William Miceli of Chicago.
In the Illinois Senate, incumbent Sen. Pam Althoff (R-McHenry) had a substantial lead with more than half of the precincts reporting in a race against Democrat Patrick Ouimet of Woodstock.
– – –
“We didn’t get a Cubs victory, but we got a McAuliffe victory. I’d rather have a McAuliffe victory.”
–Rep. Michael McAuliffe, (R-Chicago)
