2020 Election Results
While all eyes seemed to be on the Presidential race November 3rd, Illinois had many surprises that took place on Election Day this year. Generally, Republicans avoided a “Blue Wave” in Illinois as they did in many states. The Governor lost his effort to pass a graduated or progressive income tax in Illinois. While Illinois Democrats generally underperformed expectations, the balance of power has not changed. The House Speaker and Senate President still control Democrat super majorities in their chambers and every Statewide officer is still a Democrat.
IRTPAC ENDORSEMENTS FOR THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY
The Illinois Retired Teachers Association’s (IRTA) most important objective is fighting for the rights of our members. We do this by working to elect legislators in Springfield that will keep the best interests of Illinois retired teachers in mind while voting on issues such as health insurance funding and pensions. These are just a few reasons why the Illinois Retired Teachers Political Action Committee (IRTPAC) is so important during the election season.
The IRTPAC developed a questionnaire used to evaluate candidates seeking endorsement in the November 2020 election. The questionnaire was mailed to over 190 incumbents and candidates, including all people on the ballot for the 2020 election, both House and Senate, Republican and Democrat. A total of 54 were returned from the House of Representatives (40-D & 14-R) and from the Senate we received 7 (5-D & 2-R). The questionnaire contained questions regarding their position on things such as the constitution, the current tax code, health insurance, Teachers Retirement Insurance Program (TRIP), and funding. The recipients to receive endorsement were carefully selected and voted on by the IRTPAC Committee, then ultimately approved by the IRTPAC Board of Directors.
The Illinois Retired Teachers Political Action Committee (IRTPAC) conclusively made the decision to endorse 40 House candidates and 5 Senate candidates for the 2020 Election Cycle.
The following list shows those candidates endorsed by the IRTPAC who won or lost their respective elections:
Illinois Senate:
Laura Murphy 28th District- Re-Elected
Melinda Bush 31st District- Re-Elected
Patrick Joyce 40th District- Re-Elected
Meg Loughran-Cappel* 49th District- Elected
Terri Bryant* 58th District- Elected
Illinois House:
Jennifer Gong-Gershowitz 17th District- Re-Elected
Robyn Gabel 18th District- Re-Elected
Lindsey Lapointe 19th District- Re-Elected
Brad Stephens 20th District-Re-Elected
Edgar Gonzalez 21st District- Re-Elected
Kam Buckner 26th District- Re-Elected
Tim Ozinga* 37th District- Elected
Debbie Meyers-Martin 38th District- Re-Elected
Diane Pappas 45th District- Lost
Jennifer Zordani* 47th District- Lost
Terra Costa-Howard 48th District- Re-Elected
Mary Edly-Allen 51st District- Lost
Maggie Trevor* 54th District- Lost
Jonathan Carroll 57th District- Re-Elected
Daniel Diedich 59th District- Re-Elected
Rita Mayfield 60th District- Re-Elected
Sam Yingling 62nd District- Re-Elected
Brian Sager* 63rd District- Lost
Suzanne Ness* 66th District- Elected
Maurice West 67th District- Re-Elected
Jeff Keicher 70th District- Re-Elected
Tony McCombie 71st District- Re-Elected
Michael Haplin 72nd District- Re-Elected
Dan Swanson 74th District- Re-Elected
Lance Yednock 76th District- Re-Elected
Camille Lilly 78th District- Re-Elected
Charlene Eads* 79th District- Lost
Barbara Hernandez 83rd District- Re-Elected
Dagmara Avelar* 85th District- Elected
Karla Bailey-Smith* 88th District- Lost
Seth Wiggins* 90th District- Lost
Mark Luft* 91st District- Elected
Norine Hammond 93rd District- Re-Elected
Mark Batinick 97th District- Re-Elected
Christopher Davidsmeyer 100th District- Re-Elected
Dan Brady 105th District- Re-Elected
Monica Bristow 111th District- Lost
Jay Hoffman 113th District- Re-Elected
Nathan Reitz 116th District- Lost
Dave Severin 117th District- Re-Elected
The * next to a person’s name indicates he/she is a candidate running against a current incumbent or for an open seat.
Of the 40 candidates endorsed in the House there were 10 losses, and all 5 of the endorsed Senate candidates won.
We are very pleased with the outcome of this election and are confident that each legislator we chose to endorse has our members best interest in mind. The IRTPAC strives to support candidates who understand the importance of retired educators’ pension and health insurance benefits.