2014 elections review: Three incumbents defeated in Illinois state legislative primaries

March 19, 2014

By Ballotpedia's State legislative team

March 18 elections in Illinois saw a total of 29 state legislative primaries. Contests were held for one Democratic primary and one Republican primary in the Illinois State Senate. The Illinois House of Representatives held 12 Democratic primaries and 15 Republican primaries. In those elections, 14 incumbents faced primary competition; one in the Senate and 13 in the House. Three incumbents in the House were defeated by primary challengers.

Contested Primaries in Illinois -- March 18, 2014
	State Senate (19 seats)	State House (118 seats)
Total Democratic Contested Primaries	1 (5.3%)	12 (10.2%)
Total Republican Contested Primaries	1 (5.3%)	15 (12.7%)

Senate

Two primary contests were held in the Illinois State Senate. The only incumbent to face primary opposition, Don Harmon, defeated his primary opponent.

• District 24: Former state Representative Chris Nybo defeated current state representative Dennis Reboletti in the Republican primary. Nybo will face Suzanne Glowiak Hilton (D) in the general election.
• District 39: Democratic incumbent Don Harmon defeated Bob Galhotra and is unchallenged in the general election.

Illinois State Senate
Party		As of November 5, 2012	After the 2012 Election
	Democratic Party	35	40
	Republican Party	24	19
Total		59	59

House

Twenty-seven primary contests were held in the Illinois House of Representatives. Thirteen incumbents, 8 Democrats and 5 Republicans, faced primary competition.

• District 10: Democratic incumbent Derrick Smith was defeated by challenger Pamela Reaves-Harris in the Democratic primary. Beverly Petreet, Eddie Winters and Antwan Hampton also ran in the Democratic primary. Reaves-Harris will face Mark Calonder (R) in an overwhelmingly Democratic district. Smith was expelled from the legislature on August 17, 2012, before winning election by defeating a third party candidate in the general election on November 6, 2012.
• District 26: Incumbent Christian Mitchell (D) defeated Jhatayn Travis. Mitchell will face Jacob Hakalir (R) in the general election.
• District 29: Democratic incumbent Thaddeus Jones defeated Kenneth Williams and is unchallenged in the general election.
• District 39: Six-term incumbent Maria Antonia "Toni" Berrios (D) was defeated by challenger Will Guzzardi in the Democratic primary. No Republican candidate filed to run.
• District 40: Incumbent Jaime M. Andrade, Jr., who was appointed in August 2013, defeated four primary opponents and is now unchallenged in the general election.
• District 42: Republican incumbent Jeanne M. Ives defeated Adam Johnson and is unchallenged in the general election.
• District 48: Six-term incumbent Sandra M. Pihos (R) was defeated by challenger Peter Breen in the Republican primary. No Democratic candidate filed to run.
• District 51: Republican incumbent Ed Sullivan, Jr. defeated Bob Bednar and is unchallenged in the general election.
• District 75: Incumbent John D. Anthony (R) defeated Ron Severson and is unchallenged in the general election.
• District 77: Democratic incumbent Kathleen Willis defeated Antonio "Tony" Favela and is unchallenged in the general election.
• District 79: Incumbent Katherine Cloonen (D) defeated John Howard in the Democratic primary. Cloonen will face Glenn Nixon (R) in the general election. Cloonen won the general election by a margin of victory of 0.21 percent in 2012.
• District 81: Republican incumbent Ron Sandack defeated Keith R. Matune by an unofficial margin of just 153 votes. Sandack is unchallenged in the general election.
• District 96: Democratic incumbent Sue Scherer defeated Gina Lathan by 188 according to unofficial results. Scherer will face Michael B. Bell (R) in the general election.

Illinois House of Representatives
Party		As of November 5, 2012	After the 2012 Election
	Democratic Party	64	71
	Republican Party	54	47
Total		118	118

See also

• Illinois State Senate elections, 2014
• Illinois House of Representatives elections, 2014