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Harry Benton
Harry Benton (Democratic Party) is a member of the Illinois House of Representatives, representing District 97. He assumed office on January 11, 2023. His current term ends on January 13, 2027.
Benton (Democratic Party) ran for re-election to the Illinois House of Representatives to represent District 97. He won in the general election on November 5, 2024.
Biography
Harry Benton grew up in Crest Hill, Illinois, and lives in Plainfield, Illinois. His career experience includes working as a journeyman ironworker with Ironworkers Local 444. Benton was elected a trustee of the Village of Plainfield, was the director of the Veterans Outreach of Illinois board of directors, a labor caucus director for the Young Democrats of Illinois, and a political director of the Young Democrats of Will County.[1]
Sponsored legislation
The following table lists bills this person sponsored as a legislator, according to BillTrack50 and sorted by action history. Bills are sorted by the date of their last action. The following list may not be comprehensive. To see all bills this legislator sponsored, click on the legislator's name in the title of the table.
Elections
2024
See also: Illinois House of Representatives elections, 2024
General election
General election for Illinois House of Representatives District 97
Incumbent Harry Benton defeated Gabby Shanahan in the general election for Illinois House of Representatives District 97 on November 5, 2024.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ |  | Harry Benton (D) | 52.2 | 27,540 |
| Gabby Shanahan (R) | 47.8 | 25,205 | ||
| Total votes: 52,745 | |||
 = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
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Democratic primary election
Democratic primary for Illinois House of Representatives District 97
Incumbent Harry Benton advanced from the Democratic primary for Illinois House of Representatives District 97 on March 19, 2024.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Harry Benton | 100.0 | 4,124 |
| Total votes: 4,124 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
Republican primary election
Republican primary for Illinois House of Representatives District 97
Gabby Shanahan advanced from the Republican primary for Illinois House of Representatives District 97 on March 19, 2024.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | Gabby Shanahan | 100.0 | 3,772 | |
| Total votes: 3,772 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
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Campaign finance
Endorsements
Ballotpedia did not identify endorsements for Benton in this election.
2022
See also: Illinois House of Representatives elections, 2022
General election
General election for Illinois House of Representatives District 97
Harry Benton defeated Michelle Smith in the general election for Illinois House of Representatives District 97 on November 8, 2022.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Harry Benton (D) | 51.7 | 18,095 |
| Michelle Smith (R) | 48.3 | 16,932 | ||
| Total votes: 35,027 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
Democratic primary election
Democratic primary for Illinois House of Representatives District 97
Harry Benton advanced from the Democratic primary for Illinois House of Representatives District 97 on June 28, 2022.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Harry Benton | 100.0 | 4,827 |
| Total votes: 4,827 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
Republican primary election
Republican primary for Illinois House of Representatives District 97
Michelle Smith advanced from the Republican primary for Illinois House of Representatives District 97 on June 28, 2022.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | Michelle Smith | 100.0 | 5,489 | |
| Total votes: 5,489 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
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Withdrawn or disqualified candidates
- Thomas McCullagh (R)
2020
See also: Illinois House of Representatives elections, 2020
General election
General election for Illinois House of Representatives District 97
Incumbent Mark Batinick defeated Harry Benton in the general election for Illinois House of Representatives District 97 on November 3, 2020.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ |  | Mark Batinick (R) | 52.0 | 32,224 |
| Harry Benton (D) | 48.0 | 29,709 | |
| Total votes: 61,933 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
Democratic primary election
Democratic primary for Illinois House of Representatives District 97
Harry Benton advanced from the Democratic primary for Illinois House of Representatives District 97 on March 17, 2020.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Harry Benton | 100.0 | 11,768 |
| Total votes: 11,768 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
Republican primary election
Republican primary for Illinois House of Representatives District 97
Incumbent Mark Batinick advanced from the Republican primary for Illinois House of Representatives District 97 on March 17, 2020.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Mark Batinick | 100.0 | 6,418 |
| Total votes: 6,418 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
Campaign themes
2024
Ballotpedia survey responses
See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection
Harry Benton did not complete Ballotpedia's 2024 Candidate Connection survey.
2022
Harry Benton did not complete Ballotpedia's 2022 Candidate Connection survey.
2020
Harry Benton did not complete Ballotpedia's 2020 Candidate Connection survey.
Campaign finance summary
Note: The finance data shown here comes from the disclosures required of candidates and parties. Depending on the election or state, this may represent only a portion of all the funds spent on their behalf. Satellite spending groups may or may not have expended funds related to the candidate or politician on whose page you are reading this disclaimer. Campaign finance data from elections may be incomplete. For elections to federal offices, complete data can be found at the FEC website. Click here for more on federal campaign finance law and here for more on state campaign finance law.
Scorecards
A scorecard evaluates a legislator’s voting record. Its purpose is to inform voters about the legislator’s political positions. Because scorecards have varying purposes and methodologies, each report should be considered on its own merits. For example, an advocacy group’s scorecard may assess a legislator’s voting record on one issue while a state newspaper’s scorecard may evaluate the voting record in its entirety.
Ballotpedia is in the process of developing an encyclopedic list of published scorecards. Some states have a limited number of available scorecards or scorecards produced only by select groups. It is Ballotpedia’s goal to incorporate all available scorecards regardless of ideology or number.
Click here for an overview of legislative scorecards in all 50 states. To contribute to the list of Illinois scorecards, email suggestions to editor@ballotpedia.org.
2024
| To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2024, click [show]. |
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In 2024, the Illinois State Legislature was in session from January 16 to May 29.
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2023
| To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2023, click [show]. |
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In 2023, the Illinois State Legislature was in session from January 11 to May 27.
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See also
2024 Elections
External links
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Candidate Illinois House of Representatives District 97 |
Officeholder Illinois House of Representatives District 97 |
Personal |
Footnotes
| Political offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Mark Batinick (R) |
Illinois House of Representatives District 97 2023-Present |
Succeeded by - |
