Illinois' 14th Congressional District election, 2018

Elections in Illinois, 2018

• General election: Nov. 6
• Voter registration deadline: Oct. 9
• Early voting: Sept. 27 - Nov. 5
• Absentee voting deadline: Nov. 20

• Online registration: Yes
• Same-day registration: Yes
• Voter ID: No
• Poll times: 6:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m.

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On the ballot: U.S. House • Governor • Attorney General • Secretary of State • State executive offices • State Senate • State House • Supreme court • Appellate courts • Local judges • Local ballot measures • Municipal • Democratic primaries • Republican primaries

2020 → ← 2016
Illinois' 14th Congressional District
Democratic primary Republican primary General election
Election details
Filing deadline: December 4, 2017
Primary: March 20, 2018 General: November 6, 2018 Pre-election incumbent: Randy Hultgren (Republican)
How to vote
Poll times: 6 a.m. to 7 p.m. Voting in Illinois
Race ratings
Cook Partisan Voter Index (2018): R+5 Cook Political Report: Toss-up Inside Elections: Tilt Republican Sabato's Crystal Ball: Lean Republican
Ballotpedia analysis
U.S. Senate battlegrounds U.S. House battlegrounds Federal and state primary competitiveness Ballotpedia's Election Analysis Hub, 2018
See also
Illinois' 14th Congressional District 1st • 2nd • 3rd • 4th • 5th • 6th • 7th • 8th • 9th • 10th • 11th • 12th • 13th • 14th • 15th • 16th • 17th • 18th Illinois elections, 2018 U.S. Congress elections, 2018 U.S. Senate elections, 2018 U.S. House elections, 2018 Alabama U.S. House racesAlaska U.S. House racesArizona U.S. House racesArkansas U.S. House racesCalifornia U.S. House racesColorado U.S. House racesConnecticut U.S. House racesDelaware U.S. House racesFlorida U.S. House racesGeorgia U.S. House racesHawaii U.S. House racesIdaho U.S. House racesIllinois U.S. House racesIndiana U.S. House racesIowa U.S. House racesKansas U.S. House racesKentucky U.S. House racesLouisiana U.S. House racesMaine U.S. House racesMaryland U.S. House racesMassachusetts U.S. House racesMichigan U.S. House racesMinnesota U.S. House racesMississippi U.S. House racesMissouri U.S. House racesMontana U.S. House racesNebraska U.S. House racesNevada U.S. House racesNew Hampshire U.S. House racesNew Jersey U.S. House racesNew Mexico U.S. House racesNew York U.S. House racesNorth Carolina U.S. House racesNorth Dakota U.S. House racesOhio U.S. House racesOklahoma U.S. House racesOregon U.S. House racesPennsylvania U.S. House racesRhode Island U.S. House racesSouth Carolina U.S. House racesSouth Dakota U.S. House racesTennessee U.S. House racesTexas U.S. House racesUtah U.S. House racesVermont U.S. House racesVirginia U.S. House racesWashington U.S. House racesWest Virginia U.S. House racesWisconsin U.S. House racesWyoming U.S. House racesSubmit

Lauren Underwood (D) defeated Randy Hultgren (R) in the 2018 general election for Illinois' 14th Congressional District.

All 435 seats in the U.S. House of Representatives were up for election in 2018. The Democratic Party gained a net total of 40 seats, winning control of the chamber. This race was identified as a 2018 battleground that might have affected partisan control of the U.S. House in the 116th Congress. Heading into the election, the Republican Party was in the majority holding 235 seats to Democrats' 193 seats, with seven vacant seats. Democrats needed to win 23 GOP-held seats in 2018 to win control of the House. From 1918 to 2016, the president’s party lost an average of 29 seats in midterm elections.

Hultgren was re-elected in 2016 by a margin of 18.6 percentage points. As of October 2018, two election forecasters rated the race as Leans Republican, while a third rated it Toss-up. The 14th District was listed as one of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee's initial targets in 2018.

For more information about the Democratic primary, click here.
For more information about the Republican primary, click here.

Candidates and election results

General election

General election for U.S. House Illinois District 14

Lauren Underwood defeated incumbent Randy Hultgren in the general election for U.S. House Illinois District 14 on November 6, 2018.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Lauren Underwood (D)	52.5	156,035
		Randy Hultgren (R)	47.5	141,164

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	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 297,199 (100.00% precincts reporting)
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Democratic primary election

Democratic primary for U.S. House Illinois District 14

The following candidates ran in the Democratic primary for U.S. House Illinois District 14 on March 20, 2018.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Lauren Underwood	57.3	29,391
		Matt Brolley	13.4	6,845
		Jim Walz	10.0	5,100
		Victor Swanson	7.0	3,597
		John Hosta	5.0	2,578
		George Weber	5.0	2,570
		Daniel Roldan-Johnson	2.3	1,170

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	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified.	Total votes: 51,251
= 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 U.S. House Illinois District 14

Incumbent Randy Hultgren advanced from the Republican primary for U.S. House Illinois District 14 on March 20, 2018.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Randy Hultgren	100.0	51,672

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	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified.	Total votes: 51,672
= 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.

Candidate profiles

See also: Editorial approach to writing about key campaign messages

Randy Hultgren, U.S. representative

Party: Republican

Incumbent: Yes

Political office: U.S. House of Representatives (Assumed office: 2011), Illinois State Senate (2007-2011), Illinois House of Representatives (1999-2007)

Biography: Hultgren graduated from Bethel College in 1988 and obtained a law degree from Chicago-Kent College of Law in 1993. The next year, he was elected to the DuPage County Board and the County Forest Preserve Board. In the U.S. House, Hultgren founded the House Science & National Labs Caucus and the Congressional Friends of Sweden Caucus. As of the 2018 election, Hultgren was co-chairman of the STEM Education Caucus.

Key messages

• Hultgren said that he was running to continue what he described as his legislative successes in Congress. Hultgren cited the 2017 tax law, repeal of Obama-era regulations, and economic growth as examples.

• Hultgren identified human trafficking as a major issue. His first television ad "focuses on the issue of human trafficking that is plaguing our nation, an issue that Rep. Hultgren is passionate about and will continue to address when he is re-elected in November."

Lauren Underwood, healthcare policy advisor

Party: Democratic

Incumbent: No

Political office: None

Biography: Underwood graduated from the University of Michigan in 2008 with a nursing degree and obtained a master's in public health from Johns Hopkins University the next year. In 2010, she joined the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services as a policy coordinator. She was named senior advisor to the Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response in 2014 and continued to serve in that role for the remainder of the Obama administration. In 2017 she joined NextLevelHealth as a senior director of strategy and regulatory affairs, serving in that role until March 2018.

Key messages

• Underwood said that healthcare was her focus, citing her professional experience as a registered nurse and public health advisor and her personal experiences with a preexisting heart condition. Her general election campaign kickoff video said that she was "running for Congress because every family has a right to quality, affordable healthcare."

• Underwood said that she would seek to bring jobs to the district through investment in small businesses, growing sectors of the economy, and local infrastructure.

Polls

See also: Ballotpedia's approach to covering polls

Illinois' 14th Congressional District, 2018
Poll	Poll sponsor	Hultgren (R)	Underwood (D)	Undecided/Other	Margin of Error	Sample Size
The New York Times Upshot/Siena College (October 31 - November 4, 2018)	N/A	43%	49%	8%	+/-5.0	428
The New York Times Upshot/Siena College (October 3-8, 2018)	N/A	47%	43%	10%	+/-4.6	501
Public Policy Polling (April 16-17, 2018)	Patriot Majority USA	45%	41%	14%	+/-3.8	682
Note: A "0%" finding means the question was not a part of the poll. The polls above may not reflect all polls that have been conducted in this race. Those displayed are a random sampling chosen by Ballotpedia staff. If you would like to nominate another poll for inclusion in the table, send an email to editor@ballotpedia.org

Campaign finance

The chart below contains data from financial reports submitted to the Federal Election Commission.

Name	Party	Receipts*	Disbursements**	Cash on hand	Date
Randy Hultgren	Republican Party	$2,238,969	$2,400,772	$396	As of December 31, 2018
Lauren Underwood	Democratic Party	$4,927,142	$4,891,319	$35,822	As of December 31, 2018
Source: Federal Elections Commission, "Campaign finance data," 2018. This product uses the openFEC API but is not endorsed or certified by the Federal Election Commission (FEC). * According to the FEC, "Receipts are anything of value (money, goods, services or property) received by a political committee." ** According to the FEC, a disbursement "is a purchase, payment, distribution, loan, advance, deposit or gift of money or anything of value to influence a federal election," plus other kinds of payments not made to influence a federal election.

Satellite spending

Satellite spending, commonly referred to as outside spending, describes political spending not controlled by candidates or their campaigns; that is, any political expenditures made by groups or individuals that are not directly affiliated with a candidate. This includes spending by political party committees, super PACs, trade associations, and 501(c)(4) nonprofit groups.

This section lists satellite spending in this race reported by news outlets in alphabetical order. If you are aware of spending that should be included, please email us.

• House Majority PAC announced a $900,000 television ad buy in support of Underwood on October 2, 2018.
• Independence USA PAC reported spending $692,840.88 on a digital and television ad campaign opposing Hultgren and supporting Underwood on October 29, 2018.
• A joint campaign by House Majority PAC, Priorities USA Action, and Women Vote! committed a combined $370,000 to a digital ad campaign opposed to Hultgren.
• Women Vote! reported spending $32,000 on a mailer campaign opposed to Hultgren on October 9, 2018.

Race ratings

See also: Race rating definitions and methods

Ballotpedia provides race ratings from four outlets: The Cook Political Report, Inside Elections, Sabato's Crystal Ball, and DDHQ/The Hill. Each race rating indicates if one party is perceived to have an advantage in the race and, if so, the degree of advantage:

• Safe and Solid ratings indicate that one party has a clear edge and the race is not competitive.
• Likely ratings indicate that one party has a clear edge, but an upset is possible.
• Lean ratings indicate that one party has a small edge, but the race is competitive.
• Toss-up ratings indicate that neither party has an advantage.

Race ratings are informed by a number of factors, including polling, candidate quality, and election result history in the race's district or state.

Race ratings: Illinois' 14th Congressional District election, 2018
Race tracker	Race ratings
	October 30, 2018	October 23, 2018	October 16, 2018	October 9, 2018
The Cook Political Report	Toss-up	Toss-up	Toss-up	Lean Republican
Inside Elections with Nathan L. Gonzales	Tilt Republican	Lean Republican	Lean Republican	Solid Republican
Larry J. Sabato's Crystal Ball	Lean Republican	Lean Republican	Lean Republican	Lean Republican
Note: Ballotpedia updates external race ratings every two weeks throughout the election season.

District analysis

See also: The Cook Political Report's Partisan Voter Index

See also: FiveThirtyEight's elasticity scores

The 2017 Cook Partisan Voter Index for this district was R+5, meaning that in the previous two presidential elections, this district's results were 5 percentage points more Republican than the national average. This made Illinois' 14th Congressional District the 191st most Republican nationally.

FiveThirtyEight's September 2018 elasticity score for states and congressional districts measured "how sensitive it is to changes in the national political environment." This district's elasticity score was 0.97. This means that for every 1 point the national political mood moved toward a party, the district was expected to move 0.97 points toward that party.

Noteworthy endorsements

See also: Ballotpedia: Our approach to covering endorsements

This section lists noteworthy endorsements issued in this election, including those made by high-profile individuals and organizations, cross-party endorsements, and endorsements made by newspaper editorial boards. It also includes a bulleted list of links to official lists of endorsements for any candidates who published that information on their campaign websites. Please note that this list is not exhaustive. If you are aware of endorsements that should be included, please click here.

Click the links below to see endorsement lists published on candidate campaign websites, if available.

• Lauren Underwood

Noteworthy general election endorsements
Endorsement	Underwood (D)	Hultgren (R)
Newspapers and editorials
The Chicago Sun-Times	✔
The Daily Chronicle		✔
The Daily Herald	✔
The Herald-News		✔
Elected officials
Former President Barack Obama (D)	✔
Former Vice President Joe Biden (D)	✔

Click here to see a list of endorsements in the March 20 Democratic primary

Democratic candidate endorsements Endorsement Date Brolley Underwood Walz Federal officials Rep. Robin Kelly (D-IL) January 30, 2018 ✔ Rep. Jan Schakowsky (D-IL) September 28, 2017 ✔ Rep. Bill Foster (D-IL) June 29, 2017 ✔ State figures State Sen. Terry Link (D) September 15, 2017 ✔ Local figures DeKalb County Board Chairman Mark Pietrowski (D) August 8, 2017 ✔ Former Aurora Mayor Tom Weisner (D) August 8, 2017 ✔ Organizations Will County Progressives February 5, 2018 ✔ DeKalb Area Progressives February 3, 2018 ✔ EMILY's List January 25, 2018 ✔ Illinois Democratic County Chairs' Association January 22, 2018 ✔ AFL-CIO January 11, 2018 ✔ The Collective PAC October 12, 2017 ✔ Naperville Women's March Action September 30, 2017 ✔ Off the Sidelines PAC September 25, 2017 ✔ Our Revolution Illinois Berniecrats June 28, 2017 ✔ Newspapers Chicago Tribune February 20, 2018 ✔ The Daily Herald February 20, 2018 ✔ The Chicago Sun-Times February 14, 2018 ✔

Timeline

• November 4, 2018: A New York Times Upshot/Siena College poll found Underwood apparently leading Hultgren, with 49 percent support to Hultgren's 43 percent. The poll reported a margin of error of 5.0 percentage points.
• November 2, 2018: House Speaker Paul Ryan (R) made a campaign appearance alongside Hultgren in Spring Grove.
• October 31, 2018: Former Vice President Joe Biden (D) headlined a rally in support of Underwood.
• October 29, 2018: Independence USA PAC reported spending $690,000 on a digital and television ad campaign supporting Underwood and opposing Hultgren.
• October 26, 2018: The Daily Chronicle endorsed Hultgren.
• October 23, 2018: Hultgren and Underwood met for a debate in Yorkville.
• October 21, 2018: The Herald-News endorsed Hultgren.
• October 12, 2018: House Majority PAC, Priorities USA Action, and Women Vote! announced spending a combined $370,000 on a digital ad campaign opposed to Hultgren.
• October 9, 2018: Women Vote! reported spending $32,000 on a mailer campaign opposed to Hultgren.
• October 8, 2018: A New York Times/Siena College poll found Hultgren apparently leading Underwood with 47 percent support to Underwood's 43 percent. The poll reported a margin of error of 4.6 percentage points.
• October 2, 2018: The House Majority PAC reported spending $900,000 on a television ad buy supporting Underwood.
• September 11, 2018: The Hultgren campaign released an ad titled Chris.
• September 7, 2018: The Underwood campaign released an ad titled Lauren Underwood, R.N. for Congress.

Campaign advertisements

Randy Hultgren

Support

"Building Blocks" - Hultgren campaign ad, released October 10, 2018

"Chris" - Hultgren campaign ad, released September 11, 2018

Oppose

"Stop" - House Majority PAC ad, released October 3, 2018

Lauren Underwood

Support

"Carrie and Tom" - Underwood campaign ad, released October 24, 2018

"It's On" - Underwood campaign ad, released October 2, 2018

"Lauren Underwood, R.N. for Congress" - Underwood campaign ad, released September 7, 2018

Oppose

"Madigan's Candidate" - NRCC ad, released October 9, 2018

Noteworthy events

Paul Ryan campaign appearance

House Speaker Paul Ryan (R) made a campaign appearance alongside Hultgren in Spring Grove on November 2, 2018.

Joe Biden campaign appearance

Former Vice President Joe Biden (D) made a campaign appearance alongside Underwood and 6th District candidate Sean Casten (D) at a rally in St. Charles on October 31, 2018.

Hillary Clinton fundraiser

Former U.S. Secretary of State and 2016 presidential nominee Hillary Clinton (D) headlined a fundraiser to benefit five Democratic congressional candidates, including Underwood, in New York City on September 12, 2018. The other candidates supported by the fundraiser were Liuba Grechen Shirley (D), Gina Ortiz Jones (D), Haley Stevens (D), and Xochitl Torres Small (D).

Debates and forums

• Hultgren and Underwood met for a debate in Yorkville sponsored by WSPY and the Kendall County Farm Bureau on October 23, 2018. Click here for audio clips from the debate.

Campaign themes

Randy Hultgren

Hultgren's campaign website stated the following:

“	Defending Our Values Families are the backbone of our country—a stable family means a stable society. While in Congress, Randy has supported numerous pieces of legislation to protect life and the autonomy of the family, defend the most vulnerable, and uphold the rights of parents to educate their children in the home without fear of government interference. Randy knows America was founded on the principle of religious liberty for all. He believes all Americans should be able to practice what they believe, regardless of faith, and has opposed any efforts by the federal government to pay for abortion-inducing drugs or procedures that violate their consciences. A thriving society celebrates and protects life at all stages. Defended individual’s religious freedoms and their first amendment rights, advocating for the Health Care Conscience Rights Act, reining in the IRS’ unlawful targeting of American citizens and supporting the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCRIF) A leader in Washington on fighting Human Trafficking and has been appointed to the Congressional Human Trafficking Task Force by U.S. House of Representatives Leadership Combated heroin and opiate abuse in Illinois and across the country, convening community leaders together and developing a community action plan to combat this epidemic Earned a 100% pro-life voting record from the National Right to Life Committee Honoring Our Veterans We owe a great debt to our service men and women. They sacrificed much to provide opportunities for generations to come, and it’s because of their service that we can enjoy the freedoms we do today. It is our duty to ensure they receive the utmost respect and care they deserve. Randy is committed to holding the Department of Veterans Affairs accountable and has been working in Washington to ensure our veterans receive timely and high quality health care, as well as education and employment opportunities here at home. Supported legislation for veterans to receive private care if they live more than 40 miles from a VA facility or aren’t seen by a physician within 30 days of requesting an appointment. Co-sponsored the Hire More Heroes Act of 2013 that encourages businesses to hire veterans by providing relief from the onerous employer mandate in the Affordable Care Act Supported legislation that improves veterans access to education and employment programs Developed strategies during community veterans’ roundtables to address delays in VA benefits, challenges assimilating to civilian life, employment opportunities and more Maintaining Local Control of Education Our education system in Illinois is in peril as hundreds of schools are failing and more high school students are dropping out before graduation. While several solutions have been proposed to address this problem, the national Common Core State Standards in English and math threaten local control over education and impose a one-size-fits-all approach on our children’s education – treating ever student as a widget and not allowing teachers to do what they do best. Excessive testing and assessments are having deleterious effects on our students and costing our local schools millions of dollars that they don’t have and that could be better spent. Parents and teachers know the children best and should have the freedom to decide what’s best for their education—without federal intrusion. Conducted extensive fact-finding effort with parents, educators, local officials and community leaders to identify challenges and provide solutions to better our education system Hosted a community summit on Common Core Curriculum Standards to hear all sides of the controversial issue and advocated for pushing the pause button on Common Core at both the state and federal levels and returning control of our children’s education to the parents and teachers Launched the Higher Education Advisory Committee comprised of community college presidents serving the 14th District to develop workforce and training solutions for students in high school and beyond to ensure they possess the needed skills and knowledge to enter the workforce Championed science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) education, proudly serving as a co-chair of the bipartisan House STEM Education Caucus and co-chair of the bipartisan House Science and National Labs Caucus he has hosted a variety of STEM-focused events in the district to give students and parents a hands on experience with technology; events include promoting and participating in the “Hour of Code” initiative, hosting a ‘hackathon’ at Fermilab to promote the House App Contest and supporting local GotRobot robotics team as it competed at the local and state level Preserving Social Security & Medicare for Our Seniors Social Security and Medicare are vital safety net programs that our seniors count on. However, it is no secret that Medicare costs are exploding and Social Security is projected to be bankrupt by 2033. We must look to long-term reforms that will protect these programs for our seniors and preserve them for future generations. When Randy was elected in 2010, he promised to not support any cuts to Social Security or Medicare for those 55 and older and has maintained that promise. Upheld promise to preserve Social Security or Medicare to those 55 and older Advocated for measures that would require the president to submit a plan for restoring fiscal balance to the Social Security Trust Fund Fought against Obamacare’s drastic gutting of Medicare by $700 billion Advocated and passed a bipartisan, long-term fix to Medicare’s sustainable growth rate to strengthen and preserve this program for our seniors Securing the Border & Fixing Our Immigration System Our nation is one of immigrants. Randy’s great-grandparents came from Sweden to find opportunities our great nation had to offer, but it’s sad to see how broken our system has become in the last few decades. Immigration reform is not a race; it’s about getting it right. Randy believes we should examine reform piece by piece—it’s too complex and important not to examine each and every issue. To properly fix the problems within our immigration system, Randy proposes we: 1. Secure the border by ensuring our law enforcement forces have the latest technologies and officers available. We must learn from the mistakes of neglecting to properly implement a biometric entry-exit system 2. Enforce immigration law at home by ensuring businesses use electronic systems to verify legal status of potential hires. 3. Update our visa system to address agricultural and high-skilled workers, and ensure we support the family as the best social safety net. Breaking down the family creates dependents of the federal government. We should welcome productive members of society who go through the legal process to obtain proper status. Advocated against amnesty in support of people following the law for their pathway to citizenship Co-sponsored reform for the high-skilled immigration visa system that seeks to expand the number of visas for high skilled workers allowing for American employers to hire the workers with the science and technology background they need	”
—Randy Hultgren for Congress

Lauren Underwood

Underwood's campaign website stated the following:

“	Reducing Gun Violence We have a moral obligation to address the gun violence epidemic that is threatening communities across our country. First, we absolutely need universal background checks for all gun sales, whether through federal licences, over the internet, or through private exchanges. The current system includes loopholes that make it easy for criminals and dangerously mentally ill to buy guns; it’s just common sense to fix this vulnerability. Additionally, individuals who have existing legal actions regarding threats of violence (ie. restraining orders) should not be permitted to purchase new firearms. We must be allowed to study this epidemic as the critical public health issue that it is -- and its time to repeal the Dickey Amendment. This is a public safety issue of critical importance, and I have been so disappointed in the lack of courage or congressional action on this issue. We deserve better. Education I believe that every child deserves a high quality public education. Here in the 14th district we have excellent public schools, but this requires continued investment. Additionally, we should be making it easier for students to afford college by increasing our investment in higher education institutions. I support increased funding for Pell grants, increased availability of affordable subsidized student loans, and the continuance of the public service loan forgiveness program. Higher education should not be a privilege of a certain class of people. Environment Climate scientists nearly unanimously agree that the Earth’s temperature increases have been driven by excess greenhouse gas emissions caused by humans. Given the current trajectory, climate change presents both an existential threat to life on earth and also one of our most pressing national security issues. The impact of climate refugees, fights for basic resources like food and water caused by these events, and increased numbers of public health emergencies and disasters, will pose real, destabilizing challenges -- and we have a responsibility to act in an effort to curb these threats. I support expanded investment and deployment of renewable energy projects, investment in public transportation projects, and a fully funded and appropriately staffed Environmental Protection Agency with authority to regulate, monitor and enforce standards associated with the Clean Air Act, Clean Water Act and other safeguards to promote health, safety and our environment. Immigration and DACA Immigrants have been vital to the cultural fabric and economic success of America since our nation's founding. Our policies must honor and recognize the value and dignity of all of our immigrant communities and I strongly condemn the hurtful and divisive rhetoric that has become commonplace under the new administration. We must take immediate action to provide all DACA recipients a pathway to citizenship through a clean Dream Act. We must take immediate action to pass comprehensive immigration reform, including re-evaluating which countries receive preferential immigration authority. Reproductive Freedom I support women’s rights to the full range of reproductive health services, without restrictions. This includes access to safe, legal, and affordable abortions. Foreign Policy and Protecting Our National Security Diplomacy and leadership, backed by a strong military, are critical for our national security.	”
—Lauren Underwood for Congress

Social media

Twitter accounts

Tweets by Randy Hultgren Tweets by Lauren Underwood

Facebook accounts

Click the icons below to visit the candidates' Facebook pages.

Randy Hultgren

Lauren Underwood

Pivot Counties

See also: Pivot Counties by state

Eleven of 102 Illinois counties—10.8 percent—are Pivot Counties. These are counties that voted for Barack Obama (D) in 2008 and 2012 and for Donald Trump (R) in 2016. Altogether, the nation had 206 Pivot Counties, with most being concentrated in upper midwestern and northeastern states.

Counties won by Trump in 2016 and Obama in 2012 and 2008
County	Trump margin of victory in 2016	Obama margin of victory in 2012	Obama margin of victory in 2008
Alexander County, Illinois	8.30%	13.65%	12.62%
Carroll County, Illinois	26.69%	1.49%	4.81%
Fulton County, Illinois	14.93%	11.04%	21.33%
Henderson County, Illinois	28.43%	12.25%	17.67%
Henry County, Illinois	20.99%	3.08%	7.74%
Jo Daviess County, Illinois	14.64%	1.16%	10.49%
Knox County, Illinois	2.91%	17.37%	19.89%
Mercer County, Illinois	20.36%	7.39%	11.91%
Putnam County, Illinois	19.92%	1.82%	15.64%
Warren County, Illinois	16.50%	5.47%	8.08%
Whiteside County, Illinois	6.18%	17.02%	17.56%

In the 2016 presidential election, Hillary Clinton (D) won Illinois with 55.8 percent of the vote. Donald Trump (R) received 38.8 percent. In presidential elections between 1900 and 2016, Illinois voted Republican 50 percent of the time and Democratic 50 percent of the time. Illinois voted Democratic in all five elections from 2000 to 2016.

Presidential results by legislative district

The following table details results of the 2012 and 2016 presidential elections by state House districts in Illinois. Click [show] to expand the table. The "Obama," "Romney," "Clinton," and "Trump" columns describe the percent of the vote each presidential candidate received in the district. The "2012 Margin" and "2016 Margin" columns describe the margin of victory between the two presidential candidates in those years. The "Party Control" column notes which party held that seat heading into the 2018 general election. Data on the results of the 2012 and 2016 presidential elections broken down by state legislative districts was compiled by Daily Kos.

In 2012, Barack Obama (D) won 75 out of 118 state House districts in Illinois with an average margin of victory of 39.2 points. In 2016, Hillary Clinton (D) won 76 out of 118 state House districts in Illinois with an average margin of victory of 42.1 points. Clinton won 13 districts controlled by Republicans heading into the 2018 elections.

In 2012, Mitt Romney (R) won 43 out of 118 state House districts in Illinois with an average margin of victory of 15 points. In 2016, Donald Trump (R) won 42 out of 118 state House districts in Illinois with an average margin of victory of 22.1 points. Trump won four districts controlled by Democrats heading into the 2018 elections.

2016 presidential results by state House district
District	Obama	Romney	2012 Margin	Clinton	Trump	2016 Margin	Party Control
1	83.62%	15.21%	D+68.4	82.32%	14.37%	D+68	D
2	82.39%	15.42%	D+67	80.05%	14.65%	D+65.4	D
3	79.93%	18.51%	D+61.4	79.31%	17.11%	D+62.2	D
4	85.70%	11.51%	D+74.2	86.74%	8.01%	D+78.7	D
5	85.51%	13.50%	D+72	86.81%	9.67%	D+77.1	D
6	87.98%	11.09%	D+76.9	85.82%	10.82%	D+75	D
7	80.06%	18.99%	D+61.1	80.62%	15.84%	D+64.8	D
8	86.10%	13.03%	D+73.1	85.11%	11.52%	D+73.6	D
9	87.33%	11.58%	D+75.8	87.72%	8.52%	D+79.2	D
10	89.16%	9.51%	D+79.7	89.44%	6.93%	D+82.5	D
11	70.89%	26.65%	D+44.2	80.64%	13.16%	D+67.5	D
12	72.73%	24.96%	D+47.8	81.23%	13.31%	D+67.9	D
13	83.32%	14.08%	D+69.2	85.26%	10.09%	D+75.2	D
14	86.60%	10.95%	D+75.7	86.67%	8.59%	D+78.1	D
15	61.08%	37.44%	D+23.6	63.15%	32.35%	D+30.8	D
16	67.28%	31.33%	D+36	70.19%	26.06%	D+44.1	D
17	61.83%	36.93%	D+24.9	69.97%	25.22%	D+44.8	D
18	66.52%	31.94%	D+34.6	76.28%	18.12%	D+58.2	D
19	63.32%	34.68%	D+28.6	60.22%	34.98%	D+25.2	D
20	52.74%	45.64%	D+7.1	51.65%	43.61%	D+8	R
21	74.33%	24.11%	D+50.2	74.36%	21.32%	D+53	D
22	71.92%	26.75%	D+45.2	72.11%	24.01%	D+48.1	D
23	68.15%	30.25%	D+37.9	68.21%	27.01%	D+41.2	D
24	76.56%	21.82%	D+54.7	78.51%	17.01%	D+61.5	D
25	93.09%	5.86%	D+87.2	91.45%	5.66%	D+85.8	D
26	85.59%	13.65%	D+71.9	86.53%	10.16%	D+76.4	D
27	81.90%	17.46%	D+64.4	79.07%	18.14%	D+60.9	D
28	79.41%	19.90%	D+59.5	75.46%	21.59%	D+53.9	D
29	83.65%	15.75%	D+67.9	81.69%	15.87%	D+65.8	D
30	82.89%	16.29%	D+66.6	79.99%	16.71%	D+63.3	D
31	82.49%	16.80%	D+65.7	77.74%	19.39%	D+58.4	D
32	87.17%	12.26%	D+74.9	82.32%	15.18%	D+67.1	D
33	87.38%	12.10%	D+75.3	85.39%	12.24%	D+73.2	D
34	80.42%	18.91%	D+61.5	76.17%	21.23%	D+54.9	D
35	56.71%	41.96%	D+14.8	53.87%	41.66%	D+12.2	D
36	56.82%	41.83%	D+15	56.15%	39.16%	D+17	D
37	39.72%	58.89%	R+19.2	39.49%	55.32%	R+15.8	R
38	78.87%	20.34%	D+58.5	76.44%	20.51%	D+55.9	D
39	82.46%	14.81%	D+67.7	82.71%	12.52%	D+70.2	D
40	81.75%	15.46%	D+66.3	82.84%	11.67%	D+71.2	D
41	47.44%	51.05%	R+3.6	55.32%	38.20%	D+17.1	R
42	45.06%	53.21%	R+8.2	51.28%	41.48%	D+9.8	R
43	65.55%	32.50%	D+33.1	65.81%	28.61%	D+37.2	D
44	62.30%	36.05%	D+26.3	62.48%	32.17%	D+30.3	D
45	48.18%	50.30%	R+2.1	48.39%	46.46%	D+1.9	R
46	58.46%	39.71%	D+18.8	59.07%	35.26%	D+23.8	D
47	43.33%	55.30%	R+12	51.72%	41.63%	D+10.1	R
48	49.08%	49.10%	R+0	55.13%	37.66%	D+17.5	R
49	47.84%	50.47%	R+2.6	52.14%	40.94%	D+11.2	R
50	42.69%	55.72%	R+13	44.59%	48.88%	R+4.3	R
51	42.13%	56.55%	R+14.4	50.03%	43.68%	D+6.3	R
52	44.02%	54.27%	R+10.3	45.31%	48.09%	R+2.8	R
53	49.78%	48.75%	D+1	55.58%	38.54%	D+17	R
54	47.53%	50.89%	R+3.4	53.16%	40.31%	D+12.9	R
55	55.26%	43.04%	D+12.2	57.50%	37.06%	D+20.4	D
56	55.72%	42.70%	D+13	56.72%	37.77%	D+19	D
57	57.78%	40.95%	D+16.8	61.54%	33.50%	D+28	D
58	56.67%	42.28%	D+14.4	67.90%	27.15%	D+40.8	D
59	59.17%	39.44%	D+19.7	64.53%	30.30%	D+34.2	D
60	75.70%	23.34%	D+52.4	75.53%	20.08%	D+55.5	D
61	50.84%	47.70%	D+3.1	51.76%	42.09%	D+9.7	R
62	54.69%	43.51%	D+11.2	55.13%	38.21%	D+16.9	D
63	45.16%	52.83%	R+7.7	40.55%	52.68%	R+12.1	R
64	44.10%	54.17%	R+10.1	41.29%	52.51%	R+11.2	R
65	43.52%	55.10%	R+11.6	46.78%	47.37%	R+0.6	R
66	46.19%	52.24%	R+6.1	46.91%	46.96%	R+0.1	R
67	70.11%	28.12%	D+42	64.34%	30.36%	D+34	D
68	48.13%	50.10%	R+2	44.36%	49.75%	R+5.4	R
69	43.41%	54.91%	R+11.5	38.97%	55.13%	R+16.2	R
70	49.12%	48.75%	D+0.4	46.09%	46.77%	R+0.7	R
71	56.68%	41.68%	D+15	43.93%	50.00%	R+6.1	R
72	62.60%	35.95%	D+26.7	53.78%	40.19%	D+13.6	D
73	37.57%	60.78%	R+23.2	34.45%	59.10%	R+24.7	R
74	50.34%	47.90%	D+2.4	37.36%	56.41%	R+19.1	R
75	43.44%	54.51%	R+11.1	36.58%	57.17%	R+20.6	R
76	52.08%	46.00%	D+6.1	42.52%	51.68%	R+9.2	R
77	64.97%	33.66%	D+31.3	64.89%	30.98%	D+33.9	D
78	80.57%	18.10%	D+62.5	80.12%	15.92%	D+64.2	D
79	48.61%	49.64%	R+1	41.25%	53.07%	R+11.8	R
80	66.23%	32.75%	D+33.5	64.99%	31.42%	D+33.6	D
81	49.98%	48.31%	D+1.7	54.80%	38.55%	D+16.3	R
82	41.03%	57.68%	R+16.7	43.86%	50.67%	R+6.8	R
83	69.12%	29.20%	D+39.9	69.54%	24.80%	D+44.7	D
84	59.63%	38.93%	D+20.7	63.03%	31.19%	D+31.8	D
85	63.64%	34.81%	D+28.8	60.90%	33.45%	D+27.5	D
86	65.21%	33.17%	D+32	61.15%	34.04%	D+27.1	D
87	36.99%	60.88%	R+23.9	30.62%	63.34%	R+32.7	R
88	40.02%	57.84%	R+17.8	38.41%	54.54%	R+16.1	R
89	45.79%	52.18%	R+6.4	35.99%	57.98%	R+22	R
90	42.91%	55.12%	R+12.2	36.05%	57.26%	R+21.2	R
91	50.46%	47.13%	D+3.3	37.74%	55.81%	R+18.1	R
92	63.44%	34.67%	D+28.8	59.86%	34.18%	D+25.7	D
93	49.27%	48.45%	D+0.8	36.82%	57.40%	R+20.6	R
94	37.54%	60.67%	R+23.1	26.64%	68.63%	R+42	R
95	42.49%	54.95%	R+12.5	28.84%	65.74%	R+36.9	R
96	58.74%	39.47%	D+19.3	50.73%	44.13%	D+6.6	D
97	46.85%	51.64%	R+4.8	47.31%	46.94%	D+0.4	R
98	59.53%	39.10%	D+20.4	58.02%	36.87%	D+21.2	D
99	41.40%	56.65%	R+15.3	41.34%	52.43%	R+11.1	R
100	37.26%	60.42%	R+23.2	25.75%	69.57%	R+43.8	R
101	33.91%	64.22%	R+30.3	28.70%	65.31%	R+36.6	R
102	33.32%	64.74%	R+31.4	26.87%	67.69%	R+40.8	R
103	67.85%	28.35%	D+39.5	71.56%	20.92%	D+50.6	D
104	46.02%	52.10%	R+6.1	42.48%	52.16%	R+9.7	R
105	41.33%	56.81%	R+15.5	45.19%	47.11%	R+1.9	R
106	29.26%	68.84%	R+39.6	22.90%	71.51%	R+48.6	R
107	34.01%	64.10%	R+30.1	22.81%	72.62%	R+49.8	R
108	34.28%	63.51%	R+29.2	26.75%	67.49%	R+40.7	R
109	27.23%	70.75%	R+43.5	17.21%	79.13%	R+61.9	R
110	37.75%	60.20%	R+22.5	27.66%	67.10%	R+39.4	R
111	51.31%	46.13%	D+5.2	39.05%	55.40%	R+16.4	D
112	48.97%	48.87%	D+0.1	44.35%	49.85%	R+5.5	D
113	58.59%	39.41%	D+19.2	53.73%	41.03%	D+12.7	D
114	63.89%	34.84%	D+29.1	57.60%	38.35%	D+19.3	D
115	43.13%	53.93%	R+10.8	33.20%	61.29%	R+28.1	R
116	41.16%	56.77%	R+15.6	29.39%	66.21%	R+36.8	D
117	37.92%	59.99%	R+22.1	26.42%	69.38%	R+43	R
118	39.86%	58.03%	R+18.2	28.44%	67.59%	R+39.2	D
Total	57.61%	40.74%	D+16.9	55.96%	38.85%	D+17.1	-
Source: Daily Kos

District history

2016

See also: Illinois' 14th Congressional District election, 2016

Heading into the election, Ballotpedia rated this race as safely Republican. Incumbent Randy Hultgren (R) defeated Jim Walz (D) in the general election on November 8, 2016. Hultgren ran unopposed in the Republican primary on March 15, 2016, while Walz defeated John Hosta and Jesse Maggitt to win the Democratic nomination.

U.S. House, Illinois District 14 General Election, 2016

Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Republican	Randy Hultgren Incumbent	59.3%	200,508
	Democratic	Jim Walz	40.7%	137,589
Total Votes				338,097
Source: Illinois State Board of Elections

U.S. House, Illinois District 14 Democratic Primary, 2016

Candidate	Vote %	Votes
Jim Walz	42.7%	27,706
John Hosta	38.3%	24,866
Jesse Maggitt	19%	12,311
Total Votes		64,883
Source: Illinois State Board of Elections

2014

See also: Illinois' 14th Congressional District elections, 2014

The 14th Congressional District of Illinois held an election for the U.S. House of Representatives on November 4, 2014. Randy Hultgren (R) defeated Dennis Anderson (D) in the general election.

U.S. House, Illinois District 14 General Election, 2014

Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Republican	Randy Hultgren Incumbent	65.4%	145,369
	Democratic	Dennis Anderson	34.6%	76,861
Total Votes				222,230
Source: Illinois State Board of Elections Official Results

State overview

Partisan control

This section details the partisan control of federal and state positions in Illinois heading into the 2018 elections.

Congressional delegation

• Following the 2016 elections, Democrats held both U.S. Senate seats in Illinois.
• Democrats held 11 of 18 U.S. House seats in Illinois.

State executives

• As of May 2018, Democrats held four of 7 state executive positions, Republicans held two, and the remaining position was officially nonpartisan.
• The governor of Illinois was Republican Bruce Rauner. The state held elections for governor and lieutenant governor on November 6, 2018.

State legislature

• Democrats controlled both chambers of the Illinois General Assembly. They had a 67-51 majority in the state House and a 37-22 majority in the state Senate.

Trifecta status

• Illinois was under divided government, meaning that the two parties shared control of the state government. Bruce Rauner (R) served as governor, while Democrats controlled the state legislature.

2018 elections

See also: Illinois elections, 2018

Illinois held elections for the following positions in 2018:

• 18 U.S. House seats
• Governor and lieutenant governor
• Four lower state executive positions
• 39 of 59 state Senate seats
• 118 state House seats
• Municipal elections in Cook County

Demographics

Demographic data for Illinois
	Illinois	U.S.
Total population:	12,839,047	316,515,021
Land area (sq mi):	55,519	3,531,905
Race and ethnicity**
White:	72.3%	73.6%
Black/African American:	14.3%	12.6%
Asian:	5%	5.1%
Native American:	0.2%	0.8%
Pacific Islander:	0%	0.2%
Two or more:	2.2%	3%
Hispanic/Latino:	16.5%	17.1%
Education
High school graduation rate:	87.9%	86.7%
College graduation rate:	32.3%	29.8%
Income
Median household income:	$57,574	$53,889
Persons below poverty level:	16.8%	11.3%
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, "American Community Survey" (5-year estimates 2010-2015) Click here for more information on the 2020 census and here for more on its impact on the redistricting process in Illinois. **Note: Percentages for race and ethnicity may add up to more than 100 percent because respondents may report more than one race and the Hispanic/Latino ethnicity may be selected in conjunction with any race. Read more about race and ethnicity in the census here.

As of July 2016, Illinois' three largest cities were Chicago (pop. est. 2.7 million), Aurora (pop. est. 200,000), and Joliet (pop. est. 150,000).

State election history

This section provides an overview of federal and state elections in Illinois from 2000 to 2016. All data comes from the Illinois State Board of Elections.

Historical elections

Presidential elections, 2000-2016

This chart shows the results of the presidential election in Illinois every year from 2000 to 2016.

Election results (President of the United States), Illinois 2000-2016
Year	First-place candidate	First-place candidate votes (%)	Second-place candidate	Second-place candidate votes (%)	Margin of victory (%)
2016	Hillary Clinton	55.8%	Donald Trump	38.8%	17.0%
2012	Barack Obama	57.6%	Mitt Romney	40.7%	16.9%
2008	Barack Obama	61.9%	John McCain	36.8%	25.1%
2004	John Kerry	54.8%	George W. Bush	44.5%	10.3%
2000	Al Gore	54.6%	George W. Bush	42.6%	12.0%

U.S. Senate elections, 2000-2016

This chart shows the results of U.S. Senate races in Illinois from 2000 to 2016. Every state has two Senate seats, and each seat goes up for election every six years. The terms of the seats are staggered so that roughly one-third of the seats are up every two years.

Election results (U.S. Senator), Illinois 2000-2016
Year	First-place candidate	First-place candidate votes (%)	Second-place candidate	Second-place candidate votes (%)	Margin of victory (%)
2016	Tammy Duckworth	54.9%	Mark Kirk	39.8%	15.1%
2014	Dick Durbin	53.5%	Jim Oberweis	42.7%	10.8%
2010	Mark Kirk	48.0%	Alexander Giannoulias	46.4%	1.6%
2008	Dick Durbin	67.8%	Steve Sauerberg	28.5%	39.3%
2004	Barack Obama	70.0%	Alan Keyes	27.0%	43.0%
2002	Dick Durbin	60.3%	Jim Durkin	38.0%	22.3%

Gubernatorial elections, 2000-2016

This chart shows the results of the four gubernatorial elections held between 2000 and 2016. Gubernatorial elections are held every four years in Illinois.

Election results (Governor), Illinois 2000-2016
Year	First-place candidate	First-place candidate votes (%)	Second-place candidate	Second-place candidate votes (%)	Margin of victory (%)
2014	Bruce Rauner	50.3%	Pat Quinn	46.3%	4.0%
2010	Pat Quinn	46.8%	Bill Brady	45.9%	0.9%
2006	Rod Blagojevich	49.8%	Judy Baar Topinka	39.3%	10.5%
2002	Rod Blagojevich	52.2%	Jim Ryan	45.1%	7.1%

Congressional delegation, 2000-2016

This chart shows the number of Democrats and Republicans who were elected to represent Illinois in the U.S. House from 2000 to 2016. Elections for U.S. House seats are held every two years.

Congressional delegation, Illinois 2000-2016
Year	Republicans	Republicans (%)	Democrats	Democrats (%)	Balance of power
2016	7	38.9%	11	61.1%	D+4
2014	8	44.4%	10	55.6%	D+2
2012	6	33.3%	12	66.7%	D+6
2010	11	57.9%	8	42.1%	R+3
2008	7	36.8%	12	63.2%	D+5
2006	9	47.4%	10	52.6%	D+1
2004	9	47.4%	10	52.6%	D+1
2002	10	52.6%	9	47.4%	R+1
2000	10	50.0%	10	50.0%	Even

Trifectas, 1992-2017

A state government trifecta occurs when one party controls both chambers of the state legislature and the governor's office.

Illinois Party Control: 1992-2025
Nineteen years of Democratic trifectas  •  Two years of Republican trifectas
Scroll left and right on the table below to view more years.

Year	92	93	94	95	96	97	98	99	00	01	02	03	04	05	06	07	08	09	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	23	24	25
Governor	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	R	R	R	R	D	D	D	D	D	D	D
Senate	D	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D
House	D	D	D	R	R	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D

See also

• Illinois' 14th Congressional District election (March 20, 2018 Democratic primary)
• Illinois' 14th Congressional District election (March 20, 2018 Republican primary)
• United States House of Representatives elections in Illinois, 2018
• United States House of Representatives elections, 2018

Footnotes

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Illinois' current delegation to the United States Congress

Senators

Tammy Duckworth (D)

Dick Durbin (D)

Representatives

District 1

Jonathan Jackson (D)

District 2

Robin Kelly (D)

District 3

Delia Ramirez (D)

District 4

Jesus Garcia (D)

District 5

Mike Quigley (D)

District 6

Sean Casten (D)

District 7

Danny Davis (D)

District 8

Raja Krishnamoorthi (D)

District 9

Jan Schakowsky (D)

District 10

Brad Schneider (D)

District 11

Bill Foster (D)

District 12

Mike Bost (R)

District 13

Nikki Budzinski (D)

District 14

Lauren Underwood (D)

District 15

Mary Miller (R)

District 16

Darin LaHood (R)

District 17

Eric Sorensen (D)

Democratic Party (16)

Republican Party (3)