Thomas M. Bennett (Illinois)
Thomas Bennett (Republican Party) was a member of the Illinois State Senate, representing District 53. He assumed office on January 12, 2023. He left office on January 8, 2025.
Bennett (Republican Party) ran for re-election to the Illinois House of Representatives to represent District 106. He won in the general election on November 8, 2022.
Biography
Representative Bennett grew up on a farm near Gibson City. He earned bachelor's degrees in education and applied computer science, a master's of business administration, and a doctorate of business administration. Bennett taught high school and junior high science for seven years then worked as a computer software developer for State Farm for 30 years.[1]
Committee assignments
Note: This membership information was last updated in September 2023. Ballotpedia completes biannual updates of committee membership. If you would like to send us an update, email us at: editor@ballotpedia.org.
2023-2024
Bennett was assigned to the following committees:
- Appropriations-Elementary & Secondary Education Committee, Republican Spokesperson
- Appropriations-Public Safety Committee
- Child Care Accessibility & Early Childhood Education Committee
- Elementary & Secondary Education: School Curriculum & Policies Committee (decommissioned)
- Police & Fire Committee
2021-2022
Bennett was assigned to the following committees:
- Appropriations-Public Safety Committee
- Child Care Accessibility & Early Childhood Education Committee
- Elementary & Secondary Education: School Curriculum & Policies Committee (decommissioned)
- Appropriations-Elementary & Secondary Education Committee, Republican Spokesperson
- Police & Fire Committee
2019-2020
Bennett was assigned to the following committees:
- Appropriations-Elementary & Secondary Education Committee
- Elementary & Secondary Education School Curriculum Policies Committee
- Health Care Availability & Access Committee
- Labor & Commerce Committee
- Revenue & Finance Committee
- Child Care Accessibility & Early Childhood Education Committee
2017 legislative session
At the beginning of the 2017 legislative session, this legislator served on the following committees:
| Illinois committee assignments, 2017 |
|---|
| • Appropriations-Elementary & Secondary Education |
| • Counties & Townships |
| • Elementary & Secondary Education School Curriculum Policies |
| • Higher Education |
| • Labor & Commerce |
2015 legislative session
At the beginning of the 2015 legislative session, Bennett served on the following committees:
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
In July 2023, Thomas M. Bennett announced that he would not seek re-election to the Illinois State Senate. [2]
2022
See also: Illinois House of Representatives elections, 2022
General election
General election for Illinois House of Representatives District 106
Incumbent Thomas Bennett won election in the general election for Illinois House of Representatives District 106 on November 8, 2022.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ |  | Thomas Bennett (R) | 100.0 | 34,652 |
| Total votes: 34,652 | |||
 = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
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Republican primary election
Republican primary for Illinois House of Representatives District 106
Incumbent Thomas Bennett advanced from the Republican primary for Illinois House of Representatives District 106 on June 28, 2022.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Thomas Bennett | 100.0 | 12,351 |
| Total votes: 12,351 | |||
| = 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. | ||||
2020
See also: Illinois House of Representatives elections, 2020
General election
General election for Illinois House of Representatives District 106
Incumbent Thomas Bennett won election in the general election for Illinois House of Representatives District 106 on November 3, 2020.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Thomas Bennett (R) | 100.0 | 45,477 |
| Total votes: 45,477 | |||
| = 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 106
Incumbent Thomas Bennett advanced from the Republican primary for Illinois House of Representatives District 106 on March 17, 2020.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Thomas Bennett | 100.0 | 12,123 |
| Total votes: 12,123 | |||
| = 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. | ||||
2018
General election
General election for Illinois House of Representatives District 106
Incumbent Thomas Bennett won election in the general election for Illinois House of Representatives District 106 on November 6, 2018.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Thomas Bennett (R) | 100.0 | 32,952 |
| Total votes: 32,952 | |||
| = 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 106
Incumbent Thomas Bennett advanced from the Republican primary for Illinois House of Representatives District 106 on March 20, 2018.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Thomas Bennett | 100.0 | 13,374 |
| Total votes: 13,374 | |||
| = 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. | ||||
2016
Elections for the Illinois House of Representatives were held in 2016. The primary election was held on March 15, 2016, and the general election was held on November 8, 2016. The candidate filing deadline was November 30, 2015.[3]
Incumbent Thomas M. Bennett ran unopposed in the Illinois House of Representatives District 106 general election.[4][5]
| Illinois House of Representatives, District 106 General Election, 2016 | ||
|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | |
| Republican |  Thomas M. Bennett Incumbent (unopposed) | |
| Source: Illinois State Board of Elections | ||
Incumbent Thomas M. Bennett ran unopposed in the Illinois House of Representatives District 106 Republican primary.[6][7]
| Illinois House of Representatives, District 106 Republican Primary, 2016 | ||
|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | |
| Republican | Thomas M. Bennett Incumbent (unopposed) | |
2014
Elections for the Illinois House of Representatives took place in 2014. A primary election took place on March 18, 2014. The general election was held on November 4, 2014. The signature filing deadline for candidates wishing to run in this election was December 2, 2013. William Nutter ran unopposed in the Democratic primary, while incumbent Josh Harms ran unopposed in the Republican primary. Thomas M. Bennett (R) then defeated Nutter in the general election. Bennett replaced Harms after Harms announced he was no longer running for re-election on June 30.[8][9][10][11][12]
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Republican | Thomas M. Bennett |
80.2% | 26,349 | |
| Democratic | William Nutter | 19.8% | 6,516 | |
| Total Votes | 32,865 | |||
2012
Bennett ran in the 2012 election for Illinois House of Representatives District 106. Bennett was defeated by Josh Harms in the Republican primary on March 20, 2012.[13][14]
| Candidate | Vote % | Votes |
|---|---|---|
|
Josh Harms |
33.3% | 5,846 |
| Tom Bennett | 28% | 4,923 |
| Brian Gabor | 10.7% | 1,877 |
| Scott McCoy | 22.9% | 4,014 |
| Richard Thomas | 5.1% | 893 |
| Total Votes | 17,553 | |
Campaign themes
2022
Ballotpedia survey responses
See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection
Thomas Bennett did not complete Ballotpedia's 2022 Candidate Connection survey.
2020
Thomas Bennett 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
In 2024, the Illinois State Legislature was in session from January 16 to May 29.
- Legislators are scored on their votes on bills related to environmental issues.
- Legislators are scored on their votes on bills related to pets and wildlife.
- Legislators are scored on votes on bills affecting real estate and private property.
- Legislators are scored on their votes on bills related to business issues.
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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2022
| To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2022, click [show]. |
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In 2022, the Illinois State Legislature was in session from January 5 to April 9.
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2021
| To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2021, click [show]. |
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In 2021, the Illinois State Legislature was in session from January 13 to June 1.
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2020
| To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2020, click [show]. |
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In 2020, the Illinois State Legislature was in session from January 8 to May 23.
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2019
| To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2019, click [show]. |
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In 2019, the Illinois State Legislature was in session from January 9 through December 31.
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2018
| To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2018, click [show]. |
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In 2018, the Illinois State Legislature was in session from January 8 through May 31.
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2017
| To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2017, click [show]. |
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In 2017, the Illinois State Legislature was in session from January 11 through May 31. There were also special sessions. The 1st special session was June 21-July 6. The 2nd special session was July 26-July 31. During the 3rd special session, the Senate met on August 13, and the House met on August 16. The 4th special session was on August 28-29. There was a veto session from October 24-November 9.
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2016
| To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2016, click [show]. |
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In 2016, the Illinois State Legislature was in session from January 13 through May 31.
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2015
| To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2015, click [show]. |
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In 2015, the Illinois State Legislature was in session from January 14 through December 7 (extended session).
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See also
2022 Elections
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ "Tom Bennett", "About," accessed March 24, 2020
- ↑ ‘'WCSJ News, "Grundy Co. State Senator Tom Bennett Announces His Retirement at the End of Current Term," accessed July 27, 2023
- ↑ Illinois State Board of Elections, "Election and Campaign Finance Calendar," accessed November 30, 2015
- ↑ Illinois State Board of Elections, "Candidate list: General Election - 11/8/2016," accessed August 8, 2016
- ↑ Illinois State Board of Elections, "Election results, General election 2016," accessed December 15, 2016
- ↑ Illinois State Board of Elections, "Candidate Filing Search," accessed January 3, 2016
- ↑ Illinois State Board of Elections, "Election Results: GENERAL PRIMARY - 3/15/2016," accessed August 8, 2016
- ↑ Illinois Secretary of State, "Official candidate list," accessed March 18, 2014
- ↑ Illinois Board of Elections, "General Primary Election Official Canvass," April 18, 2014
- ↑ Illinois Secretary of State, "Official general election candidate list," accessed March 18, 2014
- ↑ The Daily Journal, "Harms announces he's leaving legislature after 18 months," June 30, 2014
- ↑ The Chicago Tribune, "Results List (Unofficial)," accessed November 5, 2014
- ↑ Illinois State Board of Elections, "Candidate List," accessed December 5, 2011
- ↑ Illinois State Board of Elections, "Official 2012 Primary Results," accessed May 14, 2014
- ↑ Citizen Action Illinois, "99th General Assembly Legislative Scorecard 2016," accessed July 11, 2017
- ↑ Illinois Parents of Adults with Developmental Disabilities, "2016 Illinois Community Living Report," accessed July 11, 2017
| Political offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Jason Barickman (R) |
Illinois State Senate District 53 2023-2025 |
Succeeded by Chris Balkema (R) |
| Preceded by - |
Illinois House of Representatives District 106 2015 |
Succeeded by Jason Bunting (R) |
