State, regional incumbents have little trouble denying challengers

The drama remained on the campaign trail for incumbents representing Chicago’s North Shore.

On Election Night, local lawmakers bested their challengers with relative ease thanks to suburban voters.

Below is a recap of races that impacted The Record’s coverage area. Results, which are not yet official, are from county clerk’s offices, including Cook County and Lake County. To read about local school referendums, CLICK HERE.

• Ill. Rep. Robyn Gabel makes it seven terms (since 2010) serving Illinois’ 18th district — which includes Winnetka, Northfield, Kenilworth, and parts of Glencoe and Wilmette — by defeating Charles Hutchinson (R-Wilmette). At attorney, Hutchinson is the president of the Wilmette-Kenilworth Chamber of Commerce board of directors.

• Rep. Jennifer Gong-Gershowitz (D-Glenview) again won the 17th district, which covers portions of Wilmette and Kenilworth. She will serve a second full term. Her challenger — Bradley Martin, 33, of Skokie — was running for office for the first time.

• Rep. Bob Morgan (D-Highwood) is your winner in the 58th representative district, which covers much of Highland Park and Highwood. With 69 percent of the vote, Morgan defeated Mike Clark.

• In the race for Cook County Board of Commissioners’ 14th District, incumbent Scott Britton, of Glenview, handily bested Benton Howser (R-Wilmette) with 60.45 percent of the vote with 191 of 192 precincts reporting.

• Cook County voters also decided to approve at forest preserve referendum (62.3%) to fund environmental initiatives.

• Incumbents Paul Frank (District 11) and Paras Parekh (District 12) will remain on the Lake County Board, earning 71.7 and 67.1 percent of the vote in their respective races. Frank’s and Parekh’s districts cover Highland Park and Highwood.

• Statewide races also primarily went to Democrat incumbents, with Gov. JB Pritzker, Attorney General Kwame Raoul, Secretary of State Alexi Giannoulias, Comptroller Susan Mendoza and Treasurer Michael Frerichs all winning re-election. Runnersup in those races were Republicans Darren Bailey, Tom DeVore, Dan Brady, Shannon Teresi and Tom Demmer.

• National winners from Illinois include U.S. Sen. Tammy Duckworth (D) over Kathy Salvi, Rep. Brad Schneider (D-10th) over Joe Severino and Rep. Jan Schakowsky (D-9th) over Max Rice.

The Record is a nonprofit, nonpartisan community newsroom that relies on reader support to fuel its independent local journalism.

Subscribe to The Record to fund responsible news coverage for your community.

Already a subscriber? You can make a tax-deductible donation at any time.