Illinois House Remains a Democratic House, Though Less So

Election night was a good one for legislative incumbents in east-central Illinois as well as one candidate who had a longtime legislator's seal of approval.

Republican Chad Hays will replace retiring state Representative Bill Black next year after beating Democrat Michael Puhr. Hays is a hospital administrator and former mayor of Catlin - he had received campaign assistance from Black.

Democrat Naomi Jakobsson will go to Springfield for a fifth term after beating Norm Davis. The former social service executive says services to people with disabilities or mental illness should not meet the budget knife.

"These cut across all parts of our population," said Jakobsson. "It's very important that we make these services available. These are some of things that I want to make sure we're able to do, and that's going to take some people really putting their votes on the line."

In the 110th district, Republican Chapin Rose racked up one of the largest winning margins in Illinois with a win over Dennis Malak.

"A major message has been sent to people who think you can continue to borrow your way out of this problem, and there's been a major message sent to people whose first option is to run and raise taxes," said Rose. "All across the country, the message has been, 'you've got to get your fiscal house in order.'"

Shane Cultra easily defeated Green Party candidate Vince LaMie in the 105th.