Unofficial results in for General Election

SPRINGFIELD — As votes continued to be tallied Wednesday, Nov. 9, returns showed Illinois Democrats would hold every statewide elected office and maintain supermajorities in the General Assembly while extending their majority on the Illinois Supreme Court.

In The Southern Scene region, however, it was Republicans who prevailed in the Nov. 8 General Election in local races:

• All races in Johnson County were uncontested and all candidates are Republicans — county clerk/recorder, Robin Harper-Whitehead (Republican); county treasurer, Mitch McClellan (Republican); county sheriff, Pete Sopczak (Republican); supervisor of assessments, Danell Mott (Republican); and county commissioner, John McCuan (Republican).

• Massac County

— County Clerk — Incumbent Hailey Miles (Republican) received 3,948 votes to 653 for Tim S. Pearcy (Constitution).

— County Treasurer — Sarah Bremer (Republican) received 1,020 votes in an uncontested race.

— County Sheriff — Incumbent Chad Kaylor (Republican) received 4,276 votes in an uncontested race.

— County Commissioner — Jimmy Burnham (Republican) received 3,139 votes to incumbent Jerel Childers' (Democratic) 1,711.

In addition, the Massac County ballot had a referendum question asking if the office of Massac County Supervisor of Assessments shall be elected rather than appointed. Of the 4,925 voters who voted Nov. 8, 4,051 of them said “yes” while 565 said “no.”

• Pope County

— County Clerk/Recorder Darci Garling (Republican) received 1,513 votes.

— County Treasurer: Shelley Friend (Republican) received 1,504 votes.

— County Sheriff: Jerry Suits (Republican) received 1,515 votes.

— Circuit Clerk: Jennifer White (Republican) received 1,491 votes.

— County Commissioner: Incumbent Tim Wallace (Republican) received 1,303 votes to 356 for Anthony Eckert (Democratic).

• Pulaski County

— County Clerk/Recorder: Julie Hancock (Democratic) received 1,782 votes.

— County Treasurer: Incumbent Robert L. Moore (Republican) received 1,409 votes to 599 for Monte Russell (Democratic).

— County Sheriff: Randy Kern (Democratic) received 1,780 votes.

— County Commissioner: Mike Sharp (Democratic) received 1,665 votes.

The Nov. 8 General Election results are unofficial at this time as county clerks have two weeks to wait for outstanding vote-by-mail ballots. Official results will be released following the counting of those remaining ballots, which are to arrive at the clerk’s office with a postmark of or prior to Nov. 8.

At the state level, Gov. JB Pritzker was elected to a second term. In the Senate, it appeared Republicans would gain at least two seats, decreasing the Democratic supermajority from 41 members to 38-20, with at least one race too close to call. As of Wednesday, Democrats appeared poised to extend their supermajority from 73 of the 118 members of the House of Representatives to 77, with a few races too close to call.

As for other races, the Democrats maintained the offices of comptroller, treasurer, attorney general and secretary of state. Each of the Democrats — incumbents Susana Mendoza (comptroller), Michael Frerichs (treasurer) and Kwame Raoul (attorney general) and newcomer Alexi Giannoulias (secretary of state) — were leading by double digits as of Wednesday.

Union groups were also claiming victory on a constitutional amendment guaranteeing a right to collectively bargain in Illinois. That race was too early to call, however, due to the complex nature of passing an amendment. It had about 59% of the vote with 90% of precincts reporting, which is short of the three-fifths needed for passage. But an amendment can also pass if supported by more than half of those voting in the election, so the threshold needed is likely to be lower than 60%. As of Wednesday afternoon, however, it was unclear what the final threshold and vote tallies would be, as the Illinois State Board of Elections is set to certify results on Dec. 5.

Additional information was taken from Capitol News Illinois.