Election results in
Andrew Thomason
Issue date: 11/8/06 Section: News
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In the 17th Congressional District of Illinois Phil Hare (D) defeated challenger Andrea Zinga (R) for an open seat in the House of Representatives. The election garnered national attention after Democratic incumbent Lane Evens stepped down due to Parkinson's disease.
The race between Hare and Zinga came to Western Illinois University in the form of a heated debate, which eventually aired on C-SPAN.
Despite Sheriff Mike Johnson (D) claiming to have kept every promise he made to the citizens in the 2002 election, Rick VanBrooker (R) unseated Johnson by nearly 20 percent.
After the victory, VanBrooker celebrated his election with re-elected Illinois Legislator Rich Myers (R) and Macomb Mayor Mick Wisslead at Chandlers Bar & Grill. VanBrooker credited his victory to his interaction with the community and his availableness to the citizens.
"I went to the people and spent a lot of time in the community," VanBrooker said. "I did a lot of door-to-door (campaigning) and I had a lot of help."
Now elected, he plans to make major changes to both the McDonough County Sheriff's hiring process as well as field training.
"I'm going to be very busy," VanBrooker said.
Current Sheriff Mike Johnson was unavailable for comment at the time of publication.
The race for county clerk was competitive to the end. At a recent League of Women Voters debate candidate Gary Sherer stated, "Just because you have five years of experience in the office does not make you qualified." McDonough voters apparently disagreed with Sherer when they voted Gretchen DeJaynes (R) the next county clerk on Tuesday. She also celebrated with VanBrooker after her triumph.
In an ironic twist, DeJaynes was at the county clerk's office Tuesday night counting votes.
Barely one minute after the polls closed in Illinois, The Associated Press declared Governor Rod Blagojevich's (D) campaign for a second term in the office a success. Shortly following this announcement, Judy Baar Topinka issued a statement declaring the AP acted irresponsibly in doing this.
"On Election Day, every voter in Illinois deserves to cast their ballot without the premature interference of a news outlet," Topinka Campaign Manager Brian McFadden stated.
Blagojevich won in spite of allegations of corruption in the governor's office.
Other elections included Rich Myers (R) defeating Gail Russell (D) in the 94th district of the Illinois House of Republicans and Angela G. Graves winning an unopposed McDonough Treasurer office.
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