Macon County is almost entirely red this year. Democrats won 3 uncontested County Board seats in District 1, while Republicans won all four other districts, cementing a 12 to 3 Republican majority on the Macon County Board. County Clerk, Treasurer, and Sheriff are all Republican.
Treasurer was contested by write-in candidate Melverta Wilkins who lost to John Jackson's 27,692 votes of 35,725 ballots cast. All three school superintendent races were uncontested, so Republicans control those. Andrew Weatherford (D) lost to Shane Mendenhall (R) by nearly 8,000 votes. Both Judge Judy Cates and Judge Karle E. Koritz were retained for another term.
Hickory Point will levy a special tax for ambulance services, and South Wheatland Township ends its prohibition on alcohol sales.
Republicans already had a 12 to 9 majority before the controversial redistricting that removed 6 County Board seats and 2 County Board districts. Democrats tried to run candidates for County Clerk and Sheriff, but both candidates were removed from the Ballot.
Melverta Wilkins was expected to be on the ballot for treasurer, but she ultimately was a write-in candidate. The Sheriff candidate was removed due to a technicality regarding her primary ballot. The clerk and treasurer candidates were removed due to challenges from Republicans.
Mike McHaney (R) won the 6th Appellate District, over Brian Roberts (D). The Worker's Rights Amendment passed. These included votes both in and outside of Macon County. Macon county voted in favor of the worker's rights amendment by a difference of less than 600 votes.
All Illinois & Macon County results are unofficial until November 29th. About two dozen provisional ballots and "hundreds" of vote by mail ballots are yet to be counted, but these won't affect any results. For up-to-date vote totals see Macon County Results, WGN's Illinois Results, CNN's Illinois Results, and FiveThirtyEight's National Results.
See State of Democracy, 2022 Macon County for additional analysis. Support this work on PayPal or Patreon.
State & Federal elections
All Statewide Leadership Offices were won by Democrats. In Macon County voters prefered the Republican candidates, with Republicans State Leaders receiving about 20,000 votes each & Democrat State Leaders receiving about 14,000 each. In the Illinois House, Sue Scherer (D) won, and Republicans ran unopposed in two other Macon County districts. In the Illinois Senate, Doris Turner (D) won, and Republicans ran unopposed in four other Macon County districts.
Scherer and Doris Turner both won majority votes in Macon County. State Democrats passed new Illinois district maps in 2021, and they have been criticized for partisan gerrymandering.
Mike McHaney (R) won the 6th Appellate District Court race. Both Judge Judy Cates (D-5th Appellate) & Judge Karle E Koritz (R-6th Appellate) are likely retained for another 10 year term, though consolidated results are not available until November 29th.
In the U.S. House of Representatives, 14 Illinois Districts are projected blue & three Illinois Districts are projected red.
How did the new districts affect the outcome?
New County Board districts were approved by the Republican majority on the Macon County Board in 2021. Democrats alleged that Republicans gerry-mandered the district maps, giving Republicans an advantage based upon the drawing of maps rather than based upon voter support.
It is clear from results that Macon County Republicans have majority support from voters, though it appears Democrats are still under-represented on the County Board. After this election, the 12-3 board is an 80%/20% split. In Macon County, Pritzker received 13,790 votes to Bailey's 20,715, roughly a 60%/40% split. Prior to the partisan 2021 redistricting, the Macon County Board had 21 members elected from 7 districts. During the 2020-2022 term, there were 13 Republicans and 8 Democrats, a 62%/38% split.
Detailed Results
Local Results
The Macon County Board will seat 12 Republicans from four districts and 3 Democrats from District 1. Every other Macon County office is red, including County Clerk, County Treasurer, and Sheriff. All three School Superintendents are Republican. Mendenhall (R) beat Weatherford (D) by nearly 8,000 votes for the 6th Judicial Circuit Court.
Vote totals have not yet been released for District 5 write-in candidate Alina Hale (D) or County Treasurer write-in candidate Melverta Wilkins (D), but they both lost to Republican opponents.
County Clerk Josh Tanner (R) & Sheriff Jim Root (R) ran unopposed. District 1 County Board Democrat candidates ran unopposed.
The County Board oversees the county budget, county offices, county courts, and county legislation. The County does not govern the City of Decatur, Forsyth or other municipalities. The County Clerk manages county records and runs elections. The Treasurer collects and distributes taxes. The Sheriff manages the county's law enforcement, but does not oversee Decatur Police.
Ballot Measure Results
The 0.40% property tax levy for Hickory Point's Ambulance service was narrowly approved with 1,095 YES & 922 NO votes. South Wheatland overwhelmingly voted to allow alcohol sales, with 1,492 votes to end an *alleged prohibition. 482 voters supported a prohibition.
The Illinois Constitutional amendment guaranteeing workers the right to unionize passed with about 2 million YES votes and about 1.4 million NO votes statewide. In Macon County, it received 16,932 YES votes and 16,390 NO votes. See Illinois Voter's Guide for an explanation of the amendment and arguments for & against it.
Judicial Results
Circuit courts are the lower courts which initially try cases. When a circuit court ruling is challenged, the appellate courts review the case. If an appellate court ruling is challenged, then the case is reviewed by the Illinois Supreme Court.
Mike McHaney (R) beat Brian Roberts (D) for the 5th Appellate District Court. McHaney received 21,720 votes in Macon County. Roberts received 12,918. Consolidated state results will not be available until November 29th, but Judge Judy Cates (D-5th Appellate) & Judge Karle E. Koritz (R-6th Appellate) were both likely retained for another 10 year term, both receiving nearly 80% YES votes in Macon County.
As previously mentioned, Shane Mendenhall (R) defeated Andrew Weatherford (D) by nearly 8,000 votes for the 6th Circuit Court.
Illinois Supreme Court candidates were not on Macon County Ballots. Elizabeth Rochford (D) beat Mark Curran (R) by about 50,000 votes for the Thomas Vacancy. Mary O'Brien (D) is ahead of Michael Burke (R) by about 10,000 votes as of 2:20pm November 10th, with 92% of votes reported.
U.S. Congressional results
The United States Congress is comprised of the U.S. House of Representatives and U.S. Senate. Together, they pass federal laws and set federal budgets.
Tammy Duckworth (D) defeated Kathy Salvi (R) by about 500,000 votes for U.S. Senate. Bill Redpath (Libertarian) received nearly 70,000 votes. In Macon County, Salvi received 19,996 votes, Duckworth received 14,485, & Redpath received 623.
In the 13th U.S. Congressional District, Nick Budzinski (D) is projected to defeat Regan Deering (R). As of 11:46am on November 10th, Budzinski is ahead by about 22,000 votes with estimated 83% votes counted.
In the 15th U.S. Congressional District, Marry Miller (R) defeated Paul Lange (D) by over 100,000 votes.
In the U.S. House of Representatives, 14 Illinois Districts are projected blue & three Illinois Districts are projected red.
Nationally, the U.S. House & Senate are yet to be called. As of November 10 at 3:04pm, FiveThirtyEight estimates Democrats hold 48 Senate seats & Republicans hold 49. While in the House, Democrats hold 201 seats & Republicans hold 211. In the Senate 51 seats are needed for partisan control. In the House, 218 seats are needed.
FiveThirtyEight projects that among 36 governor races, 19 Republican candidates will win, and 16 Democrat candidates will win, with Wisconsin being a toss-up.
Illinois General Assembly Results
The Illinois State Legislature is divided into a State Senate and a State House of Representatives. Together, they pass laws, set budgets, and levy taxes within the state.
In the Illinois House, Sue Scherer (D) beat Lisa Smith (R) in the 96th district. Republicans ran unopposed in the 87th (William Hauter), 88th (Dan Caulkins), 95th (Tim Butler), and 107th (Brad Halbrook) districts. In Macon County, Scherer received 7,652 votes and Smith received 6,705.
In the Illinois Senate, Doris Turner (D) beat Sandy Hamilton (R) in the 48th district. Republicans ran unopposed in the 44th (Sally Turner) and 54th (Steve McClure). In Macon County, Doris Turner received 7,750 votes and Hamilton received 6,821.
No other IL House or IL Senate districts were on Macon County Ballots.
Illinois Statewide Leadership Results
All State Leadership roles were won by Democrats. In Macon County voters prefered the Republican candidates, with Republicans State Leaders receiving about 20,000 votes each & Democrat State Leaders receiving about 14,000 each.
Pritzker/Stratton (D) defeated Bailey/Trussel (R) and Schluter/Phillips (Libertarian) for Governor/Lieutenant Governor. Kwame Raoul (D) won a second term as Attorney General, defeating Thomas Devore (R) & Dan Robin (Libertarian). Alexi Giannoulias (D) defeated Dan Brady (R) & Jon Steward (L) for his first term as Secretary of State. Susana Mendoza (D) defeated Shannon Teresi (R) & Deirdre McCloskey (L) for Comptroller. Michael Frerichs (D) beat Tom Demmer (R) and Preston Nelson (L) for Treasurer.
Additional Information
- November 22nd is the last day for Illinois counties to receive vote by mail ballots
- The state will release official results on November 29th
- The state does not release unofficial vote totals, so preliminary state-wide counts must be received from news media.
- As of November 10th, hundreds of vote by mail ballots & a dozen or two provisional ballots still need to be received & counted in Macon County. These will likely not change local results.
Notes
- *alleged prohibition - A source I can't name tells me there are no laws on the books saying there is a prohibition of alcohol sales in South Wheatland. I have submitted a FOIA request seeking laws, ordinances, or documentation of the prohibition.