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Residents of western Illinois, southeast Iowa, and northeast Missouri will go to be the polls on Tuesday, Nov. 6.The various ballots across the tri-state region feature races for governor, congress, and seats in state legislatures and county government.The news department at Tri States Public Radio has been talking to the candidates so you can be a more informed voter.

Hammond Wins Fifth Term in Illinois House

Rich Egger (file photo)

State Representative Norine Hammond (R-Macomb) fought off Democratic challenger John Curtis of Macomb 52%-48% in the mid-term elections.

At her victory party at Magnolia's resteraunt in downtown Macomb, Hammond thanked her family and supporters.

"I think that there are a lot of things that come into this win. A lot of it is getting out and meeting people at the doors. Taking part in community events in this district is huge and having great supports and a great ground team I think that’s key," she said.

This year’s contest was a rematch of the 2016 election, when Hammond defeated Curtis 55% to 45%. This time around Curtis bested Hammond in McDonough County, which is home base for both candidates. Curtis received 50.3% of the McDonough County votes to 49.6% for Hammond.

Curtis also received strong support in the City of Galesburg. But Hammond carried the rest of the district, which includes all or parts of eight counties in western Illinois.  

Hammond said she is very honored to be elected to a fifth term in the Illinois House.  Her victory celebration will be short-lived because the legislature heads back into veto session next week.

“I do have one of my long-term care bills for seniors that I have asked for an override for, so that will be my first order of business,” Hammond said. “Also, next week our higher education working group will meet again and we are working currently on a funding formula for higher education.”

Hammond noted that she’s unsure how long it will take to create a new funding formula for higher education given that the K-12 funding reform legislation passed last session took four years to develop.  

As a Republican, Hammond is in the minority in the Illinois state legislature. She said she has always prided herself on working across the aisle and plans to continue to do so. “I’m hopeful we have an atmosphere that isn’t quite so rancorous as it’s been in the past. So I’m looking forward to that.”

Emily Boyer is a former reporter at Tri States Public Radio.