Whether you get your money’s worth when you donate to a political campaign is hard to say. Kent Redfield, a political science professor at the University of Illinois at Springfield, notes only one seat in the Illinois General Assembly saw a change of party.
“Certainly, in the House, if the Republicans picked up a seat, (the Democrats) would have lost the veto-proof majority,” Redfield says. “It may have some symbolic value, but it certainly appeared at times that the speaker was having trouble getting 60 votes on a bill, let alone 71 seats on a bill.”
Redfield says one reason why so many races attracted $1 million or more is that there were few places to spend money; only 19 state Senate seats were up, and, of the 118 House seats, just 47 had a contested race.
The only incumbent in the General Assembly to lose, State Sen. Mike Jacobs (D-East Moline), was in a record-setting race, with more than $3 million spent. Neil Anderson, a Moline Republican, is headed to Springfield.
The contest to succeed U.S. Rep..-elect Mike Bost (R-Murphysboro) set a record, with more than $2 million spent, with Republican Terri Bryant defeating Democrat Bill Kilquist. Both candidates are from Murphysboro.