Metro East Sun

Republican Amy Elik will now represent the 111th District after she defeated Democrat incumbent House Rep. Monica Bristow.

Elik said when she started her campaign, she did so to help those whose voices weren't being heard. 

“When I launched my campaign, I said I’m running to represent the forgotten voices of people looking for more favorable policies toward the middle class,” Elik wrote on Facebook. “To the endless number of volunteers, I cannot thank you enough for your commitment to the cause. I look forward to serving as an effective, conservative representative for the people of the 111th district as we work to fix the fiscal and ethics issues plaguing our great state.”

State Sen. Jim Oberweis, who narrowly unseated U.S. House Rep. Lauren Underwood in the 14th District, said he was glad to see voters voice their concerns with how Democrats are running things.

“Here in Illinois, Democrats have total control of state government,” Oberweis said in a statement. “Many voters in Illinois are very concerned about what is happening in Springfield. They are tired of the high taxes and the lack of fiscal discipline at the state level. Voters voiced their displeasure with how Democrats have run Illinois by flipping four Democrat House seats to Republican and by resoundingly rejecting the governor’s progressive income tax amendment and voting to not retain Democrat Supreme Court Justice Thomas Kilbride.”

Illinois Republican Party Chairman Tim Schneider said President Donald Trump’s smaller-than-expected margin of defeat helped turn out voters for state races and helped in contested races for the state’s General Assembly.

“It was widely expected that House Republicans were set to lose upwards of 5 members, particularly in the Chicago suburbs,” Schneider said in a statement. “After getting outspent 5-1, House Republicans were instead able to net 2 new members after beating 4 incumbent Democrats. Challengers that were successful include David Friess and Amy Elik in the metro-east and Chris Bos and Seth Lewis in the Chicago suburbs.”

All in all, the GOP netted two new Republicans as House Reps. Grant Wehrli (R-Naperville) and Allen Skillicorn (R-Dundee) lost their bids for re-election.