This year, Illinois Republicans, backed by campaign cash from Gov. Bruce Rauner, are looking to knock some Democratic incumbents out of their seats in the General Assembly. At the same time, Democrats in the state are trying to pick off Republican lawmakers.
Lee Enterprises’ Statehouse Bureau Chief Dan Petrella recently wrote a story on the power of incumbency and campaign spending in state legislative races. Illinois Issues editor Jamey Dunn recently sat down with Petrella to talk about it.