Regan Deering, a former small-business owner and previous congressional candidate from Decatur, defeated Chuck Erickson of Bloomington by a more than 2-to-1 margin in the Republican primary Tuesday in the heavily conservative Illinois House 88th district.
Deering is poised to replace Dan Caulkins of Decatur, who chose not to seek a fourth term. No Democrats have filed for the seat in the general election.
Deering said she had a “tremendously organized campaign from day one,” and said Caulkins’ endorsement played a big part in her victory.
Deering and Erickson campaigned on similar themes, stressing their conservative credentials. Erickson cited his time as a fiscal hawk on the McLean County Board. Deering focused more on social issues, accusing Democrats of “forcing their radical views into our homes and schools.”
Deering said she believes she can bring courage and independence to be honest about what she described as Illinois’ failures: high property taxes, government corruption and underperforming schools.
“When we have families that are struggling every day, that’s not a partisan issue,” Deering said after her win on election night. “I’m just going to continue to show up for the people and talk about what’s really plaguing everyday Illinoisans and working for good policy.”
Erickson, an attorney and McLean County Board member for the last 12 years, said he faced an uphill battle because he appeared to be heavily outspent.
“I hope that elections are not decided by the size of someone’s bank account because if that’s all we are going to do to decide elections, everyone should just turn in a balance sheet and we can just call the race at that point,” Erickson said.
The 88th House District is a mostly rural and heavily Republican district that stretches from east of Bloomington-Normal to south of Decatur. It includes parts of McLean, DeWitt, Piatt and Macon counties.
Erickson, whose term on the County Board expires in November, didn’t rule out another political campaign in his future, saying there are some “people in McLean County I’d like to deal with.”
“And if I do deal with them, I’ll beat them.”
Illinois House 105th
Meanwhile, Republicans renominated Dennis Tipsword of Metamora for the chance to seek a second two-year term in Springfield. Tipsword defeated Don Rients, an insurance IT analyst from Benson, by a more than 3-to-1 margin in the primary.
Tipsword, chief deputy for the Woodford County sheriff’s office, previously defeated Rients in the 2022 Republican primary in the heavily conservative district.
The district stretches from north of Bloomington-Normal to near Peru and spans from just outside Peoria to east of Flanagan.
Tipsword will face Democrat Morgan Phillips of Lostant in the general election in November. Phillips, a former political campaign manager, was the only Democrat to file for the seat.
The general election will be on Tuesday, Nov. 5.
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