With close races for the Illinois General Assembly taking place across the state, some downstate races receive less attention than some of the races in the Chicagoland area – even as many downstate races may be just as close this year.
In the 76th House district, former staff of Rep. Amy Murri Briel, D-Ottawa, has come forward with allegations of inappropriate behavior and drug use in her office that are being leveraged by her Republican opponent Liz Bishop – who lost to Briel by 0.63%, or 595 votes, in 2024.
“Lying Liz Bishop and her MAGA spokespeople have built their campaign around repeating disproven statements because they know they cannot defend the Trump agenda that is crushing small communities like ours,” Briel said in a statement to The Center Square.
At a town hall event in early September, she denied the allegations, saying the staffer who made the allegations was upset over a position she didn’t get.
Mark Cavers, political director for the Illinois House Republican Organization, told The Center Square he thinks complaints about lawmakers including Briel provide voters with a clear choice that favors the GOP.
In the 56th Senate district within the Metro East, incumbent state Sen. Erica Harriss, R-Glen Carbon, faces Democrat challenger Marsia Geldert-Murphey.
Harriss defeated her last Democratic opponent by 2.2%, or 1616 votes, in the 2022 election. Throughout her time in Springfield, Harriss has introduced legislation aimed at keeping jobs in the Metro East region and has voted against most new taxes and fees statewide proposed.
As a civil engineer, Geldert-Murphey’s campaign has placed an emphasis on the state government providing improvements to the region’s infrastructure, and the campaign also highlighted increased education and healthcare funding by the state as priorities for the candidate.
Story from Illinois Radio Network
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