Election 2024: Illinois 76th House District GOP, Democratic primary unofficial results

Editor’s note: For the most up-to-date election results from Tuesday’s primary, visit www.shawlocal.com/daily-chronicle/election. Results are not official until two weeks after the election.

DeKALB – Northern Illinois voters cast their ballots Tuesday to choose among three Democrats and two Republicans for the next representative in the Illinois House 76th District. Primary election winners will be pitted against each other in November.

The race for the 76th House District is the only state race in Illinois with both a Republican and Democratic primary. Tuesday’s primary marked the least competitive in Illinois in two decades, a data analysis by Capitol News Illinois showed. Nearly 9 in 10 state-level primaries gave voters no choice in candidates.

State Rep. Lance Yednock, D-Ottawa, chose not to seek reelection. In his place, three Democrats and two Republican hopefuls sought to gain their party’s nomination ahead of the Nov. 5 general election.

[ Here are DeKalb County’s unofficial election results for the 2024 primary ]

Democrats include Cohen Barnes, a small-business owner and the mayor of the city of DeKalb; Amy “Murri” Briel, also from Ottawa and Yednock’s chief of staff; Carolyn “Morris” Zasada, a DeKalb-based Realtor who serves as 1st Ward alderwoman for the city of DeKalb. On the Republican side is Liz Bishop of La Salle, a retired banker; and Crystal Loughran of Peru, who’s touted her campaign as “anti-establishment.”

10:45 p.m. update

As of 10:45 p.m., among votes cast in DeKalb, La Salle and Bureau counties, Briel – who’d been tailing behind all night – took a late-night lead in the Democratic primary race due in part to a boost from La Salle County voters.

Unofficial results so far show Briel with 2,356 votes, Barnes with 2,077 votes and Zasada with 2,038 votes.

For Republican voters in all three counties, votes cast showed Bishop in the lead with 3,268 votes to Loughran’s 1,561 votes so far.

Bishop’s campaign released a victory statement at 10:20 p.m. Tuesday night, as she’s likely to secure the Republican nomination to run for state representative in November. Election results are not officially finalized for two weeks after the election.

“Our journey doesn’t end here. We’re on a mission to bring about tangible change and impactful leadership for our community,” Bishop said in the statement.

Speaking at a campaign watch party at Faranda’s 302 Grove St., DeKalb, Barnes said the “coolest part” of his campaign was realizing how much support he had from district residents, adding that it warmed his heart to have the support he received during his campaign.

“That may sound corny to some people, but it it really makes me feel good about myself,” Barnes said. “But probably more importantly it also makes me realize how important it is that I do well, because if this many people have supported me and believe in me, then the expectation is high, and I need to make sure I live up to their expectations.”

Barnes said he wants to spend the remainder of his life in public service and if he wins wants to carry his momentum from DeKalb to the larger Illinois Valley area by being an advocate for 76th District residents in Springfield.

“I want to spend the next 25 years of my life in public service. Being Mayor I really did realize it, it completes me – like this is what I want to do for the remainder of my life. I’ve spent 30 years in IT,” Barnes said. “I’m ready for the next phase. And all of my community service over the decades has always just brought me a lot of reward, and to be able to spend the remaining days doing just that, that’s what I want to do.”

Elsewhere at Class VI Wine Bar in DeKalb, Carolyn Zasada was greeting supporters from her election night watch party.

Zasada said her campaign couldn’t have accomplished all it had without the voters and their support.

“I am incredibly thankful for every one of you who worked to get me elected and cast your ballots for me,” Zasada said to her voters. “Your support means the world to me.”

Zasada said she is grateful for everyone who stood by her campaign and what it stands for.

“Together, we have shown that progress is worth fighting for,” Zasada said. “We proved that we can do substantially better as a community in standing up for all residents. We ran on lifting up everyone and addressing the needs of every single person. I will always treasure having the opportunity to speak with so many of you across our community about the issues that are impacting each of us every day.”

The 76th District covers La Salle, Bureau and DeKalb counties, including Ottawa, La Salle, Peru, DeKalb, Spring Valley and Ladd.

This story was updated at 8:52 p.m. Tuesday, March 19, 2024. Another update was made at 9:18 p.m. March 19, 2024. Another update occurred at 10:07 p.m. A 10:27 p.m. update added comment from Liz Bishop. A 10:53 p.m. update added more vote tallies to the totals. Stay tuned for further updates.