Keicher poised to take reelection bid for 70th House state rep. seat

SYCAMORE – Republican state rep. incumbent Jeff Keicher has pulled ahead by more than 12,000 votes, likely securing his reelection bid to represent the 70th District in the Illinois General Assembly, according to numbers reported by The Associated Press.

The 70th District race is between incumbent Republican Keicher, of Sycamore and Democrat Randi Olson, of Cortland. The winner of the race will represent a district that extends from west of Sandwich through predominantly rural areas of eastern DeKalb County and western Kane County to southern McHenry County, between Huntley and Lake in the Hills. The district also includes all or part of Sycamore, Cortland, Hampshire, Burlington, Kaneville and Big Rock.

Keicher has earned 35,869 votes, or 60.1% of the district as of 12:27 a.m., over Olson’s 23,851 votes, or 39.9% of the district, according to unofficial results. The Associated Press has not yet called the race as of 12:35 a.m.

Tallies from the election are unofficial. Mail-in ballots have two weeks to arrive as long as they were postmarked by Election Day. Voters also have two weeks to address any issues that led to them casting provisional ballots.

After running their respective races for the Illinois 70th House District, candidates from both major political parties say they’re happy with their efforts as they await elections results Tuesday night.

With the polls still open, Keicher, who has represented the district since 2019, said that over time he’s been in office he’s grown to appreciate his relationship with voters.

“What I have appreciated more is the folks who have voted for me who’ve have taken time out of their day to call me, text me, email me and tell me that they voted for me,” Keicher said. “That connection with a voter is what this is all about for me, so I’m glad that what we’re doing is resonating.”

Olson said she feels good about the efforts of her campaign and will be happy no matter the results.

“I’m happy with the campaign and it was a lot of fun. It was a lot different than I expected, but I enjoyed meeting people. I managed to stay on my message and hopefully the word got out and I’ll be successful. Either way I feel like I helped open eyes to childcare costs and things like that, and women’s rights.”

Olson campaigned on a promise of bipartisan governance, with a focus on childcare and women’s rights, but said she didn’t realize what it would be like to be in the political spotlight. She previously worked on fellow Democrat Paul Stoddard’s campaign when he ran unsuccessfully against Keicher in 2020.

“Being the candidate, I didn’t realize the pressure,” Olson said. “I was a campaign manager for Paul Stoddard and I just never felt the pressure on there that I do now because it’s your name on the campaign and you’re trying to beat everybody’s expectations.”

Entering his fourth election night as a candidate, Keicher said he thinks the “temperature” of the 2024 election has been different than the previous three he’s been involved in, but said he thinks each of those elections also had “unique chaos that is outside of the historic norm.”

Keicher said he doesn’t know what a normal election looks like but believes social paradigms centering around the election is a part of the democratic process.

“Democracy, well a Republican form of government is never meant to be nice and tidy,” Keicher said. “It is meant to be a vetting of ideas and public discourse, and I think we’ve seen that more heartedly established this cycle than any other cycle.”

Olson said she think’s it’s important for people be candidates and prevent uncontested elections.

“It helps open up the conversation, so you can talk about issues and it’s not just one candidate with one set of ideas,” Olson said.

This story was updated at 12:35 a.m. Nov. 6, 2024. More updates could occur.