Karen Donnelly withdraws from 105th District House race, citing exhaustion from COVID-19 illness

Former La Salle County State’s Attorney Karen Donnelly confirmed Wednesday she has withdrawn from the race for state representative for the newly drawn 105th Illinois Legislative District.

Donnelly had announced Jan. 10 she would seek the Republican nomination for the district that includes portions of La Salle, Bureau, Putnam, Livingston, Woodford, McLean and Marshall counties.

However, Donnelly has not filed a statement of organization with the Illinois State Board of Elections and her quarterly campaign summary showed no activity. When reached for comment, Donnelly said she fell ill following her announcement and this impeded her campaign efforts.

“I was very ill with COVID for most of January and didn’t have the energy or ambition to campaign,” Donnelly said. “Based on that illness, I elected to withdraw from the race.”

Donnelly’s withdrawal leaves four contenders for the GOP nomination. They are Mike Kirkton, a Livingston County board member; Kyle Ham, former executive director of the Bloomington-Normal Economic Development Council; Woodford County Sheriff’s Deputy Dennis Tipsword; and former congressional candidate Don Rients of Benson.

The winner will vie for the seat held by Rep. Dan Brady (R-Bloomington) since 2001. The restructured district no longer includes Brady’s home. Brady announced he would not run for reelection, but will instead seek the secretary of state post.