2024 Election: Dixon’s Fritts leads in Illinois 74th House District race; public safety sales tax defeated

DIXON — Republican Bradley Fritts of Dixon appears to have been reelected to his 74th House District seat in the Illinois House of Representatives.

Fritts, who was known as the youngest elected member of the Illinois General Assembly when elected in 2022, was declared the unofficial winner at 11:43 p.m. Tuesday by the Associated Press. With 93% of precincts reported, Fritts at 9 a.m. Wednesday had received 31,350 votes to Democratic nominee David Simpson’s 16,934 votes.

“I am incredibly proud of the campaign my team has run this year,” Fritts said. “The message was clear and focused: unity and positive change for all members of our community. We didn’t stoop to negative, divisive political rhetoric, but instead focused on what we can improve when working together.

“Serving the people of the 74th has been the honor of a lifetime. I look forward to continuing my work to make our community a better place for families, businesses and the hard-working men and women who make our state great.”

The 74th House District includes most of Lee County and parts of Whiteside, Ogle, DeKalb, and La Salle counties.

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Polo residents Crystal Green (left) and Nathan Green fill out their ballots Tuesday, Nov. 5, 2024, in the Polo Area Senior Center while their kids, Arthur, 6, Lucy, 4, and Mabel, 1, wait. (Alexa Zoellner)

Sorensen declares himself winner

In Illinois’ 17th District Congressional race, incumbent Eric Sorensen, a Democrat, was ahead with 53.1% of the vote shortly before 12:30 a.m., with 72%. of the votes counted. At that point, he had 137,594 votes compared with challenger Joe McGraw’s 121,573 votes.

“For two decades as your local meteorologist, it was my job to keep you safe and prepared for what was ahead, and that’s what I’m doing in Congress,” Sorensen wrote in a news release issued shortly before midnight. “Over the past two years, I’ve set out to make sure our community has a trusted neighbor serving them in Congress. And over this campaign, we’ve traveled to every corner of Illinois’ 17th District, meeting with neighbors and showing our work to make our community safer, healthier, and more affordable.

“Now, it’s about coming together to do what’s best for all of us and I am proud to be the good neighbor to represent you! We have a lot of challenges and hard work ahead of us, but I can tell you the sun will rise tomorrow morning and our forecast is bright.”

Whiteside County public safety sales tax voted down

Whiteside County voters rejected a 0.5% countywide sales tax Tuesday to help fund emergency dispatch services.

The measure failed after 65.85% of voters said no to the sales tax, which would have collected 50 cents per every $100 spent on general merchandise bought in Whiteside County and was estimated to raise $2 million annually. The money would have been used to help shore up an annual $500,000 deficit.

A total of 16,913 voters were against the measure while 8,771 were in favor of it, according to unofficial election results posted on the Whiteside County elections website.

Whiteside County Sheriff John Booker said Tuesday night that the only positive thing about the outcome is this time more people voted for the tax than they did last time around.

“Unfortunately, no one wants a tax increase,” Booker said. “That’s the bottom line. Nobody wants it. This was the best thing for our county, our citizens, and if it would have passed, it would have saved money.”

The money derived through the tax would have been able to be used for matters of public safety and any funds left over would have been used to buy equipment and radio and software upgrades while allowing for multi-agency interaction. It would also have eliminated the money Sterling and Rock Falls currently pay for services, placing that money back into their general funds.

Whiteside County Administrator Amy Robbins said dispatch services cost the county $1.8 million to operate, with a yearly deficit of about $500,000. Outside of radio surcharges, she said Sterling and Rock Falls have been footing the majority of the bill.

Over the past year, Sterling paid $392,465 and Rock Falls paid $294,348, totaling $686,813, as part of their agreement to pay for dispatch services. Booker said had the measure passed, that money could have been spent on other things.

Now that the tax has failed, smaller communities in the county, including Morrison, Fulton, Erie, Albany, Lyndon, Tampico, Prophetstown, Coleta, Deer Grove and Fenton, will have to start chipping in to make up the shortfall.

“I don’t know how these smaller municipalities are going to pay,” Booker said. “Dispatching is an expense. However, I promise at no time is public safety going to be in jeopardy because this didn’t pass. We’re going to continuously do what we’re doing to keep the people safe in our area. If you call 911, it’s still going to get answered. These places are just going to have to figure out how to pay for it.”

However, Booker said all hope is not lost.

“This will be on the ballot again in April,” Booker said. “We’re going to continuously push harder to try and get this passed. As long as the County Board is willing to get it on the ballot, we’ll try again.”

Lee County: Amboy, Harmon fire departments will merge

Lee County voters have approved a measure to permanently merge Amboy and Harmon’s fire departments.

The measure was approved after receiving a vote of 173 in favor and 50 against, according to the unofficial results on the Lee County election website. Of the 297 registered voters, 241 ballots were cast, for an 81.1% voter turnout.

Had the measure not passed, Harmon would have been left to be annexed into another fire district whose taxes could have raised the town’s fees for fire services.

Fire protection districts are separate entities that can serve several municipalities and collect their own taxes. Fire departments receive funding through various sources, such as shared taxes, grants, fees, donations, and memberships. They can also collaborate with nearby departments to combine resources and reduce costs.

On Jan. 14, 2024, the Amboy Fire Department expanded its coverage to include the Harmon Fire Department’s jurisdiction through Dec. 31. The consolidation adds 60 square miles to Amboy’s existing 298-square-mile district and an additional 600 residents in Harmon.

Whiteside County Board elections

Several Whiteside County Board seats were decided at Tuesday’s general election. According to unofficial election results posted on the Whiteside County elections webpage, the following candidates were elected to the board:

District 1 - Four seats

Unofficial winners are Chanda McDonnell, 3,730 votes; Thomas L. Ausman, 3,677; Michael J. Clark, 3,593; and Sally Douglas, 3,588. McDonnell and Ausman are Democrats; Clark and Douglas are Republicans.

Other candidates included Republican Terry Woodard, 3,299 votes; Democrat Fidencio Hooper-Campos, 3,382; Republican Skip Dettman, 3,554; and Democrat Owen Harrell, 3,412.

District 2 - Four seats

Candidates getting the top votes in District 2 are Barry L. Cox, 4,109; Matt Ward, 3,862; Brooke E. Pearson, 3,768; and Rita Kelly, 3,375. Kelly is a Democrat. Cox, Ward and Pearson are Republicans.

Other candidates in the race and their vote tallies were Republican Daniel (Sam) Wancket, 3,219; Democrat Karen Nelson, 3,179; and Democrat Katherine A. Nelson, 2,956.

District 3 - Five seats

Unofficial winners in District 3 are Mark Hamilton, 6,204; Martin Koster, 5,564; Rachel Crandall, 5,531; Douglas Crandall, 5,346; and Thomas Alex Williams, 5,195. All are Republicans.

Other candidates were Democrats Daniel L. Bitler with 3,490 votes and Michelle M. Vinson with 3,287.