Central Illinois political leaders say they learned a lesson from last night’s results in the 2026 midterm election: voters are speaking for change.
To say Democrats had a good night in the election would be a serious understatement, according to NPR. With taking control of both chambers of Congress and major upsets in Republican strongholds, Democrats outperformed many polls which already predicted their victory.
Of course, plenty of Republican candidates still had results to be happy for. Candidates like the reelected U.S. Rep. Darin LaHood, a Republican in the 16th Congressional District.
“But I’m reminded that I have 750,000 bosses, and I heard from many of them on important issues: cost of living, inflation, high energy prices,” he said at his election party in Peoria. “People are really upset with the current trajectory of the country, and I’ll take those messages back with whatever the makeup of the Congress is.”
LaHood bested challenger Paul Nolley. Despite the hope in Nolley’s campaign, LaHood won by a 17-point margin in a race called by the Associated Press.
What was lost on the U.S. House races in Illinois, however, were the major Democratic upsets seen across the country. A lot of races went as expected, as in the case of LaHood’s colleague, U.S. Rep. Eric Sorensen. The Democrat also beat his opponent Tuesday, newcomer Dillan Vancil.
The two representatives may not agree on much, but Sorensen also said at his watch party last night in Moline that he heard people want a change.
“I heard from farmers who can’t fill up their combines because diesel is nearly seven bucks a gallon; we’ve got moms that are worried about how they’re going to feed their kids, of what happens to their families if somebody’s going to get sick,” he said.
“I’ve talked to proud dads worried about sons and daughters in harm’s way fighting a war that nobody asked for, senior citizens who can’t afford their medicine.”
Nationally, the chamber both Sorensen and LaHood will join in January is overwhelmingly Democratic. Many races are still being counted, but Democrats are expected to take the House alone by a wide margin.
The ‘why’ of the Democratic wave
McLean County Democratic Party Chair Patrick Cortesi said Nolley was the best candidate ever seen in that district.
“Well, since they redrew it, and I’m really proud of what he did,” said Cortesi, referring to a redistricting that solidified the 17th district as a Republican stronghold. “I haven’t seen all the numbers yet, but I think we’re at least close to carrying McLean County,”
Cortesi said if Nolley wished to run the race again come 2028, he has created the base to do just that.
“The nice thing is that the advantage that we have over the local Republicans is we run coordinated campaigns,” he said.
Cortesi said, despite the loss, Democrats in the region capitalized on voters’ frustration with the Trump Administration. Even with 17-point difference, that is the closest a challenger to LaHood has gotten to taking his seat.
“I think we took advantage of some national issues, some national angst about what was going on in Washington, D.C. and we knew our candidates had a great message that we are on the right side of the issues,” he said. “I know we outworked our opponents, and I’m proud of the effort we put in.”
He personally attributed the local Republican loss to the party's ties to the president.
“So, as long as they were willing to do that, we knew we were going to be able to take advantage of that.”
Connie Beard, chair of the local GOP, blamed the loss of her party on the local and national scale to a failure to frame the issues correctly. She said the Republican party has made advances, but this election could not get voters to see further ahead.
“But we can always hope that as a situation is revealed and circumstances change, that the voting public will realize that we have been on the right course, and that this temporary concern that has been raised is just that, it’s temporary,” she said.
Admittedly, Beard said Democrats succeeded on that front, telling voters their side of the story. Moving forward, as she said Republicans have a good tendency to do, is to look for young voters to fill the ranks.
“We’re going to come out of this with a way to evaluate and revamp our approach to the future elections, to recruit and find those young people that can step up and recognize value and conservative principles and good stewardship of our resources, and the value of lower taxes, lower costs,” said Beard.
Beard was thrilled at the re-election of LaHood and “very disappointed” to see he would not be joined in the halls of Congress by Vancil, Sorensen’s Republican opponent. She said there is a primary reason Vancil lost.
“It’s sad how so much of our campaigning has boiled down to how much money you have, and people who are trying their best to put their message to the people but are so overwhelmed because someone with more money has a bigger voice and shouts out what is reasonable discussion and reasonable ideas,” she said.
Trump is ‘about 95%’ to blame
In the weeks leading up to election day, Trump told voters to imagine he was on the ballot in hopes the usual general election excitement he generates for low-propensity voters would give Republicans an edge.
Voters listened to his call and largely rejected the party.
“Even I don’t think many of these candidates on the Republican side had a chance with an ‘R’ next to their name,” said Pat Brady.
Brady is former Illinois Republican Party chairman and member of the Republican National Committee. Now, he’s a Republican consultant with Mercury Public Affairs.
“Trump is so wildly unpopular in most of the state that it cost us many seats in the far western suburbs, and I put the blame squarely on him,” said Brady on his diagnosis of election night.
How much is the president to blame for the loss?
“About 95%,” he said.
Brady said the flogging Republicans took nationally is a direct consequence of the president’s failure to deliver on his campaign promises, including lowering costs and avoiding foreign wars.
Brady said both parties now have to look to decide what’s next. For Democrats, they have to decide how they balance time between providing relief they promised and opening investigations on the administration.
Brady thinks the latter could turn into a big mistake if they focus too hard.
“Not just for the political component of it, but just for the good of the country. We do not need more divisive investigations,” he said. “I’m not saying don’t do your job, but we don’t need these public spectacles that are nothing more than political show trials.”
“If there’s investigations, follow the money. Send it over to the Justice Department … but please don’t wase our time on these investigations.”
Alternatively, Brady said Republicans have priorities of their own to decide. They could look for young recruits like Beard said, but Brady advised his solution to be a comprehensive suburban agenda.
“We need to address issues that households, parents and others are facing every day on the cost of living, economic growth, on the cost of their house, gas prices, infrastructure — all that things that, on a daily basis, affect people that live and work in the suburbs,” he said. “That’s where Republicans win in Illinois, and that’s how we can come back.”
Brady said Republicans need to appeal to voters in the northern third of the state, around Cook County where Republicans historically take their hardest hits. He said recognizing the diversity of the state is the path back for the party.
WGLT's Lizzie Seils and WCBU's Joe Deacon contributed to this report.
