Rep. Martin McLaughlin (R-Barrington Hills), left, and North Barrington Democrat Maria Peterson, right. 

Democrats have their eyes set on flipping the 52nd House District seat held by Rep. Martin McLaughlin (R-Barrington Hills) as contributions pour in for Democratic challenger Maria Peterson of North Barrington.  

McLaughlin’s northwest suburban seat is precious territory for House Republicans to protect this fall in a district with a tendency to favor moderate candidates as the suburbs overall increasingly lean toward Democrats.  

As in most races, Democrats are out-fundraising and out-spending the Republican candidate, but House Speaker Chris Welch (D-Hillside) and other Illinois Democratic leaders are pushing to pick up McLaughlin’s seat by supporting Peterson, who nearly ousted the Senate minority leader in 2022.  

The 52nd District covers the intersection of Cook, Lake, McHenry and Kane counties with Barrington as its geographic center. The district stretches from Volo to Interstate 90 and from Algonquin to Libertyville.  

Campaign finance reports and other required fundraising reports filed with the State Board of Elections show Peterson raised $172,764 in the third quarter of the year and spent $137,663. That was in addition to $327,853 worth of support from Welch’s Democrats for the Illinois House account and the Democratic Party of Illinois as both committees pick up Peterson’s tab for digital advertising, mailers, polling and staff. Peterson has separately bought TV ads attacking McLaughlin on abortion.  

But it’s Peterson’s fundraising since Oct. 1 that contains eye-popping numbers. Over the last three weeks, she has raised $1 million in reportable contributions and financial aid of $1,000 or more. This includes $50,000 from Gov. JB Pritzker, $1,000 from Comptroller Susana Mendoza and $493,000 directly deposited into her campaign’s account from Welch’s caucus account. That adds to the $74,773 in her account at the end of October.  

The Democratic Party of Illinois and Pritzker even hosted a day of action in Highwood for Peterson and other Lake County candidates on Sunday.  

Financial support has been much harder for McLaughlin to come by. He raised $71,282 in the third quarter and spent $27,626, leaving him with $142,232 to start October. McLaughlin’s largest contributor was Rep. Chris Miller’s (R-Hindsboro) political action committee, which gave $20,000. Miller chairs the House’s far-right Freedom Caucus.   

McLaughlin decided not to join the House Republican Organization (HRO) this year, which leaves him without the financial support of his caucus. He previously told The Daily Line he believes his campaign operation can succeed without HRO, and his decision was a personal preference rather than a sign of a rift with caucus leadership. McLaughlin did report sending $9,826 to HRO for mailers.   

Since Oct. 1, McLaughlin has raised $29,500 with the help of individuals and some House colleagues.   

The district represents a prime pick-up opportunity for Democrats after the 2021 remap. In 2022, McLaughlin, who won his 2022 race by 4 points while Pritzker won the district by 5 points. That marked a shift from 2018, when Pritzker lost the district’s boundaries by 12 points.    

McLaughlin and Peterson met at a candidate forum earlier this month in Barrington that was at times tense as McLaughlin defended his record and positions against attacks from Peterson.   

“My opponent makes a lot of money in managing pension funds. Somebody like myself, I probably pay more taxes than he does because he knows how to work the system through the loopholes that are available,” alleged Peterson, a retired government attorney and small business owner.   

Peterson also slammed McLaughlin for voting against the budget.  

“The state provides to the legislators at usually 2 or 4 in the morning [a] 4,000-page budget that you must decide that you approve of all of it or none of it,” McLaughlin said. “So under that, my opponent is stating that because I won’t approve of a budget that I haven’t had 72 hours to read that I am disapproving of veterans and seniors. It is very disingenuous and frankly it’s an outright lie.”  

McLaughlin pledged to the debate audience to be “direct” and “fact-based” as a state representative and said he isn’t afraid to make enemies on both sides of the aisle for sticking to his beliefs.  

“Part of these jobs is to be able to look down the field and know what’s going to happen and if you can’t, the lack of that discernment, in my opinion, should preclude you from serving in public office,” McLaughlin said.   

Peterson turned the remark against him.   

“When somebody is not liked, the people who suffer is the people here in District 52 because it’s just like having the black sheep in the family: nobody wants to talk to him, nobody wants to work with him,” Peterson said. 

On abortion, McLaughlin said he favors “medical freedom.” Peterson has made abortion her campaign’s primary issue, including through her TV ads, and said voters can’t take Republicans’ word that the issue is settled in Democrat-controlled Illinois.   

“The Republicans in the last General Assembly have filed 53 anti-choice, reproductive healthcare and LGBTQ bills and so it’s always under threat here in Illinois,” Peterson said.   

The pair also debated the success of the SAFE-T Act, which Republicans continue to make a part of their campaign with arguments the law is causing public safety issues. McLaughlin cited a recent op-ed from Democrat Cook County Circuit Court Clerk Iris Martinez that claimed more defendants were missing court appearances.   

“We were told by the Democrat majority in the state that this would be helpful to our communities for public safety,” McLaughlin said.  

Peterson defended the goal of the law to keep low-level offenders from being stuck in jail unable to pay a cash bond.   

“People who are stealing food, hams, shoes, they’re not stealing them because they’re going to sell them; they’re stealing them so they actually have shoes to go to work; they’re stealing a ham so that they could actually eat,” Peterson said.