Illinois Democratic leaders at the 2024 State Fair. [Ben Szalinski/The Daily Line]  

Illinois Democrats already have a record supermajority in the House with 78 members, but they have their eyes on adding even more seats this year.

Democratic Party of Illinois Chair Lisa Hernandez (D-Cicero), also a top leader in the House, told Lee Enterprises that she believes her caucus can pick up at least four seats and specifically named which seats they are targeting to increase Speaker Chris Welch’s (D-Hillside) record caucus to 82 members.

47^th House District 

Rep. Amy Grant (R-Wheaton) is facing Wheaton Democrat Jackie Williamson, who works in human resources. Grant has been in office since 2019 after previously serving on the DuPage County Board.  

Democrats have their eyes on flipping Grant’s seat as part of DuPage County’s trend toward the left. In the third quarter, Williamson reported raising $65,536 and spending $30,302, leaving her with $50,931 to start October. The Democrats for the Illinois House and Democratic Party of Illinois also picked up the cost of $255,894 worth of in-kind contributions. Since Oct. 1, Williamson has raised $884,400 in reportable contributions of $1,000 or more. This includes $50,000 from Gov. JB Pritzker and $475,250 directly from the caucus.  

Grant has struggled to raise money, however, and is not a member of the House Republican Organization and is therefore not receiving help from the caucus’ account. However, several top House Republicans have contributed to her campaign. In the third quarter of the year, she raised $24,120 and spent $18,335, leaving her with $19,326 to start October. While no contributions came from her caucus, the Illinois Republican Party did cover $53,853 of advertising. She has raised $26,000 since Oct. 1. 

The district represents a good pickup opportunity for Democrats, though Grant has successfully held on to the seat even as other Democrats won in the area. She defeated Williamson in 2022 by six points, which was her largest margin of victory of her three elections for the Illinois House. However, Pritzker carried the district by eight points in 2022. The 47^th House District covers central DuPage County, including parts of Carol Stream, Glen Ellyn, Wheaton, Warrenville and Naperville.  

52^nd House District 

Rep. Martin McLaughlin (R-Barrington Hills) is fighting against Maria Peterson, a North Barrington Democrat, in a northwest suburban 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.  

McLaughlin, like Grant, is going largely without help from his caucus’ political arm. 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. Since Oct. 1, McLaughlin has raised $29,500 with the help of individuals and some House colleagues.   

Peterson, a retired attorney and business owner, has reported enormous fundraising numbers in the last month. 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 since Oct. 1, Peterson has raised $1.6 million, including a recent $494,000 contribution from the caucus, likely destined toward paying for more TV advertising.

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. Peterson nearly won a surprise victory in 2022 in the 26^th Senate District, losing to Sen. Dan McConchie (R-Hawthorn Woods) by less than 400 votes.

104^th House District 

Rep. Brandun Schweizer (R-Danville) took the reins on the seat after being appointed in the spring to fill a vacancy. Schweizer is a longtime veteran of the Marine Corp who recently relocated to Danville and vied for the seat. He is facing a challenge from Jarrett Clem, a Democrat from St. Joseph, who is an electrician that also serves on the Parkland College board.

Clem reported raising $186,796 and spending $171,851 in the third quarter, leaving him with $139,615 to start October. That’s in addition to $172,654 in in-kind contributions. Since Oct. 1, Clem has reported raising at least $501,600, including $50,000 from Pritzker and $99,000 from the caucus.

Schweizer raised $57,491 and spent $39,017, leaving him with $33,257 to start October. His caucus and start party also picked up the bill for $191,253 of costs. Since Oct. 1, Schweizer has reported raising $221,300.

The 104^th House District is a mostly rural district with Danville as its population center. The district nearly entirely circles the Champaign-Urbana area. Despite its rural geography, the district could lean toward Democrats. Pritzker won the district by a point in 2022 while President Joe Biden won by three points in 2020. Former Rep. Mike Marron (R-Fithian) won the district by eight points in 2022, however.

114^th House District

Rep. Kevin Schmidt (R-Millstadt) pulled off a surprising victory in 2022 when he defeated Rep. LaToya Greenwood (D-East St. Louis) by about 2,000 votes. The pair are matched up again as Greenwood hopes to win her seat back.

Greenwood reported raising $251,430 and spending $197,115 in the third quarter of the year, leaving her with $165,658 to begin October. That’s in addition to $397,562 in in-kind contributions. Since Oct. 1, she has raised $1.2 million, including $50,000 from Pritzker and $515,928 from her caucus.

Schmidt is hoping to keep a key seat on the Republican side of the aisle and reported raising $43,214 and spending $23,145 in addition to $58,635 in in-kind contributions. He began October with $54,904 but has reported raising $189,500 since Oct. 1.

The district includes East St. Louis, then stretches around the south side of Belleville to include several rural communities before winding back north Scott Air Force Base and O’Fallon. Pritzker lost the district by about two points in 2022.