2022 Illinois General Election: Get the latest updates from the polls in Rockford
The 2022 midterm election is over!
Illinois voters headed to the polls Tuesday to determine who will represent them on various levels of government, among them Congress, Illinois governor, state representatives and county offices.
Too close to call: 7,000 votes separate King-Sorensen
Former TV weatherman and Rockford native Eric Sorensen was pulling away from East Moline attorney Esther Joy King late Tuesday night in Illinois' 17th Congressional District race.
Sorensen, a Democrat, was leading King before midnight 114,210 to 106,693 votes, according to unofficial election results with 86% of the estimated total counted. It is a race that remained too close to call.
Full story here.
Steve Schultz wins race for Winnebago County Treasurer
Republican Party challenger Steve Schultz defeated longtime Winnebago County Treasurer Sue Goral by a margin of 51.6% to 48.4%, according to unofficial results from the Rockford Board of Elections and the Winnebago County Clerk's offices.
Schultz, a member of the Winnebago County Board, is a certified public accountant.
Full story here.
Jennifer Muraski defeats Tony Gasparini for coroner
Republican Jennifer Muraski defeated Democrat Tony Gasparini in the race to become the next Winnebago County Coroner.
With 69,419 votes counted in Rockford and Winnebago County, Muraski, a licensed funeral director and embalmer, accumulated 59% of the vote, according to unofficial election results.
Full story here.
Tribune: Brady concedes Secretary of State race to Giannoulias
Bloomington Republican candidate Dan Brady has conceded to Alexi Giannoulias making the Democrat the first new Illinois Secretary of State since Jesse White was first elected in 1998, the Chicago Tribune is reporting.
With 1.3 million votes counted in Illinois, Giannoulias had garnered 58% of the total as of 9:45 p.m., according to unofficial results.
Full story here.
Boone County Sheriff election: Yunk defeats Mordt
Republican Party candidate Scott Yunk is the winner of the Boone County sheriff's race.
Yunk defeated Independent candidate David Mordt by a margin of 73.4% to 26.6%, according to unofficial results from the Boone County Clerk's office.
Full story here.
AP: Democratic U.S. Sen. Tammy Duckworth wins
The Associated Press has called the race for Illinois' U.S. senate seat for Democratic U.S. Sen. Tammy Duckworth, according to unofficial results.
Duckworth won re-election Tuesday to a second term, defeating political newcomer and lawyer Kathy Salvi, a Republican, and Libertarian candidate Bill Redpath.
Full story here.
AP calls governor's race for Pritzker
Illinois Democrat Gov. JB Pritzker was reelected Tuesday beating his Republican challenger state Sen. Darren Bailey.
Just after the polls closed at 7 p.m., the Associated Press projected a victory for Pritzker who will serve a second, four-year term. With a little more than 7% of the vote counted, the incumbent had 60.6% of the vote, compared to 36.7% for Bailey and 2.7% for Libertarian candidate Scott Schluter.
Full story here.
Strong voter turnout
When you have over 96,000 Winnebago County registered voters, 60 polling locations and over 500 election judges, what can go wrong? So far, very little.
Winnebago County Clerk Lori Gummow said she has been pleased with the steady stream of voters and anticipates the turnout for a mid-term election will be strong.
"You can just tell," she said. "At every voting location that I went to, there's been people lined up. It's been really good."
Just hours before the 7 p.m. poll closing, residents were still registering to vote.
"There was a young girl up in Roscoe who had never voted before, and they were helping her," Gummow said. "And I've seen others who were filling out registrations, too."
— Chris Green
Long lines are a welcome sight
Rockford resident Paul Mangiaracina was glad to see a line more than a dozen deep to vote at his polling place at Grace United Methodist Church, 3555 McFarland Road.
Mangiaracina votes in virtually every election and thinks every voter should.
“There should be a lot of people in line,” Mangiaracina said.
Mangiaracina said he doesn’t like to vote along a party line or strictly in one way. He thinks people may be ready to see change.
“I vote for the individual,” Mangiaracina said. “I think people are tired of everything, good, bad and ugly.”
— Jeff Kolkey
Hurry up and wait
To borrow a lyric from the late Tom Petty, the waiting is the hardest part.
The leaders of the local Republican and Democratic parties are both confident that their respective candidates will have successful showings on Election Day.
There are contested races for Illinois governor, U.S. Senate from Illinois, 17th district Congress, 34th district Illinois Senate, 67th, 68th and 69th district State representative, Winnebago County Coroner, Winnebago County Treasurer and eight contested Winnebago County Board races.
“I think we’ve got a really good slate of candidates we’ve fielded to give voters a choice to make,” Winnebago County Republican Central Committee chairperson Paul Hofmann said. “Secondly, all of the candidates and volunteers worked very hard to get the word out right up until yesterday. We think we’ve made some good connections with the voters, we’re just waiting for the final results.”
The bigger the voter turnout, the better for the Democrat candidates, according to Winnebago County Democratic Central Committee chairperson Charlie Laskonis.
“We’re very confident that we’re going to do well,” Laskonis said. “Across the country, I believe the polls are under-representing the new voters that are going to come out as a result of the Roe versus Wade ruling. When they do polling, they do two out of the last three similar elections to get their poll numbers and new voters aren’t included in that, so hopefully the people who don’t fit that mold will show up and cast ballots like they have in various special elections.”
Laskonis predicts Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker will win his bid for re-election over Republican Party challenger Darren Bailey and Democrat candidate for 17th District U.S. Rep Eric Sorenson will prevail over Republican Party candidate Esther Joy King.
The polls close at 7 p.m.
— Ken DeCoster
'Short-lived’ server problem caused wait for some voters
Slow election registration servers meant longer than usual wait times Tuesday morning for some voters casting ballots in Rockford.
Rockford Board of Elections Executive Director Stacy Bixby said the server problem was “short lived and resolved,” by late morning.
The line to vote at 11 a.m. at Grace United Methodist Church in Rockford was the result of strong voter turnout rather than computer problems, said Deb Bauch, the polling place election judge coordinator.
“Even if everything electronic shut down, we still have systems to make sure people get to vote,” Bauch said.
More than 306 voters had cast ballots at the polling place by late morning.
— Jeff Kolkey
Voters head to polls, determined to cast ballots
Curtis Jefferson, 46, of Rockford, had to head downtown to cast his ballot Tuesday morning, but that didn't stop him from voting.
Standing outside of what he thought was his regular polling place, Pilgrim Baptist Church on the city's west side, Jefferson regrouped and came up with a plan after he was told his name wasn't on the list registered voters there.
"As long as I could vote, I've always come here," Jefferson said. "City (residents) went in one door, and county went in the other door. I don't know how that changed happened without me knowing about it.
"They said, 'We can't find your name. Are you in the county?' I said, 'Yes.' They said, 'Oh. You have to go downtown. ... I'm going downtown right now."
Tim Dorgan and the Rev. Perry Bennet of Macedonia Baptist Church were in and out of the church in less than 10 minutes.
"The way it should be," Dorgan said.
— Chris Green
Smooth sailing at Rockford's polling places
No voting-related snafus have been reported in Rockford two hours into the process, according to Rockford Board of Elections Executive Director Stacey Bixby.
“We don’t have any disgruntled voters or anything telling us we’re having any problems,” Bixby said. “That’s all we have to go by.”
There are 36 polling places within the city of Rockford serving 86,171 registered voters.
Bixby said a large number of people took advantage of the opportunity to vote early.
“We’ve had a lot of early voters. We had over 500 here in our office yesterday and over 200 at the off-site. I don’t know if that will play into how many people go to the polling places today or not, but we’ve had probably 7,000 early voting ballots.”
— Ken DeCoster
Need a ride to vote? RMTD has you covered
The Rockford Mass Transit District will be offering free rides to any fixed route rider who is headed to the polls on Tuesday.
The district announced the additional service last week. So if you plan to vote today but don't have a ride, RMTD could help.
Polls will be open from 6 a.m. to 7 p.m., and RMTD will be offering free rides for voters from 6 a.m. to 8 p.m.
"Fixed route riders need only to self-identify to the driver that they are either coming or going to their polling place for the free ride," the district said in a Friday news release.
Rockford Paratransit is offering free rides as well, but those rides has to be scheduled by 5 p.m. Monday.
The free rides will only be available on Election Day, Nov. 8.
— Corina Curry
Running unopposed:Long before Election Day, some Illinois races were already decided
Where is my polling place in the Rockford area?
If you do not know the location of your polling place, as long as you know your zip code and address, you can find visiting the Illinois State Board of Elections or your local election office. In the Rockford area, there are several offices: the Rockford Board of Elections, the Winnebago County Clerk's office, the Boone County Clerk's office and the Stephenson County Clerk's office.
Can I still register to vote in Illinois?
The deadline to register online has passed, but there is a grace period that allows people to register to vote in-person through Election Day. Grace-period registration must be done at an election office, permanent polling place or other site approved by the Illinois State Board of Elections.
Rockford, Illinois, area sample ballots
Click here to view a Rockford sample ballot. Click here to view a sample ballot in Winnebago County. Click here to view a sample in Boone County. Click here to view a Stephenson County sample ballot.
Where do I find Rockford, Illinois, area election results?
We'll be providing live results at rrstar.com/elections/results/local throughout the night.
What are some key races in the year’s Illinois elections?
There are several local contested races including Winnebago County Board, Winnebago County Coroner and Winnebago County Treasurer. In Boone County, there are contested races for sheriff and county board. Stephenson County races include county clerk and county board.
More election coverage: GOP candidates talk about issues in race for Illinois attorney general
Key statewide races include governor and lieutenant governor, attorney general, comptroller, secretary of state, General Assembly and treasurer. At the federal level, candidates are running for U.S. Senate and U.S. Congress.
Do I need ID to vote in Illinois? What should I bring?
Illinois does not require residents to produce identification as most registered voters have already submitted their driver’s license number, state ID number and the last four digits of their social security number. First-time voters who registered by mail and did not submit their driver’s license and social security numbers are required to produce identification when voting.
First-time voters who do not have a state ID or driver’s license are permitted to produce an alternative form of identification such as a utility bill, government check, bank statement, residential lease, student ID, or government document.
Polling place hours: What time do Illinois polls close?
Polls close at 7 p.m., Tuesday.
This article originally appeared on Rockford Register Star: Illinois midterm election 2022: Live updates from Rockford polls
