Cappel Defeats McCullagh For IL 49th Senate District
This story was updated at 8:40 a.m. Nov. 4
JOLIET, IL — Shorewood Republican and small business owner Tom McCullagh conceded his race to Meg Loughran Cappel as he blasted state of Illinois Republican Party leaders for doing "a terrible job" of helping raise money in his Illinois Senate race for the 49th District. Cappel, a Democrat and Joliet grade school teacher, surged ahead of McCullagh by more than 12,000 votes, according to unofficial vote totals from Will and Kendall Counties.
According to unofficial totals, with 100 percent of Will County's precincts reporting, Cappel had 54,632 votes, 56.5 percent, while McCullagh had 42,087 votes, 43.5 percent. A small portion of the district is in Kendall County as well. With 100 percent of Kendall County precincts reporting, Cappel had a narrow lead over McCullagh, by an additional 101 votes, 6,074 votes to 5,983.
Cappel vs. McCullagh Election results
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McCullagh told Patch he was reaching out to Cappel to congratulate her. He said she ran a great race and he wished her the best of luck representing the 49th District voters in Springfield.
McCullagh also ripped the Illinois state GOP, saying state party leaders did a terrible job of supporting him and helping raise money in his race against Cappel.
He contends that a huge fund-raising push from the Illinois Republicans could have made a huge difference and could have resulted in a victory on Election Night.
"The Illinois GOP did not put money into anybody's races, including mine," McCullagh said shortly after 10 p.m.
The two candidates were vying to fill the vacancy of Jennifer Bertino-Tarrant, a Shorewood Democrat who served in eight years in office and decided to run for Will County Executive in Tuesday's races. Bertino-Tarrant has made it clear in the lead up to the election that she wanted the voters to elect Cappel as their next state senator.
The 49th Legislative District includes all of or part of the communities of Aurora, Bolingbrook, Boulder Hill, Channahon, Crest Hill, Joliet, Montgomery, Naperville, Oswego, Plainfield, Romeoville and Shorewood.
The district is mostly in Will County, but a small portion is in Kendall County.
According to the Illinois Sunshine Database, the Committee to Elect Meg Loughran Cappel has raised $509,900 in campaign donations just since Sept. 30. As a result of that boost, Cappel had $618,848 available.
The ISDF, a committee to elect Democrats to the Illinois State Senate, transferred $115,000 to Cappel's political action committee on Oct. 16, plus a pair of in-kind donations of $22,214 on Oct. 19, plus a transfer of $50,000 on Oct. 21.
In addition, Cappel also received $5,000 from the Citizens for Laura Murphy on Oct. 26, $3,000 from the Illinois Trial Lawyers Association PAC on Oct. 26, $2,500 from the Chicago Teachers Union on Oct. 26, $14,200 from Anzalone Liszt Grove Research Inc. on Oct. 23, $50,000 from the Illinois Pipe Trades PAC Account on Oct. 23, $5,000 from Citizens for Antonio "Tony" Munoz on Oct. 23, $5,000 from Senate Democratic Leadership Fund on Oct. 20 and $2,500 from the Bill Foster for Congress Committee on Oct. 20.
As for the Citizens for Tom McCullagh, his political campaign has raised $10,050 since Sept. 30, bringing his total available funds to $16,640, the Illinois Sunshine Database showed.
McCullagh's major donations included: an in-kind contribution of $7,550 from the Carol Ann Marketing Company on Oct. 22, $1,500 from Citizens for Claar on Oct. 22, $1,000 from Bailey for Illinois on Oct. 3, $1,000 from Elect Dan McConchie on Sept. 25, $5,000 from Willie Wilson on Sept. 21, an in-kind donation of $5,000 from Gyorgy LLC on Sept. 15, $1,000 from Howard Medley on Sept. 6, $4,000 from Evagelia Franchi on Sept. 2, $1,000 from Citizens for Fritz on Aug. 29 and an in-kind donation of $5,000 from White Glove Sanitation Chemicals on Aug. 18.
According to her campaign, Cappel's top issues in her race against McCullagh are: education, health care, lowering property taxes, fighting corruption, protecting pensions and senior citizens. Cappel is a special education teacher for Joliet's District 86 and she also serves as an elected official on the Joliet Township High School District 204 school board.
"As the sole caretaker to her father, curbing the rising costs of supplemental health insurance for seniors and making our Medicare system more navigable is a personal priority for Meg, "her political website states. "Meg will not vote to tax or cut retirement income."
If the voters of the 49th District send her to Springfield, Cappel also wants them to know that she will remain true to her roots. "Meg will also fight the culture of corruption in Springfield by pushing for legislation to allow voters to recall corrupt officials and impose term limits on legislative leadership positions," her campaign platform stated.
As for McCullagh, the Shorewood conservative Republican said that public spending has spiraled out of control in Springfield and that he would play a lead role in changing that culture.
"I am extremely concerned about the fiscal shape of our State," McCullagh informs voters on his campaign site.
"Flawed leadership has caused our state's debt to spiral out of control. Years of failed policies and irresponsible spending have resulted in tax increases that are totally unacceptable! These unwise tax and spend policies of current office holders are driving working families and their employers from the state. I will fight to make better use of the tax dollars we send to the State by restoring sound fiscal management of all state programs and cutting waste where I find it; these are essential steps to take prior to reducing the tax burden shouldered by working families and the businesses who employ them."
Related Joliet Patch 2020 election coverage:
Facebook Bans Tom McCullagh, State Senator Candidate
Coronavirus Totals Distorted: Will County Republicans Agree
Meg Cappel Will Be An Outstanding Senator: Dickinson
Joliet Teacher Will Run For Bertino-Tarrant's Seat
This article originally appeared on the Joliet Patch
