Illinois House endorsements in 36th, 79th, 83rd, 88th, 99th, 105th, 107th, 110th, 116th

This marks the third and final batch of Tribune Editorial Board endorsements in the contested primaries for the Illinois House.

36th District

This district covers a small portion of Chicago’s Southwest Side and moves west into suburbs such as Evergreen Park, Oak Lawn, Chicago Ridge and Palos Hills. Democratic Rep. Kelly Burke, who’s represented the district since 2011, is retiring. Democrats Rick Ryan, an attorney, and Sonia Anne Khalil, an administrator for the city of Markham, are running to succeed her.

Ryan has had a personal injury law practice in Oak Lawn for three decades or so, but has been involved in local politics and helped Burke in her initial race for the seat. The well-regarded Burke has endorsed him. He told us he is a moderate Democrat primarily focused on safe neighborhoods where people can raise a family and their kids can return to do so as well when they’re grown. He describes the district as a “status quo district,” where people want things to remain as they are. Voters are worried about public safety and are skeptical of the Safe-T Act, he says.

Ryan would support potentially reintroducing cash bail, but, on the other hand, he doesn’t back locking up defendants accused of non-violent crimes and without lengthy criminal records.

Khalil, 34, says access to health care is the most pressing issue facing the district. She backs the Safe-T Act and generally has positions somewhat more to the left than many voters in this district.

She describes herself as a “lifelong” supporter of a woman’s right to choose an abortion, something she says Ryan can’t say. Ryan allows that he ran for state Senate in 2000 as a pro-life candidate. “Most of the women in my life told me I was wrong,” he says, and he says he has been staunchly pro-choice ever since.

The Khalil campaign also has pointed to a period of about a decade in which Ryan was unable to pay all the federal taxes he owed. He says he was fighting cancer (Khalil, too, is a cancer survivor) during that period and chose to keep his legal staff employed while he was unable as a sole practitioner to generate much income. He since has paid what he’s owed, he says, and no one challenges that.

Ryan clearly has made some mistakes but we think his views are more in tune with his district.

Rick Ryan is endorsed.

79th District

Kankakee is the focal point of this district, which extends beyond the city to surrounding areas. Four Democrats are competing to challenge incumbent GOP Rep. Jackie Haas, who is unopposed in the primary.

They are Kankakee County board member Robert Ellington-Snipes; retiring Kankakee Schools Superintendent Genevra Walters; William “Billy” Morgan, a Monee Township trustee and a press officer for former Gov. Pat Quinn; and Dylan Mill, a machine operator at AHF’s hardwood flooring plant in Kankakee.

Ellington-Snipes, 63, boasts the most political experience of the four, having served on the Kankakee County board for more than 20 years. Walters, 55, has been the schools head for a decade. Morgan, 33, works at the University of Chicago’s Harris School of Public Policy and was in Gov. Pat Quinn’s administration. Mill is 23 years old and calls himself “young and ambitious” and indifferent to political party labels.

Ellington-Snipes, a crisis counseling supervisor in Kankakee schools, says education is the most pressing issue in the district and calls for more investment. Walters, too, is focused on education — not surprising given her experience running the local schools. The teacher shortage is a pressing issue, she says. Morgan, who has the endorsements of the Illinois Federation of Teachers and Planned Parenthood, is pushing for property tax relief and a child tax credit in the state. Mill believes education and economic development are the most important issues facing the district.

Democratic voters have several candidates with impressive credentials to choose from. On balance, we most like Morgan’s focus on kitchen table issues.

Billy Morgan gets our endorsement.

83rd District

This Kane County district includes parts of Batavia, Geneva, Aurora and Oswego. Democratic Rep. Matt Hanson is in his first term and is being challenged by Arad Boxenbaum, who ran against Hanson in 2022.

Both candidates are intelligent and largely agree on most issues. Boxenbaum, 24, who sits on the Geneva Public Library Board, says his highest priority would be to get a referendum before Illinois voters to enshrine the right to an abortion in the Illinois Constitution. Hanson is sympathetic to that as well and notes there’s a legislative task force working on the possibility.

In a recent voter forum, we were impressed with Hanson’s nuanced answer to a question about the Climate & Equitable Jobs Act, the landmark green-energy law enacted in 2021 that phases out fossil fuels in power generation over the coming two decades. He noted deadlines in the law for achieving certain milestones that already look unlikely to be achieved — a practical issue that arose during the debate over that law (before Hanson was in the General Assembly). Boxenbaum emphasized during the forum that he would accept no donations from fossil fuels companies.

Hanson pleaded guilty late last year to driving under the influence. He said he took full responsibility and said he would undergo evaluation for alcohol-related issues and take any steps recommended in that process. We don’t think that should disqualify him from public service, assuming it doesn’t recur. We think Boxenbaum shows promise, but Matt Hanson has our endorsement.

88th District

This downstate district includes parts of Bloomington-Normal and runs south to Decatur. GOP Rep. Dan Caulkins isn’t running for reelection. The Republican primary is between Regan Deering, a businesswoman and granddaughter of former Archer Daniels Midland CEO Dwayne Andreas, and Chuck Erickson, a McLean County board member.

Caulkins, a member of the Illinois Freedom Caucus, has endorsed Deering. Erickson has the endorsement of former state Rep. Dan Brady, who’s more moderate.

We think Erickson, who pledges to “work with Democrats when he can and confront them when he must,” is the right choice for Republican voters in this district.

Chuck Erickson is endorsed.

99th District

Quincy is the focal point of this district, which covers a broad region to the west of Springfield. Incumbent Republican Rep. Randy Frese isn’t standing for reelection.

Running in the GOP primary for a safe Republican seat are Kyle Moore, former mayor of Quincy, and Eric Snellgrove, who sits on the Cass County Board and lives in Beardstown. Moore has the endorsement of the Illinois Fraternal Order of Police and is the clear favorite in this race. He left office as Quincy mayor in 2021, keeping his promise to serve just two terms in that role.

Kyle Moore is endorsed.

105th District

This heavily rural district covers a territory north of Bloomington and largely east of Peoria. First-term incumbent Dennis Tipsword Jr. is being challenged by Donald Ray Rients, an IT employee for State Farm who lost to Tipsword in the previous primary and has run unsuccessfully for Congress twice and lost to U.S. Rep. Darin LaHood.

Rients attacks Tipsword for supporting legislation allowing non-citizens to become police officers if they have work permits and legally own a gun. Tipsword says he knew that vote would garner some criticism but says it was the right thing to do to alleviate a shortage of police officers.

Tipsword ably represents this district. Dennis Tipsword is endorsed.

107th District

This ruby red district south of Decatur includes Taylorville and Effingham and is represented by GOP Rep. Brad Halbrook. A member of the Illinois Freedom Caucus, Halbrook is one of the more conservative members of the Illinois House. His challenger is Marsha Webb, who has the support of former GOP gubernatorial candidate Darren Bailey.

Halbrook pledged when first elected to limit himself to five terms. If he wins reelection, it will be his sixth term, so he’s broken that pledge. He supports removing Illinois’ status as a sanctuary state. Asked whether he thinks Joe Biden legitimately won the presidential election in 2020, he expresses exasperation with the persistence of the question and doesn’t answer directly, saying, “The 2020 election is over. Time to move on.” There’s a reason we still ask that question. Look no further than the likely GOP nominee for president.

We know little about Webb’s views, but we’re no fans of Bailey. We decline to make an endorsement in this race.

110th District

Representing this southern Illinois district east of Belleville is GOP Rep. Blaine Wilhour. The first-term representative is facing a challenge from Matthew Hall, a member of the Fayette County Board, chairman of the Fayette County Republicans and a corrections officer for three decades.

Wilhour, a member of Darren Bailey’s group that has vilified Chicago, has earned the ire of the Illinois Education Association. The state teachers union has supported Hall’s challenge, and Wilhour has called on Hall to refuse the financial backing of an organization he says has a “woke agenda.” Hall says Wilhour is ineffective and in effect represents a point of view that productive engagement with Democrats comes with the job.

“Sometimes you’ve got to take a horrible bill and make it bad,” he told Vandalia Radio. “You do that by being willing to work across the aisle and say, ‘Let’s do this and compromise.’ There’s nothing wrong with compromise.”

Amen.

Matthew Hall wins our endorsement.

116th District

Four-term GOP Rep. Dave Severin represents this sprawling district north of Carbondale. Challenging him as insufficiently conservative is Angela Evans, who defines herself as “pro-Trump, pro-life and a lifelong member of the NRA” on her campaign’s Facebook page.

Severin was challenged a few years ago for having the temerity to vote for Rebuild Illinois, the state’s first major infrastructure law enacted in years, financed in part by higher gas taxes.

This is an easy call, and Dave Severin is endorsed.

An earlier version of this editorial mis-stated Rick Ryan’s position on abortion rights. Although he ran for state Senate as a pro-life candidate in 2020, he says he has been pro-choice ever since.