Niemerg defeats Acklin in write-in race for 102nd District seat

Mar. 28—Despite having to run as a write-in candidate after being removed from the ballot, incumbent Adam Niemerg clinched the Republican nomination for the 102nd state representative district.

According to unofficial results, Niemerg gathered 7,823 votes against Jim Acklin, who was also a write-in candidate and received 1,493 votes.

Niemerg was the top vote-getter in nearly all counties in the district except Champaign, where he received 260 votes, and Acklin, 433. Niemerg didn't file to run in Douglas County, and Acklin missed the filing deadline in Jasper County. In Effingham County, Acklin received seven votes, while Niemerg received 472.

No Democrat ran in the 102nd district, which encompasses parts or all of Champaign, Clark, Coles, Crawford, Cumberland, Douglas, Edgar, Effingham, Jasper, Lawrence and Vermilion counties.

Niemerg expressed his gratitude in a released statement.

"Voters had to go out of their way to vote for me," he said. "The fact that they went to the polls and wrote my name in means a lot. I am honored and humbled by the outpouring of support the 102nd showed on Election Day."

Niemerg also said voters "understood what was at stake."

"They stood with me because they did not want the far-left activists who were funding my opponent's campaign to gain more power. This was a decisive victory for the grassroots, conservative movement I, along with several of my colleagues in the House, have been building," he added.

Niemerg was forced to run as a write-in candidate after the Illinois State Board of Elections barred his name on the ballot because he had not had his statement of candidacy notarized.

Acklin, of Ogden, was then tapped by the Illinois Education Association to seek the seat. The Illinois Federation of Teachers, Illinois Political Action Committee for Education, and Illinois Laborer's Legislative Committee contributed nearly $100,000 to Acklin's campaign.

Acklin was disappointed by the election results and called Niemerg's landslide victory an "eyeopener." Acklin had run unsuccessfully for the same seat in 2016.

Acklin serves as superintendent of Edgar County Unit 6 School District in Chrisman and has been a long-time teacher, coach and administrator. He is also the mayor of the village of Ogden.

Acklin said he has no plans to run for the seat again, as he is set to retire in June from being superintendent and continues his responsibilities as mayor.

"I think it's time for me to dial back and slow down a little bit," he said, adding, "Best of luck to Adam Niemerg."

Cathy Griffith can be reached at cathy.griffith@effinghamdailynews.com or 618-510-9180.