By LORRAINE SWANSON
Editor
Freshman incumbent Heather Steans trounced challenger Jim Madigan in the 7th Senate District Democratic primary, garnering 13,839 votes to Madigan’s 7,514 in a February primary marked by record low voter turnout.
Madigan, who had hoped to become the first openly gay state senator in the Illinois General Assembly, ran on a reform platform that focused on Steans’ and husband, Leo Smith’s, a former state lobbyist, ties to former Gov. Rod Blagojevich who is awaiting trial on corruption charges, but in the end, Madigan was outspent, outflanked and out-endorsed.
In the state’s second February primary marked by record low voter turnout, 21,353 votes were cast in the 7th Senate District Democratic primary that includes portions of Rogers Park, Edgewater, Uptown and Ravenswood.
Steans, who lives in Andersonville, overtook the 48th Ward, scoring 4,566 votes to Madigan’s 2,373, winning all but one of the ward’s 54 precints.
Other ward-by-ward breakdowns available on the Chicago Board of Elections website are:
- 40th Ward: Steans, 2,503; Madigan, 1,554
- 46th Ward: Steans, 1,953; Madigan, 1,501
- 47th Ward: Steans, 2,457; Madigan, 1,050
- 49th Ward: Steans, 2,359; Madigan, 1,029
- 50th Ward: Steans, 11; Madigan, 7
Steans will face Republican challenger Adam Robinson in the November election. Robinson, 33, who lives in Edgewater, faces an uphill battle against the popular Steans in the Democrat-entrenched, Far North Side lakefront neighborhoods.
Traditional thought dictates that city Democrats who overtake the primary are almost assuredly guaranteed a win in the November general election.
Print this article
Technically, Heather Steans lives in Lakewood Balmoral rather than Andersonville. There are at least three residential areas that include Andersonville in their names: East Andersonville, West Andersonville (both in Edgewater) and South Andersonville.
Trounce? I don’t think so. Challengers who break the 30 point mark have accomplished something more than a beating. For true instances of trounce, see Stroger, Krislove, Proft and Schillerstrom.
Trounce? Yes. If a candidate loses by 35% or less–he or she is trounced. Period.