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Durkin Takes Landslide Victory in 82nd District

The incumbent Republican representative defeated challenger Laura Reigle with 75 percent of the vote.

There will be a familiar face on the November ballot for the Illinois House’s 82nd District.

Incumbent won the district’s Republican nomination with , defeating challenger .

No one ran in the 82nd District Democratic primary, which means Durkin will be running unopposed in the general election, barring the appointment of a Democratic candidate.

“We’ve got significant challenges ahead of us,” Durkin said Tuesday night. “I’m honored Republican voters in the 82nd District have confidence that I’m the best candidate to represent their interests in Springfield.”

With the primary over, Durkin said the Illinois General Assembly now faces a month-and-a-half of tough discussions as they work to balance the state’s budget. He said he plans to continue to prioritize pension and Medicaid reform.

“Everything else pales in comparison to how we will be able to rein them in,” he said.

Durkin served as a state representative for the 44th District from 1995-2002, at which point he ran for the U.S. Senate on the Republican ticket against Democratic Sen. Dick Durbin. He returned to the Illinois House midterm in 2006 when he replaced retiring Rep. Eileen Lyons in the 82nd District, where he has served since.

Reigle could not be reached Tuesday after final election results came in. Her campaign manager, Bill Montgomery, spoke on her behalf.

“We’re disappointed, but you know what? Tomorrow is a new day and we intend to march ahead,” he said.

Earlier in the evening Reigle said at her campaign headquarters that she would continue to fight for education reform.

“In essence, you often can accomplish nothing locally,” she said. “It needs to be at the state level.” She did not rule out running for office again.

In addition to her role as a Democratic committeeman in Downers Grove Township, Reigle has served as president of the Pleasantdale Voluntary Civic Association. She also describes herself as a “consultant to taxpayer groups concerned about education.” 

The 82nd District of the Illinois House includes parts of , , Woodridge, , Homer Glen, La Grange and Western Springs. 

Ann Paul March 21, 2012 at 12:14 pm
While it may look like a landslide, consider this, over 3000 people voted against Assistant Minority Leader of the Republican Party. His opponent captured 25% of his district. Going against the career establishment, status quo, career politician and low voting turnout, and an opponent who didn't have the financial backing of special interests and big businesses, Durkin should see this as a message. People are waking up to:
1. Career politicians who don't represent their constituents. Durkin does NOT support term limits, his opponent does; 2. The Illinois taxpayers do NOT want to bail out the College Illinois Program as Durkin is proposing to do; 3. Over 3000+ voters are NOT on the U of Illinois Clout List as Durkin is; 4. Are not happy that Durkin supports tax increases, as he voted against Senate Bill 2073 that would have frozen property taxes while house values continue declining. THAT Is the message Durkin should be thinking about. I would say his opponent didn't do too shabby for a grass roots effort.
Bob March 21, 2012 at 12:30 pm
Sorry Ann Paul (Laura) Take your ball and go home
William Douglass March 21, 2012 at 01:57 pm
Ann,
She got smoked 75% to 25% to an incumbent that did really even bother to campaign hard. That is about as complete of a political butt kicking as you can get outside of totalitarian regimes. But hey, keep pouring your money down the drain supporting a horrible candidate that can't even win a race for dog catcher in her own town. BTW Filing frivilous lawsuits that get tossed out of court "with prejudice" against financially strapped school districts is not education reform.
William Douglass March 21, 2012 at 02:04 pm
My favorite:
“In essence, you often can accomplish nothing locally,” she said. “It needs to be at the state level.” She did not rule out running for office again. ..... When you are completely unable to get elected to anything in the town you live in where people know you best, it is completely reasonable to run for even higher offices. By this logic, she should be running for Governor in the next election.
bob ognar March 21, 2012 at 02:26 pm
Ann - nice job - Illinois is the next Greece - We keep voting them in - even Derrick Smith won (Smith is now qualified for Governor)
Jim Larson March 21, 2012 at 03:44 pm
Ann Paul you are wrong, Laura Reigle was DESTROYED in the election plain and simple. She had one of the worst performances of any candidate in a two person race. Art Jones, a neo-nazi sympathizer and someone who has said the Holocaust didn't happen got 2,569 votes in his race. At the last school board election a candidate who dropped out of the race got over 600 votes. How many more registered voters are there in the 82nd district? Four times as many, five times as many? Whatever the number is multiply that number by 600 to realize how insignificant and inconsequential Reigle's vote total was.
So to post that 3,000 people support Laura's message (whatever that is, is it waste taxpayer money, file lawsuits that get thrown out, videotape people?) shows how clueless you are. So in reality Reigle did VERY, VERY SHABBY for a grass roots effort. People donate their time and money to help grass roots efforts that they support and candidates they believe in. Her terrible showing shows that few people support either her message or her candidacy. She was the Lemont Tea Party candidate and neither the DuPage Tea Party of the Homer Lockport Tea Party (or any tea party for that matter) endorsed her. What does that tell you Ann? That should probably be a pretty good clue that her electability in future elections is basically zero.
Jim Larson March 21, 2012 at 04:01 pm
I agree with Mr. Douglass that Laura Reigle, Bill Montgomery and the Lemont Tea Party should continue to spend their time and money supporting Reigle. Keep wasting money on a sure-bet losing effort. An interpretation of insanity is to keep doing the same thing over and over again and expect different results. School board election loss followed by a State Rep loss would tell most sane and rational people something. Something like maybe I am not cut out to be elected to public office. Or getting a lawsuit dismissed time and time again would tell most sane and rational people something. Something like maybe this lawsuit is frivilious and has no merit and I should stop taking tax payer money out of the classroom.
Jim Larson March 21, 2012 at 04:13 pm
Ann Paul, your logic is so completely flawed here but coming from you that is no surprise.
For every four people who voted yesterday 3 people voted for Durkin and 1 person voted for Reigle. So 75% of the voters support what Durkin is doing. So using your asinine logic in your arguments above, 3 out of 4 voters DO NOT support term limits. 3 out of 4 voters DO want Illinois taxpayers to bail out the College Illinois Program, etc. That is what elected officials are supposed to do represent the wants, needs and interests of the MAJORITY of his or her constituents. Durkin is doing that based on a landslide, historic, 75% majority vote yesterday.
William Douglass March 21, 2012 at 06:51 pm
"...neither the DuPage Tea Party of the Homer Lockport Tea Party (or any tea party for that matter) endorsed her."
____ The Lemont Tea Party has done a tremendous disservice to the Tea Party movement. The Tea Party has a legitimate platform of ideas (whether you agree with them or not) that has been run into the ground in this town for no reason other than the people who run it, and the deeply flawed candidates that are supported by it.
Mary Van March 21, 2012 at 07:56 pm
You can believe that all you want......there will always be people who vote for each side, and there will always a winner....in this case, the win was an enormous win.
What hurt Mrs. Reigle the most was the fact that many didn't believe she was a republican, due to the fact of her Democratic status. Now, people change party lines all the time, however, she changed after she file for this candidacy. It was all too fishy, I could not believe her, and that hurt her campaign. The lawsuit was also very detrimental. Two elections, and two big defeats.
Scott Jacobs March 30, 2012 at 02:34 am
Congrats to State Rep. Jim Durkin on his reelection to the Illinois House. Laura Reigle has been exposed as a fraud, liar and fake Conservative who has no right running as a Conservative. She is a Democrat masquerading as a conservative. Guess what Laura you may have fooled the Lemont Tea Party but you didn't fool anyone else. The Lemont Tea Party is a complete failure for supporting you and your campaign. Bill Montgomery you have burned a lot of bridges by attaching the Lemont Tea Party to Reigle. Both you and Laura need to understand that actions speak louder than words.
Watch this video to see a true local Patriot tell explain why Laura Reigle and the Lemont Tea Party are terrible liars and can't be trusted. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3fNPS0H4ODU Way to tell em Steve! Forward this video link to anyone who doesnt know the truth about Reigle.

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