Waiting for the final tally, General Election 2020 -- Trump tops presidential vote in Mercer County

Circuit Court Judges in the 14th Judicial District to be retained were: Linnea E. Thompson with 5,251 “Yes” votes (69.83 percent) and 2,269 “No” votes and Terence M. Patton, who received 5,142 “Yes” votes (68.59 percent) and 2,356 “No” votesCathy Decker/Correspondent

It was a long night with plenty of “hurry up and wait” emotions at the general election headquarters in the Mercer County Courthouse Nov. 3, 2020. But by 10:30 p.m. the results were in with Republican candidates quite substantially outpolling Democratic candidates.

Another ballot measure, to amend the tax law and allow the State to increase income tax rates on higher income individuals (Income over $250,000 annually) went down readily in Mercer County with a “No” vote of 6,142 (74 percent). The “Yes” vote came in with 2,106 votes. This was a proposed amendment to the Illinois Constitution that would allow legislators to impose a proposed “fair tax” changing the state’s flat income tax system to a graduated income tax, essentially allowing state lawmakers to impose higher taxes on wealthy earners.

Voting numbers were up from the previous 2016 general presidential election with this year’s numbers showing 8,816 voters submitting ballots out of a 12,683 registered voters. In comparison, there were 12,081 registered voters with 8,625 ballots cast in 2016.

Results from the Nov. 3 election are posted below, but can only be considered preliminary because Illinois law allows for “Vote By Mail” ballots that are postmarked by Nov. 3, to be counted in the final tally. The County Clerk has until Nov. 17 to submit final results from Mercer County.

In the presidential race Donald Trump and Mike Pence came out on top against Joseph Biden and Kamela Harris with votes of 5,328 for the former and 3,212 for the Biden/Harris pair. There were an additional four parties up for president/vice president as follows: Howie Hawkins/Angela Walker, Green party, 46 votes; Gloria La Riva/Leonard Pelteir, Party for Socialism and Liberation, 8; Brian Carroll/Amar Patel, American Solidarity Party, 4; Jo Jorgensen/Jeremy “Spike” Cohen, Libertarian, 131. There were also 21votes for write-ins.

The presidential nominee who wins will be finalized on Jan. 6, 2021 where a joint session of Congress totals the votes made by each State's electors. The Electoral College meets Dec. 14, 2020 to vote. Members of the House and Senate meet in the House Chamber to conduct the official count of electoral votes.

Another Democrat, Richard J. Durbin, US senator, came in second in Mercer County voting with 3,356 votes against Republican Mark C. Curran, Jr with 4,980 (57 percent). Others in contention for that US Senate seat were Willie L. Wilson, Willie Wilson Party, 70 votes; David F. Black, Green Party, 50; Danny Malouf, Libertarian Party, 129. There were 7 write-in votes. Durbin eventually won the senate race.

In the race for a federal representative Cheri Bustos, Democratic candidate fell behind in Mercer County with 3,692 votes, being outpaced by Esther Joy King, Republican, who gained 4,897 votes. Bustos eventually won the seat when votes from all areas were tallied.

In one of the only two contested local races, Mercer County State’s Attorney candidate Grace Simpson (R) topped incumbent State’s Attorney Meeghan Lee (D) by 1,337 votes. Simpson had 4,944 votes with Lee receiving 3,607. There was only one contested County Board seat on the ballot with Linda Koepke holding on to the District 3 board seat, defeating Democratic candidate Larry Stone by 386 votes. Koepke received 1,153 votes and Stone 767.

All other board seats up for grab went to the Republicans on the ballot: Dist, 1 Rebecca Hawn, 1,215 votes; Kirby McLaughlin, 1,403 votes; Josh Frieden, 1,499 votes; and Gary L. Anderson, 1,413 votes.

Republican candidate for county coroner Gregory Larson stood alone receiving 7,059 votes.

Kristin M. Relander running as a Democratic candidate for Mercer County Circuit Clerk ran unopposed to retain her position. She received 6,604 votes.

Win Stoller, Republican, won his seat as an Illinois State senator in the 37th district. He ran unopposed and received 6,899 votes. There were 94 write-in votes.

In the 74th General Assembly district race incumbent Dan Swanson, Republican, won with 6,120 votes outpacing Democratic candidate Christopher DeMink who had 2,384 votes.

Democrat Peter W. Church received 6,135 votes to retain his office as judge in the Circuit Court (14th Judicial District). There was no Republican in opposition.

Other judge retention votes in Mercer County follows and were measured on a “Yes” / “No” basis:

Tom L. Kilbride, Judge of the Supreme Court 3rd Judicial District: Yes: 4,472, No: 3,589. He eventually was defeated by the tally showing more “No” votes than “Yes” in all voting areas. Vote tallies, according to The Associated Press, were 430,875 in favor to 335,110 opposed, with 97.5% of precincts reporting in the district that stretches from the Quad Cities to the Chicago suburbs and includes Peoria, Galesburg and Pekin. In order to remain on the Supreme Court, a 60 percent “Yes” vote was needed. Kilbride has served as a judge in the 3rd Illinois Judicial District for the past 20 years.

Appellate Court Judge in the 3rd Judicial District Mary W. McDade received 5,218 “Yes” votes and 2,297 “No” votes and will be retained for having a 69.43 percent “Yes” rate.

Circuit Court Judges in the 14th Judicial District to be retained were: Linnea E. Thompson with 5,251 “Yes” votes (69.83 percent) and 2,269 “No” votes and Terence M. Patton, who received 5,142 “Yes” votes (68.59 percent) and 2,356 “No” votes.