After months of the most turbulent electioneering in recent American history, it appeared that Donald J. Trump, as of press time, had defeated Hillary Rodham Clinton's bid to become the first female president of the United States. Associated Press called the election for Trump at about 2:30 a.m. EST on Nov. 9.
Clinton conceded to Trump at around the same time, according to reports. The New York Times reported that Trump won 276 electoral votes, while Clinton won 218.
In Illinois, Clinton won with 55.8 percent of the vote; Trump took 39.1 percent. According to the City of Chicago Board of Commissioners, Clinton took a whopping 83.6 percent of the vote in the city, while Trump took just 12.57 percent, with just over 95 percent of precincts reporting.
What a potential Trump victory means for the LGBT community is unclear. The candidate never launched any outright attacks on the LGBT community, but he promised to appoint Supreme Court justices who would overturn the 2015 decision on marriage equality. He also appointed Indiana Gov. Mike Pence, who was at the center of the disastrous implementation of the Religious Freedom Restoration Act in 2015, to be his vice-presidential running mate. Numerous members of the community were unsettled by Trump's frequent jabs at other minority communities and his contempt for the idea of political correctness as well.
Clinton courted the LGBT community from the beginning of her campaign. Gay Chicagoans Jared Milrad and Nathan Johnson were included in the April 2015 video that announced Clinton's run; the video, themed to how Americans were changing their lives, featured Milrad and Johnson speaking about their upcoming wedding. A lesbian couple from Los Angeles was included in the video as well.
In a Nov. 3, 2015, interview with Washington Blade, Clinton promised to "have the backs" of the LGBT community.
"As President, I'll make fighting discrimination against the LGBT community a top priority—including by working with Congress to pass the Equality Act," Clinton said. "And we won't stop there. We'll also take on harassment, bullying, and violence—and youth homelessness, which disproportionately hurts LGBT kids. We'll end the harmful practice of so-called 'conversion' therapy for minors, because LGBT kids don't need to be 'cured' of anything. And we'll bring people together to reform our gun laws and keep guns from falling into the wrong hands, so that what happened at Pulse never happens again."
National races
U.S. Rep. Tammy Duckworth unseated U.S. Sen. Mark Kirk with about 55 percent of the vote and will now represent Illinois in the Senate alongside Sen. Dick Durbin; Kirk had about 40 percent. His already floundering campaign was almost completely unhinged after he made a disparaging remark about Duckworth's ethnic background during a debate. Human Rights Campaign, which made a controversial endorsement for Kirk, rescinded its support and backed Duckworth just weeks before the election. Kirk conceded to Duckworth and promised a "beer summit" to launch a cordial transition.
In October, Duckworth told Windy City Times that the LGBT community would need to be vigilant in making sure that their rights are not rolled back.
"I feel like the LGBT community may feel like the struggles have been won, but I really think the struggles are just now starting at a low level … where those people who oppose LGBT issues, and the reality of what it means to be equal, are going to work at [a local] level to change the system and introduce new laws," she said. "If we don't pay attention to them, they will spread across this country. It's the same as what we saw with reproductive rights—they've been going through state by state, enacting laws and regulations."
In the House, Raja Krishnamoorthi, a Democrat, takes over the 8th District seat that Duckworth vacated. He won with 58 percent of the vote; his opponent, Peter DiCianni obtained 42 percent.
Fifth District U.S. Rep. Mike Quigley ( D ) was among those re-elected, capturing about 68 percent of the vote and defeating Republican candidate Vince Kolber and Green Party candidate Rob Sherman. Quigley has been in office since 2009 and has been a longtime supporter of LGBT causes. He is vice-chair of the LGBT Equality Caucus and has advocated for the FDA to lift its ban on on blood donations from gay men. U.S. Rep. Jan Schakowsky ( D ), another longtime advocate for the LGBT community, whose husband has garnered negative publicity as of late, also defeated Republican challenger Joan McCarthy Lasonde's bid to represent the 9th District in the House with 60 percent of the vote.
In the 10th District, Democrat Brad Schneider retook his old seat from Republican incumbent Robert Dold. Schneider won with 52 percent of voters; Dold had 48 percent.
Local races
Cook County Court Clerk Dorothy Brown will keep her post, even though she lost the support of the Cook County Democratic Party after legal problems last year. Brown's opponent, Republican Diane Shapiro, maintained that the court clerk's office is woefully out of date and poorly run. But Brown nevertheless won with 66.9 percent of the vote.
Kim Foxx defeated Republican Christopher Pfannkuche to be the next Cook County state's attorney with 71.8 percent of the vote. Foxx, who will be the first African-American woman to fill that post, beat incumbent Anita Alvarez in the primaries after the office was shaken by controversy in late 2015. Foxx, who was previously chief of staff to Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle, received the backing of the Cook County Democratic Party in the primaries, as well as considerable financial backing from, among others, openly gay activist and businessman Fred Eychaner. Among her goals was a reduction in the Cook County Jail population and a more active engagement between county prosecutors and the community at large.
Karen Yarbrough ran unopposed as Cook County recorder of deeds.
Comptroller changes hands
It wasn't all bad news for Democrats.
The campaign between Chicago City Clerk Susana Mendoza ( D ) and incumbent and Illinois Gov. Bruce Rauner appointee Leslie Geissler Munger was the most expensive in this year's election and widely seen as a proxy war between Rauner and House Speaker Mike Madigan ( D ). Millions were spent on blistering campaign ads whether accusing Mendoza of being Madigan's willing pawn or Munger as in league with Rauner and his agenda. Mendoza took a major win with nearly 50 percent of the vote at time of publication.
The shape of Springfield
A number of Republican challengers set out to try and reduce the House 71-47 Democratic majority. Most of them ran on campaigns decrying the Illinois budget impasse while putting their own ideas forward to stop it. However, for the most part, voters chose to send the incumbents back but each of those legislators reelected knows they are on notice to find a resolution to the state's finances as patience is running out for what has become widely viewed as a schoolyard brawl between Madigan and Rauner that has left the state's badly needed advocacy groups, social services and education bleeding to death.
All results are at time of publication.
Democrats retained the 10th District seat vacated by Pamela Reaves-Harris ( D ) with a decisive 84-percent win by Melissa Conyears over Republican challenger Mark Spognardi.
In the 11th District, incumbent Ann Williams ( D ) was sent back for another term. Despite the "increase revenues and decrease spending" argument of challenger Gary Mandell, Williams won with 71.6 percent of the vote.
In the 12th District, incumbent Sara Feigenholtz ( D ) easily took the win over Gene Witt with almost 76 percent of the vote.
Popular 13th District incumbent Greg Harris ran unopposed.
In the 14th District, Arthur Noah Seigel ran as an independent against popular incumbent Kelly Cassidy ( D ). His attempt at winning as an outside voice between two bickering parties ultimately failed with Cassidy taking neatly 85 percent of the vote.
In the 24th District, openly gay Republican Andy Kirchoff aimed to unseat long-time incumbent Elizabeth Hernandez ( D ). She prevailed with 79.4 percent of the vote.
Some races were not to be such a leisurely walk for the incumbents.
In Lake County's 62nd District Sam Yingling faced off for a second time against challenger Rod Drobinski ( R ) with the latter racking up some major media endorsements. In another squeaker, Yingling was narrowly returned to Springfield with 52.4 percent of the vote verses Drobinski's 47.6 percent.
The Illinois Senate was never realistically going to fall into Republican hands. However, there were two seats available to a candidate from either party.
In the 22nd District, Democrat Michael Noland's open seat was the setting for a battle between Kane County Commissioner Cristina Castro ( D ) and her Republican challenger Tracy Smodilla. Castro took an almost 65 percent win.
Conversely, in the 58th District, the seat vacated by David Luechtefeld ( R ) was up for grabs and former Lt. Gov. Sheila Simon ( D ) fought a tough race against former marine Paul Schimpf to take it. In the end, Schimpf won with more than 62 percent of the vote.
In a statement following the bulk of the Illinois results, a victorious Speaker Mike Madigan wrote "Voters stated clearly that they wish to maintain a wide Democratic majority in the Illinois House of Representatives and maintain a strong check on Bruce Rauner and his anti-middle class agenda. Voters said they support the vision of the Democratic Party with the victories of Tammy Duckworth and Susana Mendoza."
Madigan went on to note that "Republicans' millions spent, coupled with the Trump headwind in downstate Illinois, created a difficult environment for many Democratic candidates. Illinois residents want strong schools, funding for domestic violence shelters and veterans' homes, and a strong middle class with good wages. I hope Republicans will finally join us to protect these priorities and help deliver the services families are counting on."
Judicial
In the only LGBT-related race of note, lesbian candidate Catherine Schneider was unopposed in her race ( 11th Subcircuit, Cook County ( Kelly Vacancy ) ). Schneider has more than two decades' experience as an attorney and is a recognized expert in civil litigation. In addition, she is co-chair of the Women's Bar Association of Illinois' Access to Justice Committee.
