By Joe Ragusa
BLOOMINGTON – State Sen. Darin LaHood, R-Peoria, and teacher Rob Mellon from Quincy are the Republican and Democratic nominees in the special election for Illinois’ 18th Congressional District, respectively.
LaHood defeated conservative blogger Mike Flynn of Quincy and State Farm technical worker Donald Rients of Benson. LaHood said he’s a true conservative, despite what his Republican opponents said during the campaign.
“Whether that’s standing up for term limits, fiscal responsibility, fighting common core or reducing spending in our state government,” LaHood said. “The other thing that I think resonated too is that I’ve been a strong proponent of ethics reform and transparency in state government.”
Despite the fact voters in the 18th Congressional District have voted heavily in favor of Republicans in the past, LaHood said he will take his Democratic opponent very seriously.
“I’m not going to let up in terms of working hard and taking nothing for granted and earning every vote,” LaHood said.
Mellon defeated Springfield School Board member Adam Lopez.
“I felt really confident in most of the rooms we went into, in our candidate forums and debates, but I want to say thank you to Adam, he conducted himself like a professional, and a gentlemen and I thank him for that,” Mellon said.
Mellon said he feels like it will be like David vs. Goliath in the general election.
“I’ve felt like David my whole life, to be honest. So for me, it wouldn’t feel like a better position than to be David against Goliath. And you know what, people like David more than Goliath,” Mellon said.
In the Republican primary, LaHood received roughly 69 percent of the votes, while Flynn received 28 percent and Reints received two percent. Mellon received 60 percent of the votes in the Democratic primary, while Lopez received the other 40 percent.
In McLean County, LaHood received 3,951 votes while Flynn received 3,624 votes and Reints received 248 votes. Mellon received 509 votes and Lopez got 501 votes. The McLean County Clerk’s office reports voter turnout of 11.98 percent while the Bloomington Election Commission reports turnout of 12.65 percent.
The general election is Sept. 10.
Joe Ragusa can be reached at joe.ragusa@cumulus.com.
