ENDORSEMENT: Barbara Hernandez for Illinois House in 83rd District

In this race with no strong choices, our endorsement goes to the incumbent, Democrat Barbara Hernandez of Aurora. Hernandez managed to sponsor three modest bills in her first term, but she’s got to become more assertive and knowledgeable about the issues if she expects to be an effective legislator.

Republican Don Walter of Aurora has made a solid effort to learn about the issues, but he has no experience in elected office other than as an election judge.

It’s a classic example of what can happen with gerrymandering; in this case, with a district mapped to greatly favor Democrats. Some of the boundaries were no doubt drawn to ensure minority voting rights, which we strongly support. But there’s got to be a way to do so and still ensure that voters have competitive choices because good candidates from both parties feel like they have an honest shot at winning.

We hope voters get better options next time.

Illustration by Caroline Hurley

For more information about this race and others, including candidate questionnaires, go to our Illinois primary voting guide. Our newspaper is owned by a group of civic-minded and, in some cases, politically active investors; for details, see our owner information page.

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