Graciela Guzmán beats incumbent Sen. Natalie Toro in another test of Democratic establishment muscle

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Despite being badly outspent, Graciela Guzmán defeated state Sen. Natalie Toro for the 20th state Senate District seat on the North Side.

Toro, who was appointed by a political committee last year, raised an eye-popping $2.6 million from Illinois Senate President Don Harmon and help from unions, four times the amount of money Guzmán raised.

With almost 90% of the vote counted, Guzmán was declared the winner over Toro, defeating her with almost 50% of the vote to Toro’s 30%. Guzmán won despite raising less than $658,000, or about a quarter of the amount of money raised for Toro.

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“You can’t buy this district,” Guzmán told supporters after her win. “I’m grateful to the community that asked me to step up and believed in me and supported me.”

Toro, 36, replaced Cristina Pacione-Zayas, who left to join then-newly elected Mayor Brandon Johnson as one of his top advisers.

Guzmán, 35, was previously chief of staff to Pacione-Zayas and was in the running for the Senate appointment.

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