Dan Ugaste has won the 65th District seat in the Illinois House of Representatives, defeating challenger Richard Johnson, according to returns as reported by the Associated Press.
A Democratic party committee targeting House seats put $750,000 into the race on Johnson’s behalf in the last week of the campaign, capping a campaign in which he out-raised Ugaste three to one.
This is in a traditionally Republican district on the western edge of Elgin in Kane County, which hasn’t seen a Democratic challenger since 2010. That candidate, Wendy Gruen, got less than a third of the vote.
The Sun-Times endorsed Johnson for the 65th District Illinois House seat, saying the high school teacher and president of the Elgin Teachers Association “has some work to do to deepen his knowledge of issues beyond education, but he already understands the basics of our state’s fiscal and economic problems and what it will take to solve them.”
Ugaste is a workers compensation attorney and technical advisor to Gov. Rauner’s Office on Workers Comp reform. Ugaste lost a Republican primary in the same seat in 2014.
For live election results, visit the Sun-Times election guide.