Four years ago, state Sen. Doris Turner barely survived her first election to the Illinois Senate. On Tuesday, Nov. 3, the Springfield Democrat had a much different election night.
With 67% of the votes counted, Turner is projected to defeat Republican Frank Lesko, the Sangamon County recorder, to retain her seat representing the 48th Senate District, which stretches from Springfield to Decatur and includes portions of Sangamon, Macon and Christian counties. The Associated Press shows Turner well in the lead, with 62.6% of the votes cast to Lesko’s 37.4%. Lesko did slightly better in Sangamon County, garnering just over 40% of the votes with 100% of precincts reporting.
The victory was a vindication for Turner, 73, who campaigned on her record of bringing state money to central Illinois and maintaining close relationships with constituents.
“I think it’s just, ever since I was elected four years ago, I’ve just really been doing the work,” Turner said in an election-night interview with Illinois Times. “I’ve been engaging in the communities, I’ve been talking to people, I’ve been seeing what people need, and … bringing the resources home.”
Turner, who was appointed to the Senate in February 2021, won election the following year by roughly 1,400 votes, or about half a percentage point.
This time, she said, polling and conversations with voters suggested a considerably stronger showing. But she remained skeptical until election night.
“I never believed it. I just never believed that,” she said. “I’m very excited. Very, very excited. It’s almost … unbelievable.”
For Lesko, 66, the loss came at the end of a campaign in which he was dramatically outspent.
Between July 1 and Sept. 30, Turner’s campaign spent $1.85 million, compared with $143,000 spent by Lesko’s campaign, according to Illinois State Board of Elections records.
Lesko told IT that the financial disparity put him at a disadvantage.
“I think that we had a really pretty good ground game, and, you know, money always does make a difference,” he said. “She had a ton and I didn’t.”
The Republican said he campaigned throughout the district, spending considerable time in Macon County as well as Springfield. He said meeting voters was the most rewarding part of the campaign.
“I’m a people person. I love being with people, and hearing their concerns, and what’s important to them, and what they’d like to see changed,” Lesko said.
But the campaign also turned bitter.
Turner’s advertising highlighted a drunken-driving arrest involving Lesko 23 years ago. Lesko has acknowledged the arrest, describing it as one of the most embarrassing nights of his life, and said he has not consumed alcohol since.
On election night, Lesko said he was disappointed by the tone of some of the Democratic advertising.
“There were several mailers that were negative, several commercials that were negative,” he said. “It got a little bit nasty.”
Lesko said he was particularly troubled by advertisements that he believed built misleading narratives around elements of truth.
The two candidates offered sharply different visions for state government.
Lesko made reducing property taxes and eliminating government waste central themes of his campaign.
He pointed to the pending consolidation of the Sangamon County recorder’s office with the county clerk’s office as an example of how government could operate more efficiently.
Lesko, who campaigned for recorder in 2024 under the slogan “hire me to fire me,” estimated the consolidation would save taxpayers $250,000 annually. His office is scheduled to disappear Dec. 1.
Turner, meanwhile, emphasized the benefits of government investment.
She said she helped secure nearly $67 million in state funding for projects throughout the district over three years, including a new municipal complex in Chatham, a senior center in Decatur, school improvements in Christian County and recreational facilities in Springfield and Chatham.
She also pointed to her involvement in efforts to bring economic development to the region, including the expansion of TCCI Manufacturing in Decatur.
On election night, Turner said she believed the central issue was whether voters felt their concerns were being addressed.
“I think the biggest issue in the race was … people feeling like they were being heard and their representative was doing something about their issues,” she said.
Turner was especially appreciative of campaign volunteers who organized early voting efforts and spent months knocking on doors.
In remarks to supporters, she contrasted Tuesday’s victory with the uncertainty of election night four years earlier.
“We pulled it off by a half a percentage point,” she recalled of that earlier election.
She credited campaign workers for the latest victory.
“Nobody does any of this by their self,” Turner said. “This was like months worth of work every day.”
But the celebration also produced a partisan jab.
In remarks to supporters, Turner singled out fellow Springfield state Sen. Steve McClure, a Republican, with a reference to Lesko’s defeat.
“Steve McClure and his Great White Hope,” she said. “You finally got one in the loss column.”
Contacted afterward by IT, McClure characterized Turner’s remark as racial and criticized her for making it.
“It’s disappointing that Senator Turner would again be a sore winner,” he said.
Nevertheless, McClure congratulated Turner and emphasized that the two lawmakers have worked together on legislative issues.
“I congratulate Senator Turner for the victory,” he said. “We work together on issues all the time.”
McClure also said the national political climate had made the election difficult for Republican candidates.
“It’s just been a very, very tough night for Republicans nationwide,” he said.
Turner, who previously served on the Springfield City Council and Sangamon County Board, said she would return to the Senate with the same philosophy that guided her earlier public service.
“I am a fierce partisan during election season, but after elections are over, that’s it,” she said. “Then I move into governing, and I just look at my constituents and what I can do to be of service.”
Asked whether he thought Lesko had been a strong opponent, Turner declined to diminish his candidacy.
“Every opponent is a strong opponent,” she said. “Anytime somebody’s name is on the ballot … it’s a race. That’s why they have elections.”
Lesko, who also has served as a Springfield alderman, city clerk and Park District board member, said he had not decided what he would do next. In addition to his government service, he owns Abe’s Trading Post, a Springfield resale business, and works as an auctioneer.
He said his religious faith helped him deal with the uncertainty and disappointment of election night.
“I trust him. He’s got a plan for me in my life,” Lesko said of God. “Is it stressful? Yeah. You know, because we’re human. But I have faith that things will work out the way they should.”
As for his immediate plans, Lesko offered a decidedly practical answer.
“Tonight I’ll go home, take the garbage out. Tomorrow the sun will come up, that’s for sure.”
