As of 11:01 p.m. on Nov. 3, Paul Jacobs, the Republican Party candidate, is projected to win the District 115 race now that 24,267 votes have been cast in his favor. This number does not include mail-in ballots.

Jacobs, Green Party candidate Randall Auxier, and Libertarian candidate Ian Peak were competing for the Illinois House of Representatives District 115 seat being vacated by Republican Terri Bryant. 

County clerks for Jackson, Jefferson, Perry, Union, and Washington counties counted 29,482 votes.

Frank Byrd, the County Clerk for Jackson County, Ill. said about 10,000 votes have not yet been counted.

At the time of print Auxier had 2915 votes, Peak had 2300 votes, and all of the votes yet to be recorded would not make up the difference between their campaigns and Jacobs’s.

The Illinois State Board of Elections will be accepting ballots through November 17 as long as they are postmarked on or before November 3. 

Jacobs announced the win alongside Mike Bost, Bryant, and a slate of other southern Illinois Republicans. 

“We’re going to give them every bit of the work I can do to make sure [their vote] can pay off,” Jacobs said. “Hopefully we can get Illinois back on an even keel.”

41,562 votes were cast in the 2018 race for District 115, and based on current results it appears significantly less votes were cast in the down ballot race this year. 

“There’s an awful lot of out migration. I would imagine we are losing a lot of people to Louisville in Kentucky and other places due to our tax structure,” Jacobs said. 

This year’s District 115 was unusual as it featured two third party candidates and no Democratic party candidate.

Third parties had an easier path to ballot access this year after the 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals eased ballot restrictions in light of Illinois Governor JB Pritzker’s stay at home order which was put in place to curb the spread of COVID-19. 

Auxier’s platform included a transportation infrastructure plan, progressive state tax reform, a speculation tax, and support for unions and labor groups. 

Jacobs opposed all new taxes and characterized himself as the pro-life and pro-second amendment candidate. 

Peak also opposed new taxes and restrictions on guns, but focused his campaign on pushing for greater social freedom and reform of the criminal justice system. 

Jacobs will be sworn into office in January. 

Staff reporter Jason Flynn can be reached at jflynn@dailyegyptian.com, or on Twitter @dejasonflynn

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