Patrick Windhorst [R – Metropolis] has won against incumbent Natalie Phelps Finnie [D – Elizabethtown] and become the state representative for the 118th district of Illinois.

Windhorst won with 21,716 votes, having 57.6 percent of the total votes, while Phelps Finnie had 42.4 percent.

Windhorst ran on the principles of lowering taxes, increasing jobs, implementing term limits, decreasing state spending, reforming schools, and instilling conservative pro-life values in the country.

Advertisement

The principle that Windhorst ran on is that it takes a Republican outsider to vote against Mike Madigan. Windhorst said Phelps Finnie would vote to support Madigan.

Windhorst spent the majority of his life in southern Illinois and attended Shawnee Community College. He received his undergraduate degree at the University of Illinois and graduated law school at SIU. He now lives in Metropolis with his wife and two children.

According to the Illinois General Assembly, Phelps Finnie has served as a representative since September 2017. She was preceded by her cousin Democrat Brandon Phelps.

Phelps Finnie is a southern Illinois local and according to the Southern Illinoisan, she was the first woman to serve as a representative of the 118th district.

According to Bill Track 50, a vote tracking system for house representatives, Phelps Finnie voted yes on county lactation rooms, amending the stalking no contact order, a bill that causes federally funded preschools to report chronic absences, and a bill that requires there to be a veterans coordinator in higher education.

Phelps Finnie also advocated for Senate Bill 2269 which would provide correctional officers with their back pay.

Patrick Windhorst is endorsed by various Republicans in southern Illinois including: Sheriff Ted Holder, Massac County Commissioner Jayson Farmer, and Johnson County Commissioner Fred Meyer.

Advertisement*

Phelps Finnie was endorsed by the NRA, the Illinois Citizens for Life, the Illinois Education Association, the Illinois Farm Bureau Activator,  and the Illinois Fraternal Order of Police.

Staff reporter Kallie Cox can be reached at kcox@dailyegyptian.com or on Twitter at @KallieC45439038.

To stay up to date with all your southern Illinois news, follow the Daily Egyptian on Facebook and Twitter.

Advertisement