When Rep. Dan Caulkins (R-Decatur) ran for the House for the first time in 2018, he had a hard three-term limit for himself.

Democratic Congresswoman Nikki Budzinski (D-Springfield), a former aide to Gov. JB Pritzker, testified Monday in the corruption trial of former House Speaker Michael Madigan.

As outgoing Rep. Kelly Burke (D-Evergreen Park) drove home from the final day of her final veto session last month, she dealt with high winds, heavy snow, and drivers who weren’t acclimated to winter weather in Illinois.

Sen. Win Stoller (R-East Peoria) won his Peoria-area seat in 2020, but was appointed to the seat a few days early, during the 2021 lame duck session. He got a crash course in legislating.

Rep. Lance Yednock (D-Ottawa) never really imagined politics was a part of his plan. A longtime heavy machine operator and Business Agent for powerful union Local 150, Yednock said he was “plucked” to run against a scandal-plagued Republican lawmaker and unpopular Governor in Republican Bruce Rauner.

A Republican Senator from southern Illinois is continuing to raise the alarm about illegal drugs being smuggled into Illinois prisons.

The day after the election, Governor JB Pritzker was asked about his reaction to a report from his own Governor’s Office of Management and Budget (GOMB) that outlined a possible $3 billion budget deficit for the next fiscal year, which begins next July.

Rep. Martin McLaughlin (R-Barrington Hills) won the closest House race since 2018 Tuesday, defeating Democrat Maria Peterson by 47 votes in the northwest suburban 52nd House District after Peterson continually cut into McLaughlin’s lead with late arriving mail-in ballots for the past two weeks.

Lawmakers returned to Springfield Tuesday afternoon for the second and final legislative week of 2024, the annual fall veto session. Without any vetoes from Governor JB Pritzker and no real policy urgency, many lawmakers are expecting a quiet, if not shortened, stay in Springfield.

Champaign County posted new results late Wednesday in the 104th House District race between appointed Rep. Brandun Schweizer (R-Danville) and Democrat Jarrett Clem, tightening the race even further.