Will County Gazette

Donna Russell, who ran unsuccessfully for Illinois state representative, said she lost because voters had been indoctrinated in "liberal concepts" for years.

"I want to thank all the voters who placed their confidence in me to represent their voice regarding important issues that were not being considered and represented by my opponent," Russell said. " My opponent had secured commitment to her party by Independents and Democrats prior to the vote on Nov. 8, so on Nov. 8 she was ahead in the polls. This was done based on years of indoctrinating those voters in liberal concepts."

Russell, however, was encouraged by other aspects of the election outcome.

"I believe that an unknown candidate like myself was able to receive so many votes is evidence of the lack of previous representation of core values of those 12,000+ voters," she told the Will County Gazette. "I was able to meet many people with like-minded values, hoping for the best in the future. I believe the Republican Party can still be the source for conservative values beneficial to families, communities and the country."

Russell plans to continue teaching the unemployed and other adults certification skills "to better themselves and the lives of their families," she said.

"Thank you for the privilege of running in the race for state representative of District 98 for the State of Illinois," Russell said.

Democrats have controlled the Illinois House since 1997, according to Ballotpedia. Democrats have also controlled the Illinois Senate since 2003.

Many of Illinois' counties are Republican, but election results are dominated by Chicago and its surrounding suburbs, which are extremely Democratic, according to Fox News.  

Democrat Gov. J.B. Pritzker was re-elected to serve a second term. He said in a tweet, "To the many Illinoisans who exercised their civic duty at the polls or by mail: Thank you for believing in our democracy. I serve ALL the people of Illinois and I look forward to working for you these next four years."