llinois Republicans are targeting two Democratically held state House seats in southern Illinois, including 112th House District seat, held by state Rep. Katie Stuart, who is in her fourth term in office. (Katie Stuart Facebook photo)

Out of more than a dozen state House seats in southern Illinois, only two are in Democratic hands. 

One is the 113th District, which is represented by state Rep. Jay Hoffman, D-Swansea, who is a top member of House Democratic leadership. The other, 112th House District state Rep. Katie Stuart is in her fourth term of office. Her district north of Belleville includes Collinsville and Granite City; and state GOP leaders are targeting her seat. 

Collinsville is in both Madison (mostly) and St. Clair counties. Over the Memorial Day weekend, it was political ground zero for the Illinois GOP; with their quadrennial state convention held at Gateway Convention Center, a little more than three miles from Stuart’s district offices on Vandalia Street.   

Madison County Republican Party Chair Ray Wesley, who was also on the convention planning committee, noted to reporters that it was the first time in two decades that the convention had been in southern Illinois. 

Like Wesley, Deb Detmers, the convention’s coordinator and a former Madison County GOP chair, told reporters that Madison County turning from blue to red was one of the reasons the 2024 state convention was located in Collinsville. One of the training sessions, she noted, was titled “How Madison County Went Red.” 

While the GOP’s power in the Chicago collar counties has eroded significantly over the past 20 years, its strength has increased in southern Illinois over that time, in particular in Madison County. In 2020, Amy Elik flipped the 111th House District red for first time in 25 years, and she’s likely to keep it.In 2020, Milstadt chiropractor Kevin Schmidt ousted three-term incumbent LaToya Greenwood. She has vowed to get her seat back, and Illinois Democrats appear primed to help. 

While Republicans were eager to take the fight to Democrats, they first had to settle a fight between themselves. Mark Shaw, a state central committeeman from the northern Chicago suburbs, was chosen by a 17-person slating committee to be the Illinois Republican National Committeeman. However, he was roundly rejected on two floor votes. After Shaw withdrew, Dean White of St. Charles, a construction company owner, Republican State Central Committeeman and staunch Trump supporter, won the seat.  

Southern Illinois Republicans are now turning their attention to making southern Illinois as red as possible, which includes ousting Stuart. The GOP state platform condemns Democrats on an array of issues, including abortion, guns and immigration. Democrats, they say, are soft on crime in general, particularly for eliminating cash bail, which “opposes law and order and law enforcement.” 

A plank in the state party platform touts “the immutable biological sex of humans and the protection of women” and opposes “all efforts to validate transgender identity.”  

On April 15, Troy City Administrator Jay Keeven, a lifelong resident of the Metro East area, and a 35-year veteran of law enforcement, was slated by Madison County Republicans to run against Stuart. 

If the GOP hopes to oust Stuart, it will take money and experienced boots on the ground. Detmers told the Tribune that is something her party is working on. 

“A lot of the county (party) chairmen are new, and a lot of people are kind of new to the party, so it’s especially important that people know what kind of tools are available,” she said. 

To that end, the Illinois Republican Party will host a “training event for committee persons, chairpersons and candidates” on Saturday, June 17, in Ottawa. According to a press release, the event, which is free, is intended to prepare party members for the 2024 elections, and “aims to unite the Republican Party and increase the number of electoral victories in 2024.”   

Kevin and the GOP will need to be prepared. In 2016, supported by significant Democratic Party cash and organizational help, Stuart squeezed out a 1,719-vote win over Republican incumbent Dwight Kay. Two years later she crushed him in a rematch, by 4,568 votes, a 10.2 percent margin. 

Stuart’s victory margin fell to 8.4 percent in 2022, and Republicans believe they can make up the 3,216-vote margin. However, Stuart holds a massive funding advantage, with $500,000 banked even before any Democratic state party assistance has arrived.