Tom Bennett is the person Republican Party chairmen from 13 counties chose today to represent the 53rd Illinois Senate district. Bennett has represented the 106th Illinois House district for eight years. He would have begun representing a newly redrawn district next week. Instead, he’ll resign from the Illinois House and take the oath of office for the Illinois Senate seat on Wednesday.
The 53rd Senate district includes part of southern LaSalle County. Jason Barickman was to be the Senator representing the district, but he resigned last month. Barickman said he wants to spend more time with his family and regrets missing many events with them. His resignation set in motion the replacement process that culminated in a meeting of party chairmen in Pontiac today. Chairmen from the counties the district reaches met to interview and consider applicants. A similar process must happen soon to choose Bennett’s replacement in the House.
That House seat also covers part of LaSalle County. The 53rd Senate district is the 105th and 106th House seats together. The line dividing them goes through LaSalle County. So the county’s residents in the 106th will still be represented by Bennett. He’ll just move from one General Assembly chamber to the other. The party chairmen who select his House replacement will be required to decide within a month of his departure from the House.
Tom Bennett’s campaign website: https://www.tombennettillinois.com/
His General Assembly page: https://ilga.gov/house/Rep.asp?GA=102&MemberID=2879