South West Illinois News

A new Ogden & Fry poll shows Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump leading Democrat Hillary Clinton by between 18 and 39 percent in battleground state legislative districts in southwest Illinois.

The Liberty Principles PAC-commissioned poll was conducted on Friday and Saturday.

House District 118 and Senate District 59 show the biggest leads, at 39 percent each. House District 117 came in at 31 percent and Senate District 58 at 18 percent.

State Rep. Brandon Phelps (D-Harrisburg) is defending his House District 118 seat against Republican challenger Jason Kasiar. Phelps has served in the Assembly since 2003.

Republican Dale Fowler is challenging state Sen. Gary Forby (D-Benton) for the 59th District seat. Forby served in the state House from 2001 to 2003 and gave up his House seat when he was appointed to the Illinois Senate.

House District 117 has state Rep. John Bradley (D-Marion) vs. Republican challenger Dave Severin. Both candidates ran unopposed in their respective primaries.

In Senate District 58, Trump is in the lead by 18 percent over Clinton. That district race featuresRepublican candidate Paul Schimpf, of Waterloo, facing off againstDemocrat Sheila Simon of Carbondale. The candidates are vying to replace state Sen. David Luechtefeld (R-Okawville). Luechtefeld is retiring after serving for 22 years in the General Assembly. Schimpf took 67.08 percent of the vote in the March Republican primary to defeat Sharee Langenstein.

The general election will take place Tuesday, Nov. 8.

Liberty Principles PAC was founded by Dan Proft, who also is a principal of Local Government Information Services (LGIS), which owns Southwest Illinois News.