South West Illinois News

Easily prevailing over his opponent, Republican Paul Schimpf of Waterloo carried Illinois' 58th Senate District, averaging twice the number of votes cast for Democrat Sheila Simon of Carbondale.

"We worked really hard and I'm happy with the results," Schimpf, a retired Marine lieutenant colonel, said. "I'm humbled by the trust that the voters of the 58th Senate District have placed in me. I think the voters recognize that if we're going to solve the problems our state has, we're going to need hard work and partisan cooperation and humility and I think I'm able to provide all of those things."

Simon, the daughter of the late Sen. Paul Simon, conceded the race election night in a phone call to Schimpf. She praised his avoidance of negative attack ads; he in turn complimented her on a vigorous campaign, saying “that’s the way democracy is supposed to work."

Schimpf said both parties ran a strong but clean race, and now that the results are in, he looks forward to working across the proverbial aisle.

“It’s going to take some compromise on both sides,” Schimpf said. “I’m optimistic that … we’ll have some nonpartisan cooperation.”

Simon concurred, acknowledging that each candidate displayed respect for the other in a pivotal election year.

“There was so much by way of negative messages this time around that I think our race is a hopeful thing,” Simon said. “I think that probably Mr. Schimpf will be in better shape as a state senator for not having been attacked in an ugly and personal way.”

Schimpf will follow in the footsteps of state Sen. Dave Luechtefeld (R-Okawville), who just turned 76 and had previously announced his plans to retire. Luechtefeld previously endorsed Schimpf and attended some of his rallies.

The new senator admitted that much work lies ahead.

 “I’m aware that the challenges the state faces (are) real and severe and it’s going to require nonpartisan cooperation,” Schimpf said.

Schimpf, an attorney, first ran for public office in 2014, losing to Lisa Madigan in the attorney general race.

In this year’s primary, Schimpf defeated Sharee Langenstein, capturing two-thirds of the vote; and as he geared up for the general election, he participated energetically, debating over coal and education issues with Simon.

In July, Schimpf promised to be a strong advocate for the southern Illinois coal industry. He even displayed a creative approach, revealing a game-show style “Six Reasons to Pick Paul in 2016” strategy over the course of his campaign — with “Reason No. 2” being skills gained from his military background.

In retrospect, Schimpf said his position on coal, a pro-life platform and a Second Amendment rights stance may have been the specific issues that tilted the scales in his favor and that perhaps his was “a better ideological fit on the hot-button issues.”

“We absolutely have to get our economy going again,” Schimpf said Election Day. “You know, we are never going to solve all of these problems that we face in Illinois unless we change things (to) where people want to come to Illinois instead of wanting to leave our state.”

During his years as a Marine, Schimpf served as an adviser, notably in the Iraqi trial of Saddam Hussein. He is a graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland, and earned a law degree at Southern Illinois University in Carbondale and a master’s degree in military law at the University of Virginia in Charlottesville.

“I would like to commend Sheila Simon on running a hard-fought, honorable campaign,” Schimpf said in a statement election night. “She is a tremendous public servant and I hope she will remain active in the public sphere. I am humbled by the trust the voters of the 58th Senate District have placed in me. The challenges our state faces are real and severe. Solving them will require humility, hard work and bipartisan cooperation.”

Schimpf identified his top priorities as re-examining the state budget to eliminate fraud and abuse, including “pet projects” initiated by legislators.

The 58th Senate District includes Perry, Jefferson, Monroe and Randolph counties and parts of St. Clair, Union, Jackson and Washington counties.