The Republican primary for the 23rd Senate District was one of the most contentious in the state leading up to Aug. 2. It was a major focus of labor advocates and opponents given the possibility of electing Rep. Anne Zerr, a leading Republican proponent of labor issues, to the upper chamber.
At the end of the day though, her challenger, small businessman and veteran Bill Eigel, stood victorious. He beat Zerr by just under 400 votes, winning roughly 40 percent of the district (Michael Carter received about 21 percent, Zerr took home 39 percent).
Given the ill will generated during the primary, Eigel is now focused on bringing together the party in St. Charles to defeat Democrat Richard Orr. So far, he believes he’s succeeding.
“Even given some of the more negative tones during the primary, it’s really exceed my expectations of how well it’s going now,” he said. “What’s happened since the primary is we’ve really solved and gotten beyond some of the concerns that were present in the primary, and I feel we have a united front as we move towards the general.”
The general word out of the district would prove Eigel right. Voters tend to consolidate around their party’s candidate, regardless of differences on some issues, and that’s great news for Eigel in a Republican heavy district. The district covers the eastern portion of St. Charles County, including the city of St. Charles itself, which voted 60 percent for former Sen. Tom Dempsey.
Even more impressive for Dempsey is that he won that race by that margin in 2008, when Democrats had one of their best electoral years in recent memory.
Now, Eigel is confident that voters are responding to his stances on multiple issues, even if they disagree with him on labor reform. St. Charles County houses many of the pro-labor Republicans. Former Rep. Ron Hicks, Rep. Kathie Conway, Rep. Chrissy Sommer, Rep. Bart Korman and Zerr all represent, or represented, St. Charles and all opposed 2015’s Right-to-Work bill. Dempsey allowed the legislation to pass through the chamber, but he had reservations about the policy.
Eigel, on the other hand, took $100,000 from pro-Right-to-Work megadonor David Humphreys before the primary, and he received another $200,000 in late August.
However, Eigel doesn’t want to be known as just a Right-to-Work candidate. He says he wants to cut regulations, especially for small businesses, and he highlights the need for ethics reform. Eigel also touts his outsider status, something many candidates at all levels have expounded upon this year.
“I represent having a new voice down in the Senate,” he said. “Folks were kind of tired of having the same people in office and they trusted me with that new voice. I think the trust between folks and their elected officials are lower than it’s ever been.”
Eigel has also made close partnerships with Sen. Bob Onder and Rep. Mark Parkinson. Onder represents a neighboring St. Charles district, and Parkinson stepped out of the race last year so as to not split support between himself and Eigel. Onder and Eigel often campaign together, and Parkinson knocks doors for Eigel and the man he hopes replaces him, Phil Christofanelli.
“We’re all going to coalesce behind the Republican candidate,” Parkinson said plainly.
Parkinson also added that he thinks the district’s Republicans favor Eigel more than the 40-29-21 split would indicate, pointing out that many Democrats strategically voted for Zerr in the primary. He says Orr however will only provide “token resistance.”
Still, even with those advantages, Eigel is in full campaign mode until the Nov. 8 general election.
“We’re not taking anything for granted,” he said.
