In Illinois’ 91st House District, Sharon Chung and Desi Anderson offer voters a distinct choice

BLOOMINGTON — Voters in the 91st House District will choose whether to send incumbent state Rep. Sharon Chung, D-Bloomington, back to Springfield for a second term or give a second look to Republican challenger Desi Anderson, who lost a state Senate bid two years ago. 

Chung, elected in 2022, is the first Korean American to serve in the Illinois General Assembly. She previously served for four years on the McLean County Board and is a trained musician who plays the violin and viola.

Anderson, who lives in Carlock, owns the The Hesed House wedding venue in Heyworth with her husband, Nick. A native of Bulgaria of Roma background, Anderson was abandoned as a baby and grew up in an orphanage until adopted by an American family at age 7. 

In 2022, Anderson unsuccessfully challenged state Sen. Dave Koehler, D-Peoria, losing 58% to 42% in the 46th Senate District, which includes the entirety of the 91st House District.

The district covers the urban core of Bloomington-Normal to the suburbs of Peoria. In all, it picks up portions of McLean, Peoria, Tazewell and Woodford counties. It leans Democratic, but is competitive. Chung defeated Normal City Councilman Scott Preston by just 4.5 percentage points in 2022.

"Who would have ever thought — people have said this — in the 91st district, you would have two female minorities running? That’s what makes America great," Anderson told The Pantagraph in an interview. "We’ve got the opportunity to strive to be whatever we want to … and follow our passion wherever that might take you."

Anderson and Chung are similar in that their backgrounds are unlike most who have represented Central Illinois in the state legislature in the past. But on the substantive issues facing the district and the state, the candidates are offering significant contrasts to one another. 

Though both cite cost of living as a top issue that needs to be addressed, Chung emphasized her support for preserving and increasing access to reproductive health care, an issue that’s been at the forefront since the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in 2022. Anderson, on the other hand, steered toward issues related to crime and immigration. 

Chung said she hopes to "continue to fund things at the state level" in order to keep local taxes flat or possibly be lowered. She said this includes supporting more funding for K-12 education under the state’s evidence-based funding formula and more money to municipalities through the Local Government Distributive Fund. 

"We’re trying to do things best as we can at the state to sort of keep those things down," Chung told The Pantagraph in an interview. "So, we eliminated the grocery tax, we capped the price of insulin at $35. Those sorts of things I think really do make an impact."

Chung voted for both the state’s 2024 and 2025 budgets, though in the latter case, she also voted against an associated bill that was necessary to raise the revenue needed to bring the budget into balance.

She explained that there were "a lot of great things in that budget," such as more funding for schools, infrastructure and economic development, but the revenue was "a bit of a struggle" since it included a series of tax increases.

It did, however, include a Chung-backed tax credit for Illinois companies engaged in musical productions and employing Illinois musicians.

Another issue Chung has emphasized in her paid advertising is her pro-abortion rights record. While Illinois has among the most liberal reproductive healthcare laws in the country, she said "things can change in a couple of election cycles."

"We could go to possibly not having a Democratic governor or not having a supermajority if things just don’t go our way," Chung said. "And so that’s why I think that message has been so strong. People have seen how detrimental some of these anti anti-abortion laws have been really affecting women all throughout the country, and we don’t want that happening here."

Anderson would not directly answer whether she supports or opposes abortion rights, simply calling it "a settled issue."

"Gosh, no. It’s already settled. To think I would have that much influence, I mean, what an honor, right? I’m just a single individual," Anderson said. "I think in Illinois, it’s been settled. I don’t think that’s a concern for folks just because we’re in the superminority, folks," she said, referring to Republicans’ position in the Illinois General Assembly. 

"People know that. People know the Republicans don’t have a single vote right now if they wanted to pass legislation."

Anderson said she would focus on addressing the cost of living, seek to lower property tax bills and find ways to support small businesses. She did not offer specific policy proposals to achieve those goals, however.

But she was clear in the first legislative act she would seek: the repeal of the SAFE-T Act, the landmark criminal justice reform law that, among other actions, ended cash bail in Illinois and mandated that all police officers in the state wear body cameras by 2025.

She also cited immigration as an issue, disagreeing with the nearly $640 million spent in last year’s state budget and the $182 million included in the current year’s budget to deal with the influx of migrants.

"Every state has now become a border state," Anderson said. "It’s not just our southern states that are seeing the influx."

She said that she would seek to repeal the Trust Act, the law signed by then-Gov. Bruce Rauner in 2017 that generally prohibits state and local law enforcement from participating in federal immigration enforcement.

"So it makes their jobs harder, right?" Anderson said of the current law. "So if McLean County is facing a crime with an illegal immigrant, Bloomington police can’t pick up the phone and tell ICE the status of that case."

Beyond the specific political issues, Chung touted the benefits of incumbency. She said she is "proud" of what she has been able to accomplish the past couple of years in Springfield, adding that "being in the party of the supermajority, that means that we get maybe a little more attention."

As one example, Chung said she was able to secure $250,000 for a 2,500-foot expansion of Bloomington nonprofit Project Oz’s Front Street facility. The group provides services for homeless youth.

This came out of what’s known as "member initiative" funds. These are funds in the state budget allocated to members of the Democratic supermajority in the legislature to spend on projects within their districts. 

"We have a big concentration of Democratic caucus members that are up in the Chicagoland area," Chung said. "I’m one of the few folks that are from downstate, and it’s my commitment to be a really strong advocate for our needs here and to make sure that needs up in Chicago aren’t going to take away from the needs that we have here."

In that same vein, Chung has taken the lead on legislation aiming to shield farm families from some of the financial burden of state estate taxes. The proposal would raise the threshold from $4 million to $6 million. Farms valued above that would also be exempt the first $6 million in estate taxes.

The measure ultimately was not included in the massive revenue package signed into law by Gov. JB Pritzker earlier this year, but Chung said she was able to get "a lot of really good attention on that issue." 

"They know that they have a fierce advocate in me, that I’ve been really fighting for them and fighting for family farms," Chung said. "It’s a huge part of our economy here in Illinois. And that’s another thing that I’m really trying to get done this next year."

If elected, Anderson acknowledges that her party’s superminority status in the House — unlikely to change — would limit her influence. 

However, Anderson argued that belonging to the dominant legislative party does not necessarily make for an effective legislator. She used Chung’s stalled estate tax reform effort as an example of the incumbent not delivering for her district. 

"This year, you have the estate tax bill that did not pass," Anderson said. "What did pass for the farming community is the airport tax authority. So in Carlock, where I live, those farmers now have to pay that tax increase on their land. Where my business exists, those folks had to pay for that tax increase."

Anderson is referring to legislation, sponsored by Chung and signed into law by Pritzker in 2023, that expanded the tax base for Central Illinois Regional Airport from Bloomington-Normal to all of McLean County. The effect, essentially, is lower airport tax bills for Twin Cities residents but a new tax for those who live in rural portions of the county. 

On building back Republican influence in Springfield, Anderson said "we’ve got to start somewhere" while casting herself as "an independent thinker" who can work with Democrats. 

Chung served as a delegate to the Democratic National Convention, pledging her support to her party’s presidential nominee, Vice President Kamala Harris.

Anderson, asked multiple times, would not say whether she planned to vote for the Republican presidential nominee, former President Donald Trump.

"I’m gonna vote for whoever I think is the best candidate, and I’m not voting for Harris," Anderson said.

Asked if that meant she could vote for somebody other than Trump, Anderson observed, "Well, I mean, I think RFK is still on the ballot in Illinois," referring to independent candidate Robert Kennedy Jr. 

Asked why she would not confirm whether or not she planned to vote for her party’s presidential nominee, Anderson said, "because nobody cares."

"I have zero influence at the national level," Anderson said. "No one in D.C. has ever heard of my name. Nobody at the local level really cares."

Chung has a strong lead in fundraising, having collected more than $814,000 in contributions since July from the House Democratic campaign arm, labor unions and other groups. Pritzker donated $50,000 to her on Oct. 8, according to campaign finance reports.

Anderson has brought in more than $271,000 since July, mostly from the Illinois Republican Party and Illinois House GOP campaign arm. 

The election is Nov. 5. Early and mail-in voting are underway now.