Illinois Comptroller Likely Wins Second Term

ILLINOIS — Illinois State Comptroller and Democrat Susana A. Mendoza got out ahead in an early lead Tuesday, and steadily built on it throughout the night, likely securing herself a second term.

Unofficial results show Mendoza as the projected winner in the contest for Illinois State Comptroller.

Mendoza faced off against McHenry County Auditor and Republican Shannon L. Teresi, and retired economics professor and Libertarian Deirdre McCloskey. Mendoza has been comptroller since 2016.

Mendoza by Wednesday with 90 percent of votes tallied had grabbed 56 percent of the votes, with 2,126,740; Teresi with 1,543,032, and McCloskey with 69,978.

Chicago resident Mendoza touted her record of tightening up the state's vendor payment cycle, shortening some bill retention from 200-plus days to just a week, she says. She plans to focus on refilling the state's "rainy day fund" and mandating automatic deposits into the pension stabilization fund, she pitched.

"Now that Illinois is paying its bills and on the path to fiscal prosperity, it’s time to prioritize paying down our pension obligations and replenishing our Rainy Day Fund," Mendoza told Patch in her candidate questionnaire. "My current priority is passing legislation to mandate automatic deposits into the state’s Rainy Day Fund and Pension Stabilization funds to help Illinois be better prepared to weather any economic downturn and also address the state’s unfunded pension liabilities."