Publications & Sites 
Morrison retains 54th District House seat
Updated: November 7, 2012 12:42AM
With 75 of 77 Cook County precincts reporting late Tuesday night, Republican state Rep. Tom Morrison will continue to represent the 54th District in Springfield.
The Cook County Board of Elections’ website had Morrison winning 25,403 of the 43,047 votes cast (59 percent) in Tuesday’s election, giving him a nearly 20 percent margin over Democrat challenger Richard Rudd.
Morrison, who focused his campaign on pension reform and controlling the state budget, said he intends to carry out his promises in Springfield.
“I will continue on what I have been working on (for the past two years) which is find a solution to the pension and budget crisis, and fighting against tax increases that kill jobs and make it harder for people to provide for their own families,” Morrison said Tuesday night. “I’m grateful to the voters for giving me a second term. I just want to thank the voters for giving me their trust.”
Rudd, who ran for office for the first time, said he was disappointed in voter turnout, but said “the voters liked Tom.”
“Congratulations to Tom,” Rudd added. “The voters liked him. He’s a nice guy, but we just don’t agree with a lot of stances.”
Despite his loss, Rudd said the campaign allowed him to meet some “fantastic people.”
“I couldn’t have done it without them,” Rudd said of his supporters. “I’m really grateful they helped. I ran into some really great, nice, outgoing people.”
Rudd said he may or may not run for office again in the future.
“It’s up to the Palatine Democrats if they’ll let me take another crack at it,” Rudd said.
