State Sen. Mike Frerichs Claims Victory in State Treasurer’s Race

Ryan Hermes -- Illinois Radio Network

It has taken two weeks but there is finally a winner in the state treasurer’s race.

State Sen. Mike Frerichs (D-Champaign) trailed State Rep. Tom Cross (R-Oswego) by 30,000 votes the morning after Election Day. But absentee and provisional votes still had to be counted and there were enough outstanding to put Frerichs over the top. He ended up winning by about 9.600 votes.

His first order of business when he takes office is to have some “outside eyes,” as he calls them, come in and evaluate the treasurer’s office.

“I think that’s the first thing we’re going to do; we’re going to have an audit” said Frerichs. “We have some other things we said we want to do in the course of a campaign. We need to make sure the office is running smoothly before we begin taking steps.”

Frerichs will also be meeting with Gov.-elect Bruce Rauner on Thursday.

Frerichs will take over the office from Republican incumbent Dan Rutherford, who ran for governor but lost in the Republican primary.