Terra Costa Howard takes 48th House District from Peter Breen

Democratic challenger Terra Costa Howard ousted Republican stalwart Peter Breen Tuesday from the 48th Illinois House District seat.

With all precincts reporting, unofficial tallies showed Costa Howard had 25,483 votes, handing down a bruising defeat to Breen, the GOP's House floor leader and a two-term lawmaker who received 22,724 votes.

Democrats and abortion rights groups targeted the seat early, with television ads and mailers portraying Breen as an out-of-touch social conservative.

Costa Howard, a court-appointed guardian ad litem and former Glen Ellyn District 41 school board member, criticized Breen's votes opposing the state budget, a bill to raise the minimum age for buying assault-style weapons and legislation expanding abortion coverage for Medicaid recipients.

“I am so grateful to have had this opportunity to spend so many hours talking face-to-face with the people who live in our community — our neighbors, in the deepest sense of the word,” Howard said Tuesday night. “I am so proud, and so humbled, to have earned their trust and support. I pledge to do my utmost to represent everyone in this district honestly and faithfully as your representative in Springfield.”