Costa Howard leading Breen in 48th House District

First-term Democratic incumbent Terra Costa Howard held an edge over Republican rival Peter Breen in a bitter rematch that was too close to call in the 48th Illinois House District late Tuesday.

With all 123 precincts reporting, Costa Howard has 24,605 votes to 23,587 for Breen, according to unofficial tallies of in-person, early and mail-in ballots counted Tuesday night.

The partial results do not include up to 50,504 outstanding mail ballots in DuPage, the equivalent of 7.9% of the county's registered voters. Ballots postmarked by Tuesday will be counted if they arrive no later than Nov. 17.

Costa Howard decisively defeated Breen, the former House GOP floor leader, by 7 percentage points in 2018. The Glen Ellyn attorney was among the first Democratic lawmakers this summer to call on embattled House Speaker Michael Madigan to resign from leadership amid the ComEd bribery scandal.

Breen, an attorney for the Thomas More Society, is trying to retake the seat he held for two terms. He's criticized Costa Howard for still getting fundraising help from campaign committees controlled by Madigan.