Summary
- Doris Turner vows "all gas, no brakes."
- Incumbent Illinois senator since 2021.
- Narrowly won the 2022 race vs. Sandy Hamilton.
- May face Republican Frank Lesko in 2026.
- Prioritizes education and local health funding.
Turner, 72, who's served in the upper chamber since 2021, touted the "millions of dollars in infrastructure projects" that have taken place across the district during her tenure along with a lengthy legislative record. But she said there's more to do.
"I think we continue the hard work that we've been doing,"
Turner said.
"There are still a lot of infrastructure things that we want to address, there are still some education things that we need to do."
"We don't know what's happening coming out of Washington, so we have to make sure that those guardrails and safeguards are here for people,"
she continued.
"Just the small things that oftentimes we don't think about."
The 48th Senate District includes Chatham, Rochester, the rural areas between its two major population centers, and the metropolitan communities of Decatur and Springfield.
It is the most competitive Illinois Senate district from a partisan perspective. In the 2024 presidential election, former Vice President Kamala Harris defeated President Donald Trump by a mere 1.2 percentage points.
This cycle presents a harsh landscape for Senate Republicans, who now only control 19 of the 59 seats in the body. In 2024, Harris won four suburban Chicago districts that are presently controlled by Republicans. Trump-won districts are not represented by any Democrats. Accordingly, Turner's seat represents Republicans' best—and possibly only—chances to reclaim a seat. Turner, however, stated that she is not anxious about another difficult race.
She had previously been on the Springfield City Council and the Sangamon County Board for ten years each. In addition, she served as the Sangamon County Democratic Party's chair for a long time. She spent more than thirty years working for the state of Illinois, including twenty-two years as the chief of the center for minority health services at the Illinois Department of Public Health.
Durbin said he has known Turner since his time as the Illinois Senate parliamentarian and said earlier this year that he will not run for reelection to the U.S. Senate in 2026. At the time, Turner served as the upper chamber's secretary.
What impact could the proposed recall legislation have on Doris Turner's political career?
The recall bill, Senate Bill 1954, aims to allow countywide elected officials in Sangamon County to be recalled by voters.
This legislation was introduced in response to the murder of Sonya Massey by a county sheriff’s deputy and reflects Turner's commitment to increasing government accountability and community trust. Successfully passing such a bill would likely bolster her reputation as a reform-minded leader addressing systemic issues.
Turner's recall proposal aligns with community demands for greater oversight of elected officials, which could consolidate voter support in her district as she responds to concerns about local government accountability and law enforcement.