1976Flipped from RepublicanFinal resultsIncumbent defeated
1976 election for Illinois Legislative District 42
Illinois State Senate · Illinois
George Sangmeister (D) won with 50.4% of the vote, defeating James F. Bell (R) by 0.8 points, a seat Republicans won last time.
George SangmeisterDemocrat · winner
50.4%44,339
James F. BellRepublican · incumbent
49.6%43,597
87,936 votes
Source: Harvard Dataverse / Carl KlarnerUpdated Sep 30, 2026, 7:29 AM ET
The seat over time
D − R margin in this seat's races around 1976
Races before and after
Source: Harvard Dataverse / Carl KlarnerUpdated Sep 30, 2026, 7:29 AM ET