Running to represent this suburban district are two candidates from Melrose Park, Democratic state Rep. Norma Hernandez and her Republican opponent, Anthony Airdo, who has run unsuccessfully for this seat in every election since 2016.
Hernandez is well to the left of us ideologically, but we have endorsed her before in this primarily Latino district. We didn’t approve of her strong defense of House Speaker Emanuel “Chris” Welch in the wake of the Harry Benton sexual harassment scandal that once against thrust the General Assembly’s ethics challenges into the limelight. “I think he did what he could do in the power that he has in office now,” she said in August.
Despite that public defense (or maybe because of it), Welch added Hernandez to a working group formed to address Springfield harassment. Two House Democrats declined to join, including state Rep. Gregg Johnson, an East Moline Democrat, who told Capitol News Illinois he was uncomfortable with the group’s makeup given that some members had already gone public with their defense of Welch. We think skepticism of the group’s formation and efficacy is warranted.
As in the recent past, we have not heard from Airdo. We’d like to see a different GOP challenger who would present voters with a moderate alternative.
More missteps like Hernandez’s response to Welch’s poor handling of the Springfield ethics issue and, in the future, we could well withhold even a tepid endorsement, which this one is indeed. Nonetheless, Norma Hernandez is endorsed.
Read all of the Tribune Editorial Board’s endorsements for the 2026 Illinois general election here.
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