Rematch in 76th House District Features More Vitriol, Accusations, and Bad Blood
Rep. Amy Murri Briel (D-Ottawa) smiles while discussing her campaign in Ottawa Saturday. (Photo: The Illinoize)
Two years ago, the open seat race between Democrat Amy Murri Briel and Republican Liz Bishop became one of the tightest races in the state. Briel won the race by 595 votes.
Bishop is back for a rematch in 2026 and it has turned into one of the most vitriolic, controversial, heated races of the fall cycle.
The race has been dominated by allegations of sexual harassment and drug use by Briel.
The Bishop campaign recorded and disseminated an interview with a former Briel staffer, who made the allegations. A Legislative Inspector General complaint, Briel said, was unfounded. Sources say the issues in the complaint weren’t relevant because they happened during the 2024 campaign and not while Briel was a State Representative.
GOP House candidate Liz Bishop discusses her campaign during a break from door knocking in Ottawa Saturday. (Photo: The Illinoize)
Bishop says the employee reached out to her campaign independently.
“It was about, this is a person who was treated very badly, and the system didn’t help her. It failed her. And so here she is. And so I think my heart kind of went out to her,” Bishop said Saturday at a park in downtown Ottawa in between door knocking. “I hope if, at some point, I had found her not to be credible, I’d have listened. I’d have been kind, and I’d have sent her on her way. It doesn’t serve anybody to just sling things. But, I found her to be very credible, and we have corroboration. It’s not just one person. We’ve had key facts corroborated. There’s a third person talking about threats of violence [from Briel]. It’s just really unacceptable.”
Briel denied any of the allegations.
“The stories aren’t true. The things that she said, if you want to come at me, come at me. There’s plenty of things you can say about me as a person. But don’t make up lies,” Briel said, sitting down at an Ottawa coffee shop Saturday. “After we followed all the procedures, when she had issues…we let her go and then she filed the Inspector General [complaint]. So much of it was out of nowhere. I’ve chosen not to give it oxygen as much as possible. I’ve explained what happened and anyone who knows me finds it hard to believe.”
On issues, Briel broke with party leaders on multiple issues, including property taxes. Governor Pritzker and other top Democrats have claimed property taxes are a solely local issues, but Briel says changes need to be made to the state law that governs the system.
“We have to be able to shift the balance. So I own my home and my taxes go up every year based on the values of homes that sell around me and what it could potentially sell for, right? But I never see any of that monetary exchange or reward for what I’m paying for. It just sits there. If something happens and it goes down, all that’s gone. I don’t get taxed on the potential growth or income of my home or of, and a home is an investment to primary residents. There’s no guarantee that you’re gonna be able to sell it for what the market says you’ll be able to sell it for if you ever do,” she said. “I literally knock 700, 800 doors a week. I will tell you that about property taxes for people on fixed income is pushing them out of their homes. It’s not good. It’s not right. I’m not trying to tell anybody we’re doing great. I’m trying to say we need to fix it on a way of solve it.”
Bishop said voters she encounters are craving a solution to rising property tax bills.
“The single thing I hear most about is property taxes. I suppose I was knocking doors right about the time property tax bills were due in the LaSalle County. And that was on their minds,” she said. “It indicates how unwilling [Democrats] are to be accountable for what they can do in Illinois. Because there’s plenty we can do. There’s plenty that is our responsibility. They’re out of touch with what their responsibilities really are.”
Briel was elected to replace one of the legislature’s most moderate members, former Rep. Lance Yednock and joined the House with the reputation of being a progressive who may be too liberal for the district.
Briel says she recognizes the moderate nature of the district, citing multiple homes in her county with both hers and Darren Bailey’s yard signs. Briel says she’s representing the district proficiently and took a shot at leaders in her own party.
“I wrote and ushered eight bills in my first term that got signed by the governor. And those came from people in my district who I talked to at doors. When someone says they have a problem with something, I don’t go, ‘oh great, thanks, vote for me.’ That sticks in my brain and I wonder how many other people have that problem,” she said. “I think [Democrat] who thinks that everything is going great is extraordinarily optimistic or a little [delusional], I don’t know. Maybe by saying that there aren’t existing issues, you hope that they’ll go away. But I’m not that type of person. You have to be willing to lay it bare. I’m not exactly popular for that. But I will stand up for things that I think are ridiculous because I really know my district. The only way you know what your community needs is if you see them, if you talk to them.”
Bishop has positioned herself as a moderate while Democrats have attacked her as a “MAGA heiress.” She said the district wants a centrist, which is why she thinks she can win.
“I think it’s still possible to win, certainly because the district has its own unique composition. People do remember me [from running] previously, and I think that’s helpful to me,” she said. “I also think there’s a lot of quiet frustration among voters and they see that I’m getting support from people I didn’t hear from last time. I do think it’s possible. It’s a tough one, but I think it’s possible because I think people realize that they want representation for this district. People will vote personal to party here. And that was a big lesson I learned last time.”
Kamala Harris won the district by around five points in 2024. Governor Pritzker won it by around 10 points in 2022.
