Carol Ammons Wins 103rd House Seat Over Kristin Williamson

Democrat Carol Ammons is Representative Naomi Jakobsson's new successor for the retiring lawmaker's seat in the Illinois House. Ammons says she's eager to follow in Jakobsson's footsteps, starting with a tax overhaul.

Ammons soundly defeated Republican Kristin Williamson in the race for the 103rd House seat. The Democrat, who wasn't even predicted to win her primary race in March, says she'll take ownership of Jakobsson's policies in the legislature.

One such policy is the push for a graduated state income tax, where the more money you make, the greater percentage you pay. Ammons says she’s prepared to take difficult votes right off the bat.

"We've got to do some real hard stuff,"she said. "We've got to look at some comprehensive tax reform, we've gotta work on that progressive income tax measure so we can generate revenue for our state."

Jakobsson tried pushing through a graduated tax last spring, but her effort was overtaken by a different graduated tax proposal.

Ultimately, that version failed in the legislature, too.

Ammons also says she's prepared to wade into the murky waters of Illinois' pension battle.

A circuit court is scheduled to rule on Illinois' pension law next month, which will likely go to the state's Supreme Court. Ammons says she wants to help craft a new pension law -- one that doesn't cut state employees’ benefits, like the law passed last year.

"What I've given thought to is all the unions that have supported me for this race. I expect that they'll be at the table, we'll come together and we'll come up with something that really works for the people who we say we represent in this state."

Jakobsson voted against Illinois' pension overhaul last December.