Recently elected Democrat Sharon Chung defeated Republican Scott Preston in the general election for Illinois House of Representatives District 91 on November 8, 2022. She won 52% of the vote, and she will be the first Democrat to represent Bloomington-Normal in the House in 40 years. She will assume office on January 11, 2023.
Chung was an Illinois Wesleyan Alum. Chung graduated in 2000 as a musical performance major. She played the violin, and played at the 1996 President Convocation. She was also involved in IWU’s radio station, WESN, and was on air every week.
She was born and raised in the Chicago suburbs before moving to Bloomington to attend IWU. After graduating, she attended graduate school at Northwestern University, then worked as a music teacher. Chung and her family have been living in Bloomington since 2009, and she has been a member of the Mclean County Board since 2018.
She was also featured in an opinion article in “The Argus” in 2018, when she was running to be elected as a board-member. She attended the RSO Fair in 2018 at the College Democrats table, and met and introduced herself to students along with her two daughters, who attend public schools in the Bloomington-Normal area.
Chung spoke at Illinois State University in September, and participated in a debate with Preston, where she talked about the importance of students being involved in politics and her hands-on approach to her campaign.
As state representative, she has emphasized the importance of education, labor issues, criminal justice, women’s and LGBTQ+ issues and environmental issues.