LaHood and Mellon Win 18th District Primaries

Rob Mellon of Quincy and Darin LaHood of Peoria post easy primary victories in a special primary election Tuesday in Illinois' 18th Congressional District.

LaHood says he spent most of his campaign talking about his record as a state senator and former prosecutor. State Senator Darin LaHood won his party's nomination Tuesday with 69 percent of the vote. LaHood says his campaign team hit the ground running early on and didn't take anything for granted.

Rob Mellon of Quincy won the Democratic primary with 60 percent of the vote over Adam Lopez of Springfield. Mellon previously lost in the 18th District Democratic Primary in 2014.

The special election to fill Aaron Schock’s seat is September 10th. Schock resigned amidst questions about a variety of expenses incurred while in office.

Voter turnout district wide on Tuesday was 11 percent.