Billionaire Democrat J.B. Pritzker on Tuesday soundly defeated first-term Republican Gov. Bruce Rauner, who conceded his re-election bid less than an hour after the polls closed, giving Democrats near total control of Illinois’ state government.

“Voting is an act of optimism that the levers of our Democracy still work,” Pritzker told supporters moments after declaring victory. “You embody that optimism. You light the beacon fire on the hill of history that signals from one generation to another that these are the things that we stand and fight for.”

Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan edged closer to regaining his supermajority Tuesday night as he waited for the results in about a handful of suburban races.

Democrats picked up state House seats in Palatine and central Illinois and held late leads in Republican-held districts in Lombard, West Chicago and northern Lake County. But Democrats also lost a seat to the GOP in far southern Illinois as Madigan tried for a net gain of four seats to get back to 71 House Democrats.

Hinsdale High School District 86 officials will have to find another way to pay for improvements, such as new roofs and security systems, accommodations for people with disabilities, replacing athletic fields, repaving tennis courts, renovating the pools and updating science and technology classrooms.

With 96 percent of the DuPage County precincts reporting and all four of the Cook County precincts included, 55 percent of voters had rejected Hinsdale District 86’s $166 million referendum to fund those and other projects, according to unofficial results.

McHenry-area voters had mixed opinions about referendums on the ballot Tuesday, according to unofficial results from the McHenry County Clerk’s Office.

Voters have approved a tax hike Tuesday to help Maine Township High School District 207 pay for $240 million in improvements at its three high schools.

With 93 of 102 precincts reporting, about 61 percent of voters backed a proposal to borrow $195 million to fund the plan to update Maine West, Maine South and Maine East high schools, according to unofficial election results. The remaining $45 million of the work will be funded through district reserves.

For the second time in two years, Peoria County voters have turned down a sales tax increase that would have accelerated road repairs in the area.

The vote was 38,697 against the measure to 23,516 for a referendum that would have boosted the county sales tax by one-half percentage point to finance more than $60 million in road repairs during the next 12 years.

Voters in Sangamon County on Tuesday passed a school tax referendum for the first time since 1984 by a margin of 53 percent to 47 percent.

The 1 percent sales tax means Springfield schools will reap about a $10.1 million windfall annually for its facilities. Other public school districts in the county will share in the proceeds from the tax.