SPRINGFIELD - In what's become an election trend in recent years, Illinois Democrats made gains Tuesday at various levels of government.

Democrats latched on to the success of President-elect Barack Obama, even as Republicans tried to remind voters that the widely unpopular Gov. Rod Blagojevich also is a Democrat.

Here's a quick look at how the fight over political power went Tuesday in Illinois.

President

Obama's win of his home state was no big surprise, but he managed to win counties throughout the state that had been won by President Bush four years ago and Republican candidate for governor Judy Baar Topinka two years ago.

For example, Obama took McLean, Coles and Jackson counties, which all previously went for Bush and Topinka. One thing those counties have in common: universities. Macon County, also a GOP county in recent elections, turned its back on John McCain.

Millikin University political scientist Mark Wrighton said the trend in university communities likely is not a coincidence. College students are said to lean toward Democrats but talk more about voting than actually cast ballots. This time, though, they may have made a difference in some counties.

"Energized is the best way to put it," Wrighton said of his students.

Congress

As Obama rolled, Democrats picked up a seat in the Illinois congressional delegation when Democrat Debbie Halvorson won the 11th Congressional District seat now occupied by Republican Jerry Weller. Weller is retiring. One key to her victory: More than 100,000 more voters went to the polls in the district than in 2006.

Other than that, no seats changed hands.

Republican Aaron Schock won retiring U.S. Rep. LaHood's 18th Congressional District seat.

In Northern Illinois, Democrat Bill Foster won re-election. He had won former U.S. House Speaker Dennis Hastert's seat in a special election earlier this year after Hastert retired.

General Assembly

At the state level, Democrats gained three seats in the Illinois House, though perhaps not as many as they wanted. With Tuesday's results, Democrats next year will outnumber Republicans in the House by a 70-48 margin.

That's one member short of the 71 needed to override vetoes and win other special votes without Republican support.

House Republican spokesman David Dring said that given Obama's success, his group was happy to prevent a further takeover by House Democrats.

"We take some satisfaction in the fact that we were able to prevent that," Dring said.

At a 37-22 margin, Democrats already have a supermajority advantage over Republicans in the Illinois Senate.

Republicans spent close to $1 million trying to defeat Democrat Gary Forby in deep Southern Illinois, but Forby prevailed to protect Democratic control.

"It's been a long campaign," Forby said. "It's been hard."

Leadership of neither party in the Senate is clear though, as both Democrat Senate President Emil Jones of Chicago and Republican Minority Leader Frank Watson of Greenville are giving up their leadership roles.

Green Party

The party placed candidates in dozens of Illinois races this year, just two years after their candidate for governor, Rich Whitney, won more than 10 percent of the vote.

Still, the party came away without any wins Tuesday.

Constitutional convention

Presented with a chance to revise the Illinois Constitution, voters took a pass.

Lt. Gov. Pat Quinn and supporters of a constitutional convention objected to the way the question was worded on ballots, and a lawsuit might be coming.

mike.riopell@lee.net|789-0865