After months of campaigning, Democratic candidate for Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan came to a historic victory over opponents Republican Joe Birkett and Independent Gary Shilts, making her the first female Illinois Attorney General and one of the youngest ever elected.

“We’ve been waiting for months to say change is here,” Madigan said.

Her opponent, Joe Birkett, was not gentle in his defeat, taking one last shot at Madigan.

“Congratulations, you’re a prosecutor now,” Birkett said.

Response to Madigan’s victory had mixed results among the NIU community.

Sophomore pre-med major David Kolzow thinks Madigan’s father, Michael Madigan, Speaker of the Illinois House, may have impacted the election by giving her name recognition, which is something that was forgotten throughout the course of the election.

“If her dad is in office, I’m sure it gives her a boost,” he said.

Some people even attributed her victory purely to the powerful role her father played.

“It’s purely political because of her father’s influence,” said Dan Rekowski, freshman marketing major. “It’s all been fixed. I don’t go for that.”

Retired mathematics professor John Ewell disagreed and is excited about Madigan’s success.

“I like the way she carries herself,” he said.

It doesn’t seem that some DeKalb residents expected these results.

“I’m not surprised given the type of publicity her opponent was giving,” said David Kakoma, a junior electrical engineering major.

Malcolm Swanson, a Kingston resident and NIU alumnus, said he expected Madigan to win.

“She’s willing to get in there and fight. She doesn’t seem to be afraid of much,” he said.

Tamorro Wilkins, a second-year law student, did not like the way Birkett ran his campaign.

“From the limited amount of real information [provided by the two candidates], I preferred her to Birkett,” she said. “I was turned off by Birkett’s mudslinging. It’s not clear that not prosecuting a criminal case makes for a bad candidate.”

Now that the election is over, the attorney general-elect feels a sense of responsibility to those who voted for her or against her.

“You can count on me to serve all the people of Illinois,” Madigan said.