BLOOMINGTON — State Rep. Jason Barickman, R-Champaign, picked up endorsements from five Central Illinois sheriffs Wednesday in his bid for the Republican nomination for the redrawn 53rd Illinois Senate District seat.

The sheriffs and their counties are: Mark Doran, Ford; Mike Emery, McLean; Derek Hagen, Iroquois; Marty Meredith, Livingston; and James Pierceall, Woodford.

Barickman was appointed to the House in 2010 to fill the seat vacated by Shane Cultra, R-Onarga after Cultra had been appointed to the Senate to fill the seat vacated by Dan Rutherford’s election as state treasurer.

Barickman is now challenging Cultra for the Senate seat in a district that stretches from the Illinois River to the Indiana border and includes Bloomington, Normal, Pontiac, Gibson City and Paxton.

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