Democratic incumbent Mike Frerichs won the state senate seat for the 52nd District and defeated Republican opponent John Bambenek on Tuesday.

Bambenek conceded a little after 10:30 p.m. as precincts’ votes were announced at the Champaign County Clerk’s office, 1776 E. Washington St., Urbana.

“I’m feeling great,” Frerichs said after Bambenek conceded. “It was a well-fought race. It was very pleasant, but it is good for it to finally be over.”

Bambenek, though, was proud of his efforts throughout the campaign.

“It was kind of an uphill battle,” he said. “Running against an incumbent always is. We did the best that we could, got our issues out there and have nothing to be ashamed of.”

Bambenek said he was passionate about running because he wanted to put his ideas into action.

“Illinois, I don’t think, is headed in the right direction,” he said. “It doesn’t change directions unless you challenge the people who are there and get out your message, so I thought it was important to do that and see what happened.”

Frerichs said that while he is glad the race is over, he was pleased with the quality of the race.

“There were various accusations out there, but, by and large, it was a positive race,” he said.

Now that the race has ended, Frerichs, who has served in the Illinois State Senate since 2007, plans to head back to work.

“I think we’ll take a little bit of time to celebrate this victory,” he said. “But then it’s fairly soon that we’ll have to be back in Springfield, and I think one of the big issues out there right now is the governor’s veto of the gambling bill, which is becoming very important.”

Frerichs will receive the Central Illinois Business Magazine’s Man of the Year award on Wednesday.

Chrissy can be reached at [email protected].