[6] In the general election, Hawkinson faced Democratic candidate and former state legislator John Cassidy of Peoria.
Despite the hope of Democrats to capitalize on cross pressure of party affiliation and a hometown state senator to win the Peoria seat, Hawkinson won the general election.
[8] In the 1991 Republican-controlled decennial redistricting, the 47th district was redrawn to include all or parts of Bureau, Henry, Knox, Peoria, Stark, and Warren counties.
[10][11] In 2000 he made an unsuccessful run for the Illinois State Supreme Court, winning the Republican party primary but losing in the general election to Thomas Kilbride.
Both men won in the Republican primary where Hawkinson received 47% of the vote defeating State Representative William O'Connor, Jack McInerney, and Charles Owens, but lost to Rod Blagojevich and Pat Quinn in the general election.