After eking out a 22-vote victory during a heavily contested primary in May, Democrat Lonnie Randolph handily won a return to the state Senate to represent District 2 a decade after leaving the chamber to become an East Chicago city judge.

Randolph defeated GOP challenger Carl Dahlin Jr., a protege of East Chicago political operative Bob Cantrell.

Randolph, currently an East Chicago attorney, named education as a top priority, but Tuesday he said also wants to declare a tax amnesty for beleaguered homeowners. "These taxes are killing everybody," he said.

Randolph said he has requested a seat on the influential Tax and Fiscal Policy Committee.

The district covers all of East Chicago, the west side of Gary and parts of Griffith, Hammond, Highland, Merrillville and Schererville.