Illinois voters are already casting ballots in a 2026 midterm election that will decide whether JB Pritzker secures an unprecedented third term as governor, who replaces veteran US Senator Dick Durbin and how Chicago Public Schools is governed.
Election Day is November 3, but early voting is under way across the state. The Illinois State Board of Elections said voting at election authority offices began on September 24, with permanent early-voting sites opening on October 19.
Although Illinois is not expected to be central to the battle for control of Congress, several contests carry considerable political significance, including a closely watched succession of older lawmakers and the first election to complete Chicago’s transition to a fully elected school board.
JB Pritzker seeks a third term
Mr Pritzker, the Democratic governor, is seeking a third term against Republican Darren Bailey, a downstate farmer and former state lawmaker.
The contest is regarded as heavily tilted towards the incumbent. Mr Pritzker defeated Mr Bailey by more than 12 percentage points in 2022, winning by roughly 500,000 votes.
Mr Bailey’s campaign has taken a markedly different tone this year. He has distanced himself from several of Donald Trump’s economic positions, despite receiving repeated public backing from the President.
That change in approach has not closed the financial gap. Mr Pritzker, heir to the Hyatt hotel fortune, recently put $65 million of his own money into his campaign. Mr Bailey raised about $633,000 in the third quarter and had just over $431,000 in the bank at the beginning of October, according to campaign finance records.
The next governor and state legislature will face pressure over school funding, the regulation of data centres and rising energy costs. The future of the Chicago Bears is also a major issue, with the team considering a move across the state line to Indiana.
Mr Pritzker’s longer-term ambitions may attract almost as much attention as the result itself. The governor has been discussed as a possible contender for the 2028 Democratic presidential nomination, although he has not committed to a campaign.
He has travelled widely to support Democratic candidates and donated to party organisations in other states. Asked about his presidential prospects during a recent debate, Mr Pritzker instead said: “We need some checks and balances against Donald Trump.”
Juliana Stratton poised to replace Dick Durbin
The US Senate race is expected to bring a generational shift to Illinois politics, with Lieutenant Governor Juliana Stratton strongly favoured to succeed Mr Durbin, the 81-year-old Democrat who is retiring after four decades in public life.
Ms Stratton won a competitive Democratic primary in March, defeating two sitting members of Congress. Her Republican opponent is Don Tracy, a central Illinois attorney and former chairman of the Illinois Republican Party.
The 61-year-old Democrat has campaigned on a platform that includes a $25 minimum wage and Medicare for All. She is also part of a broader change in the state’s congressional delegation, as a number of older lawmakers step aside.
State representative La Shawn Ford is expected to win the heavily Democratic Seventh Congressional District, which includes much of Chicago’s West and South Sides and nearby western suburbs. Victory would see the 54-year-old succeed Danny Davis, 85, who first entered Congress in 1996.
In the Ninth District, Evanston Mayor Daniel Biss is the favourite against Republican John Elleson. Mr Biss, 49, is seeking to succeed Jan Schakowsky, 82, who has represented Chicago’s North Side and northern suburbs since 1998.
Chicago elects its full school board
The most consequential local contest is the election for president of the Chicago Board of Education, which oversees the budget and policies of Chicago Public Schools.
The vote completes the city’s move towards a fully elected, 21-member board. Voters will choose the remaining 11 members, including the board president, joining the ten elected representatives already serving from the city’s subdistricts.
The board is responsible for a school system with more than 316,000 pupils and 45,000 employees. Its incoming members will confront a difficult financial picture and a debate over whether significantly under-enrolled schools should be closed or consolidated.
Three candidates remain in the contest for president: Jessica Biggs, a former CPS principal; Hilario Dominguez, a former special education teacher; and Victor P. Henderson.
More than $6 million had been spent on the race by mid-October. Common Ground Collective, a political action committee backed by billionaire Michael Sacks, had spent about $2.6 million, including more than $846,000 on advertising against Mr Dominguez, who is supported by the Chicago Teachers Union.
Ms Biggs has won backing from several unions and around a dozen members of Chicago’s City Council. Mr Dominguez has faced criticism over the reopening of an investigation into allegations dating back several years involving inappropriate conduct with a teenager.
The Chicago Public Schools inspector general said last week that there was insufficient evidence to establish sexual misconduct. Mr Dominguez has described the renewed investigation as a political attempt to smear him.
School finances are likely to dominate the board’s early months. The Chicago Teachers Union and Mr Dominguez have rejected calls to consider closures of schools with persistently low enrolment, while supporters of the proposal argue that the system cannot remain financially sustainable without addressing unused capacity.
Unusual contest to succeed Chuy Garcia
The Fourth Congressional District is also attracting attention because of the unusual circumstances surrounding the retirement of Representative Jesus “Chuy” Garcia.
Mr Garcia’s late decision not to seek re-election allowed his chief of staff, Patty Garcia, who is not related to him, to secure the Democratic nomination without facing a primary challenger.
The arrangement prompted criticism and encouraged several independent candidates to try to enter the race. Only Chris Getty, the mayor of Lyons, succeeded in getting on the ballot alongside Republican Lupe Castillo and Working Class Party candidate Ed Hershey.
The district has nevertheless remained firmly Democratic. Mr Garcia won by about 40 percentage points in both 2022 and 2024, including victories in years when Republicans captured the House of Representatives.
The contest is therefore unlikely to threaten Democratic control, but it has become a test of how voters respond to the succession process and the growing influence of independent candidates in Chicago-area politics.
