Voters will head to the polls on Tuesday to choose Democratic and Republican nominees for offices ranging from the U.S. Senate and governor to the state legislature and county positions, bringing to a close an expensive and often clamorous primary campaign season.
Polling places will be open from 6 a.m. to 7 p.m., and those planning to vote in the morning will get a wake-up call from the weather.
“Election Day looks blustery and cold but precipitation free,” retired broadcast meteorologist Tom Skilling told the Tribune. “Unseasonably cold — highs only in the low to mid-20s — and moderately windy, especially in the morning. Voters will have to bundle up.”
Skilling’s forecast calls for temperatures of around 10 degrees at daybreak and a high of 21 in the afternoon. But he said, “wind chills at Election Day’s open (will be) around 5 below, ‘warming’ to 10 above Tuesday afternoon.”
The forecast portends the possibility of lower turnout among Election Day voters, who traditionally lean more Republican and tend to support President Donald Trump’s opposition to early voting and voting by mail, practices largely embraced by Democrats.
But the weather has also complicated late campaign efforts. Unstable skies downstate forced the cancellation Sunday of an event featuring Gov. JB Pritzker, who is seeking a third term, and his two-term running mate, Juliana Stratton, who is seeking the Democratic U.S. Senate nomination.
Monday’s snow forced Republican governor candidate Darren Bailey to cancel a planned six-city fly-around of the state on Tuesday. Instead, he scheduled a virtual evening event.
As turbulent as the weather has been, so has the flurry of TV and streaming ads and political mailings from the candidates, as well as from special interests seeking to influence voters. Those will come to a close with Tuesday’s voting, but not after more than $92 million has been spent in the U.S. Senate race and four open-seat contests for the U.S. House, according to political ad tracking firm Ad Impact.
It was U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin’s decision not to seek a sixth term, along with the retirements of veteran U.S. Reps. Jan Schakowsky of Evanston and Danny Davis of Chicago, that created a political cascade of contested races on the primary ballot.
U.S. Reps. Raja Krishnamoorthi of Schaumburg and Robin Kelly of Lynwood joined Stratton as the leading Democrats vying for the U.S. Senate nomination. But the decision by Krishnamoorthi and Kelly to try to climb the political ladder for a six-year Senate term also created contested races in his northwest suburban 8th District and her South Side, south suburban and rural 2nd District.
All told, 46 people filed for the Democratic nominations and 11 for the GOP nominations in the four U.S. House districts. Given the Democratic gerrymandering of the state’s congressional districts, the Democratic primary winners are heavily favored in the Nov. 3 general election.
Ten Democrats and a lone Republican are on primary ballots for the 2nd Congressional District seat Kelly is giving up to run for Senate. Davis’ retirement opened up the 7th Congressional District to a race of 13 Democrats and two Republicans. Krishnamoorthi’s bid for the U.S. Senate resulted in an 8th Congressional District race featuring eight Democrats and four Republicans, while Schakowsky’s retirement in the 9th Congressional District opened the door to a field of 15 Democrats and four Republicans.
Along with Krishnamoorthi, Kelly and Stratton, others seeking the Democratic U.S. Senate nomination are Kevin Ryan, Steve Botsford Jr., Bryan Maxwell, Jonathan Dean, Sean Brown, Awisi Bustos and Christopher Swann.
The Republican race for the U.S. Senate nomination includes former Illinois GOP Chair Don Tracy; attorney Jeannie Evans; Casey Chlebek, who unsuccessfully sought the GOP U.S. Senate nomination in 2020 and 2022; Pamela Denise Long; Jimmy Lee Tillman II; and R. Cary Capparelli.
Four Democrats are also competing for the nomination for state comptroller, seeking to succeed incumbent Susana Mendoza, who opted not to seek reelection. The Democratic comptroller candidates are state Rep. Margaret Croke of Chicago, state Sen. Karina Villa of West Chicago, Stephanie Kifowit of Oswego and Lake County Treasurer Holly Kim.
Four Republicans are on the GOP ballot for the party’s nomination for governor: Bailey, the former lawmaker and unsuccessful 2022 nominee against Pritzker; Ted Dabrowski, the former head of the Wirepoints conservative activist group; real estate and video gambling firm owner Rick Heidner; and DuPage County James Mendrick. Pritzker, who also is considering a potential 2028 White House bid, is unopposed in the Democratic primary for governor.
Further down the Democratic ballot in Cook County, Board President Toni Preckwinkle is seeking a fifth term against Ald. Brendan Reilly, 42nd. Cook County Assessor Fritz Kaegi, running for a third term, faces a challenge from Lyons Township Assessor Pat Hynes.
In DuPage County, Mendrick’s decision to run for governor created a GOP primary for sheriff between Undersheriff Eddie Moore and former County Board member Sean Noonan. Peter Coolidge is unopposed on the Democratic side.
Democrats in DuPage also will be deciding whether County Clerk Jean Kaczmarek should move forward in her bid for a third term against Paula Deacon Garcia, a County Board member.
