See full results for 2026 Illinois primary elections

CBS News projects Evanston mayor Daniel Biss has won the Democratic primary for Illinois’ 9th Congressional District.

Close behind in the results were social media influencer and journalist Kat Abughazaleh, and Illinois state Sen. Laura Fine.

The 9th District was one of the closest watched Democratic primaries in Illinois, as Rep. Jack Schakowsky is retiring and vacating the seat she’s held since 1999.

Illinois Lt. Gov. Juliana Stratton is projected to win theheated and crowded Democratic primary race for the U.S. Senate seat that Dick Durbin has held for nearly 30 years, according to CBS News analysis, coming out on top of a field of 10 candidates, including U.S. Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi and U.S. Rep. Robin Kelly.

With 80% of the vote in, Stratton is leading with 39.4% of the vote, Krishnamoorthi is in second with 33.6%, and Kelly is in third with 18.4%.

None of the other seven candidates are in double digits.

Stratton will face Don Tracy, an attorney and former chairman of the Illinois Republican Party, who is the expected winner of the Republican primary for the Senate seat, CBS News projects.

Melissa Bean has won the Democratic primary for the 8th Congressional District, the seat formerly held by and Senate candidate Raja Krishanmoorthi, CBS News project.

Bean was the congresswoman in the 8th District in Illinois from 2005 to 2011, after which she went on to work for JP Morgan Chase and Mesirow Wealth Advisors.

Chicago City Treasurer Melissa Conyears-Ervin has conceded the Democratic primary for the 7th Congressional District to Illinois state Rep. La Shawn Ford, who declared victory shortly afterward.

With 81% of the vote in, Ford is leading with 23.2% of the vote, Conyears-Ervin is in second place with 19.8%, and Anthony Driver is in third place with 11.5%, but CBS News has not yet projected a winner in the race.

A rematch of the 2022 race for governor is set, as CBS News projects former Illinois state lawmaker Darren Bailey as the winner of the Republican primary with 49.6% of the vote with 40% of the vote in.

Ted Dabrowski, the former president of conservative research group Wirepoints, is in second place with 31.7%.

Bailey will face off against Gov. JB Pritzker in the general election, after Pritzker ran unopposed in the Democratic primary. Pritzker easily defeated Bailey in 2022, winning 54.9% of the vote to Bailey’s 42.4%.

CBS News projects the Democratic primary for U.S. Senate in Illinois is leaning toward Lt. Gov. Juliana Stratton, who has 39.1% of the vote. U.S. Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi is in second place with 33.4%, and U.S. Rep. Robin Kelly is in third place with 19.2%, with 68% of the vote in.

None of the other seven candidates are in double digits.

CBS News is projecting that Don Tracy has won the Republican primary for U.S. Senate in Illinois.

Tracy is an attorney, former chairman of the Illinois Republican Party, and former chairman of the Illinois Gaming Board.

His priorities include affordable energy policies, lowering drug and insurance prices, reducing government spending, and securing the border.

The Democratic primary is currently a toss-up, according to CBS News.

Ald. Brendan Reilly (42nd) announced he is conceding the Democratic primary for Cook County Board Commissioner to incumbent Toni Preckwinkle.

With 79% of the votes counted, Preckwinkle was holding a commanding lead with 68% of the vote.

Despite his defeat, Reilly said he would “continue to fight for Cook County residents in any way that I can, advocating for the pragmatic essential policies we championed throughout this race.”

“My commitment to this city and this county is completely unbroken,” he added.

While votes are still being counted, our CBS News models indicate that the Illinois 9th District leans Daniel Biss, while the 8th District leans Melissa Bean.

That could change as votes continue to be counted.

Kat Abughazaleh remains in second place in the 9th District for the moment with 80% of the vote in. Bean is being trailed Junaid Ahmed in the 8th District, with 76% of the vote in.

CBS News is projecting that Cook County Commissioner Donna Miller has won the Democratic primary for the 2nd Illinois Congressional District.

Many had wondered if Jesse Jackson, Jr., who previously held the seat and who surged back into the national spotlight in the wake of his father’s recent death, would have a late surge in name recognition that could propel him onto the ballot in November, but in the end Miller took an early lead and never let it go.

With 63% of the vote in, CBS News projects U.S. Rep. Brad Schneider has won the Democratic primary in the 10th Congressional District. He will face Republican Carl Lambrecht, who ran unopposed in the Republican primary.

In the Republican primary for the 7th District, CBS News projects Chad Koppie is the winner over Patricia Easley, with Koppie winning 66.1% of the vote with 77% of the vote in.

CBS News projects incumbent U.S. Rep. Sean Casten has won his Democratic primary in the 6th Congressional District, with 73.4% of the vote, over challenger Joseph Ruzevich, who has 26.6% of the vote, with 39% of the vote in.

Niki Conforti, who lost to Casten in the 2024 election, is projected to win the Republican primary, setting up a rematch in the general election. Conforti has 82.2% of the vote with 75% of the vote counted.

With 71% of the vote in, CBS News says the 2nd Congressional District is leaning toward Cook County Commissioner Donna Miller, who has 41% of the vote, with Jesse Jackson Jr. in 2nd place with 28.9% of the vote.

The Illinois 5th District race is now set for the midterm election as CBS News projects incumbent U.S. Rep. Mike Quigley has won his Democratic primary.

He will face Republican Tommy Hanson in November.

Quigley announced in January he intends to run to be mayor of Chicago in 2027.

Kat Abughazaleh has moved into second place in the 9th Congressional District, with 24.4% of the vote. With 70% of the vote counted, Daniel Biss remains in the lead with 30.3%, and Laura Fine is now in third place with 20.8%.

CBS News is projecting Tommy Hanson, a North Shore native a small business owner, will win the Illinois 5th Congressional District Republican primary.

Hanson is is expected to face incumbent Democrat Rep. Mike Quigley in November, though CBS News has not yet made a projection in that primary.

With 65% of the vote in for the Illinois 9th Congressional District, Evanston Mayor Daniel Biss has extended his lead, with 31.7% of the vote. Laura Fine is in second with 23.3% and Kat Abughazaleh is in third with 21.6%.

There are 15 Democrats running to replace Jan Schakowsky after she retires.

In the first returns in the Democratic primary for the 7th Congressional District, Illinois state Rep. La Shawn Ford is leading the 13-candidate field with 26.8% of the vote. Ford won the endorsement of incumbent Danny Davis, who is retiring. Chicago City Treasurer Melissa Conyears-Ervin is in second place with 17.1% of the vote. Kina Collins, who ran twice against Davis in past elections, is in third place with 11%. Only 12% of the vote is in.

Cook County Commissioner Donna Miller holds an early lead in the Democratic primary for the Illinois 2nd Congressional District, with 41.3% of the vote. Former U.S. Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr. is in second place with 33.5% of the vote. Only 10% of the vote is in.

In the first returns of the night in the Democratic race for Cook County Board President, four-term incumbent Toni Preckwinkle holds a significant lead, with 63.4% of the vote. Ald. Brendan Reilly (42nd) has 36.6% of the vote. Only 11% of the vote is in.

The first data has started coming in from the Illinois 9th District, and Evanston Mayor Daniel Biss is starting int he night in the lead.

As of 7:28 p.m., Biss has 32.4% of the vote. Laura Fine is in second with 27.1% of the vote and Kat Abughazaleh is in third with 18.3% of the vote.

There are 15 Democrats running to replace Jan Schakowsky after she retires.

A rematch looks more likely as votes come in; 20 minutes after polls closed he’s leading the field with 43.3% of the vote. Ted Dabrowski, the former president of conservative research group Wirepoints, is in second place with 30.7% of the vote. Only 2% of the total vote is in.

With polls closed for less than 10 minutes and only 1% of the vote in, Juliana Stratton and Raja Krishnamoorthi already look to be running neck-and-neck in the U.S. Senate race.

As of 7:11 p.m., Stratton leads with 41.4% of the vote with Krishnamoorthi close behind at 38.9% of the vote. Robin Kelly is in third with 9.1% of the vote.

The race for Senate is expected to be very tight and the night’s leader could change, perhaps even multiple times.

Polls have officially closed for the Illinois primary election, though anyone in line by 7 p.m. will be able to cast their ballot.

And that’s a good thing, because we saw a long line outside the voting supersite at State and Adams, stretching the full block on State Street.

Volunteers were there, handing out clipboards and information to keep things moving along as voters made their way inside.

Some of the higher profile statewide races in today’s primary feature unopposed candidates.

Gov. JB Pritzker is unopposed on the Democratic ticket for governor, which isn’t that surprising for an incumbent governor.

Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul, a Democrat, is also running unopposed, as is his Republican challenger Bob Fioretti.

Illinois Secretary of State Alexi Giannoulias is unopposed on the Democratic ballot.

Robin Kelly gave up her U.S. House Seat to run for Senate, opening yet another wide field of Democratic candidates.

Illinois’ 2nd Congressional District encompasses part of the South Side, as well as near and far south suburbs.

Lightfoot, who has endorsed Cook County Commissioner Donna Miller in the primary, said she believes Miller has worked hard and raised enough money to win the seat. She also noted that the footprint of the 2nd District encompasses Miller’s Cook County district, making her a known entity with good name recognition among voters there.

But could Jesse Jackson Jr. make a comeback to take back the seat he vacated in 2012? Lightfoot noted he’s gotten a bump in name recognition lately as he’s been front-and-center in the media after the death of his father and namesake, Rev. Jesse Jackson, Sr.

Danny Davis has representedIllinois’ 7th Congressional District since 1997. Now there are 13 Democrats vying to take his place. They include former Cook County Commissioner Richard Boykin, Chicago City Treasurer Melissa Conyears-Ervin, Illinois state Rep. La Shawn Ford, and Forest Park Mayor Rory Hoskins.

Davis is the senior member of Illinois’ congressional delegation and sits on the powerful Ways and Means Committee, which has jurisdiction over all tax legislation in the House.

Colleagues said he’ll be remembered for his stance on voting rights, affordable healthcare, criminal justice reform, social justice, and civil rights.

Both Lightfoot and Demmer said they are closely watching the crowded race to replace Rep. Jan Schakowsky in Illinois’ 9th Congressional District.

“It’s hotly contested, lots of money poured in, both pro and against certain candidates,” Lightfoot said.

Demmer said he thinks it could be the night’s upset race, with Kat Abughazaleh surging as primary day neared despite Daniel Biss leading in polls for most of the race.

“Candidates who can really galvanize supporters overperform,” he said.

Federal campaign finance records show Abughazaleh, who just moved to Illinois in 2024, raised more than $3.3 million for her campaign, with most of her donations coming from people who gave $200 or less, and most of those contributions coming from outside Illinois.

Fine raised more than $2.5 million, with most of that money coming from outside Illinois, from donors who gave $1,000 or more.

Biss raised more than $2.3 million, with nearly $2 million of that coming from Illinois donors, and most of his donations coming from people who gave $2,000 or more.

Andrew raised more than $1.3 million, Amiwala raised more than $1.1 million, and Huynh raised more than $1 million. No other candidate raised more than six figures.

More than one-fifth of the city of Chicago has cast a ballot in the Illinois primary election Tuesday.

As of 5 p.m., Chicago election officials said 339,427 ballots have been cast, including early and mail-in voting, to reach 21.84% turnout citywide. Polls are open for another two hours, with anyone in line at 7 p.m. able to cast their ballots even though polls are officially closed.

This is how voting has broken down by age so far today:

• 18 -24: 14,763 ballots cast
• 25-34: 50,915 ballots cast
• 35-44: 50,621 ballots cast
• 45-54: 44,294 ballots cast
• 55-64: 58,436 ballots cast
• 65-74: 68,018 ballots cast
• 75+: 51,343 ballots cast

Statewide turnout in the Illinois primary is expected to be high, potentially approaching numbers in line with the 2020 presidential primary, according to Anthony Salvanto, CBS News executive director of elections and surveys.

Former Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot said that higher voter turnout is “good for democracy,” and said she’ll be interested to see where those votes come from in the Chicago area, though that information may not be available for several days.

“In general,” she said, “an uptick in voting is good for democracy.”

Former Illinois GOP lawmaker Tom Demmer said he believes that highly contested races for seats in the Senate and House is driving that voter turnout, and expects to see a higher number of Democrats voting in this primary than Republicans for that reason.

He said that could give Republicans a chance to focus on their message in November, and pitch to Illinois voters what they have to offer in a general election.

One of the most closely watched congressional races in the 2026 midterms is in the 9th Congressional District in Illinois, where15 Democrats jumped into the race after longterm U.S. Rep. Jan Schakowsky decided to retireat the end of her term.

Evanston Mayor Daniel Biss, social media influencer and journalist Kat Abughazaleh, and Illinois state Sen. Laura Fine appear to be the frontrunners in the crowded race for a seat Schakowsky has held since 1999.

The crowdd field of 15 Democrats running for the seat spans three generations, from Gen X to Gen Z, and with so many candidates on the ballot, the winner might need only a relatively small percentage to move on to the general election.

Most of the candidates in the race have supported progressive campaign platforms, including backing Medicare for all or some other form of universal healthcare, providing a path to citizenship for undocumented immigrants, and significantly overhauling or abolishing ICE.

Four-term incumbent Toni Preckwinkle is looking to fend off a a challenge from longtime Chicago Ald. Brendan Reilly in order to make the ballot for a record-tying fifth term as Cook County Board President.

Reilly is considered her toughest rival so far.

It has been a hard-fought and at times bitter campaign between the more progressive Preckwinkle and the more centrist Reilly, who has pitched himself a fresh and new choice for county leadership. Meanwhile, Preckwinkle touts her expertise and experience at the helm.

The winner will face Libertarian candidate Michael Murphy in the general election in November. No Republicans are on the ballot, although Eric Wallace filed as a qualified write-in candidate for the GOP, so presumably will make it to the general election once ballots are formally counted and certified.

The race to replace Dick Durbin in the U.S. Senate is both heated and crowded with contenders for the seat he’s held for nearly 30 years.

The three frontrunners for the Democratic nomination are U.S. Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi, U.S. Rep. Robin Kelly, and Illinois Lt. Gov. Juliana Stratton.

Whoever wins the Democratic nomination will be the heavy favorite in the general election in November. Illinois has elected only two Republicans to the U.S. Senate since Durbin was first elected in 1996 – Peter Fitzgerald for one term in 1998 and Mark Kirk for one term in 2010.

Ten Democrats and six Republicans are vying for the spot on the November ballot.

According to federal campaign finance records, Krishnamoorthi significantly outraised his opponents in the race, having brought in more than $30 million for his campaign, the second most of any candidate for U.S. Senate. Stratton has raised more than $4 million and Kelly has raised more than $3 million. According to Capitol News Illinois, Illinois Future PAC has filled the void for Stratton, spending more than $10 million to boost her bid for the Senate seat. Gov. JB Pritzker has funded the PAC to the tune of at least $5 million.

The lunch crowd at the Cicero Public Safety Office’s polls was thin Tuesday, but that’s because this polling place has been popular for the last few weeks. More than 1,200 ballots were cast from there before the official primary day.

Suburban Cook County broke its previous early voting record with more than 122,000 early voters.

“I usually early vote because I like to research the judges and the candidates especially with the Senate race being so long. There’s like eight or 10 candidates on there, I need to know how they align with my values,” said voter Dora Tamez.

A new system in Cook County called Election Lens is clocking the ballots in real time as they care cast. The clerk’s office said the system allows their teams to see participation by day, hour and down to individual townships and polling places. That information will help them better staff polls in the future. It can also alert Cook County officials downtown if there are any issues at polls miles and miles away, like power or connectivity issues.

Election Lens also lets them track mail-in ballots. Officials said if they see mail-in ballots slowing down or falling behind schedule, they can take swifter action to keep them moving.

The Election Lens system has calculated that the suburbs with the highest turnout so far on primary day are Oak Park, River Forest and Evanston. That estimate does not count early voting or mail-in voting.

Voter turnout in the city of Chicago is nearing 20% with four more hours until polls close.

The Chicago Board of Elections said as of 3 p.m. 296,884 ballots have been cast,, including early voting and already-counted vote by mail ballots. That’s about 19.1% voter turnout citywide so far.

The demographics for turnout have also shifted slightly. The age group that has cast the most ballots so far is ages 65-74, with 62,148 ballots cast, followed by ages 55-64 (50,720 ballots), voter over 75 (48,129 ballots), then voters 35-44 (43,198 ballots) and voters 25-24 (42,360 ballots).

So far, according to city officials, only 11,990 ballots have been cast by voters aged 18-24.

Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker is unopposed in his primary, and is the first governor in Illinois to seek a third term since the 1980s.

His national profile has grown thanks to his vocal criticism of President Trump, especially during Operation Midway Blitz last fall.

Among the four Republicans vying to challenge him is Darren Bailey, a former state representative and state senator from southern Illinois who was the Republican nominee for governor in 2022. Pritzker beat Bailey in the general election by 13 points.

If Bailey again wins the GOP primary, that would set up a rematch in the Illinois governor’s race.

Illinois State Rep. LaShawn Ford, who is running in the Democratic primary for Congress in the 7th District, said he was initially denied a ballot when he went to his polling place on Tuesday, after he was mistakenly told he had already voted.

Ford’s campaign said he challenged the error, telling election officials he had not yet voted, and was offered a provisional ballot, which are issued to voters when there is a question about their eligibility to vote, but he declined.

“I was not going to accept a provisional ballot when I knew I was entitled to cast a regular ballot that would be counted without question,” Ford said in a statement. “Every voter deserves that same certainty and respect.”

After about 40 minutes, election officials resolved the issue and Ford was allowed to vote, according to his campaign.

“This should not happen to anyone,” Ford said. “If this can happen to me, it can happen to any voter. We must ensure that every eligible voter is able to cast their ballot without confusion, delay, or unnecessary barriers.”

CBS News Chicago has reached out to the Chicago Board of Elections for more information on the issue.

Turnout for the 2026 Illinois primary could be comparable to the last competitive presidential primary in 2020, a rare feat for a midterm election. Why is interest so high?

Anthony Salvanto, CBS News executive director of elections and surveys, said one of the reasons is the high number of contested races on the ballot this year. He said he expects to see 1.5 to 1.6 million Democrats and about 1 million Republicans cast their ballots in the primary, on par with turnout in 2020.

“For a midterm to come close to a presidential, that is really sort of eye-opening,” he said.

Salvanto said it’s not just that the races are competitive; early voting data points to a substantial number of voters who never voted in a primary before casting ballots this year. That may make the results less predictable than in previous primaries.

Salvanto said turnout among both Democrats and Republicans in Illinois looks strong so far.

Some of Illinois’ primary races are crowded with candidates; others don’t even have an incumbent on the ballot, guaranteeing a new face in the seat. North Central College political science professor Stephen Maynard Caliendo believes that will lead to some surprises.

“When you have this many candidates, somebody’s going to win with a pretty low percentage of the overall vote. And that’s problematic from a democratic standpoint,” Caliendo said. “We don’t in Illinois require that candidates get a majority plus one, as they do in other states. In other words, we won’t go into a runoff if nobody gets to 50%. Whoever gets the most votes, that’s going to be the person who is the candidate for November, and so because you’re talking about those percentages that are spread out over numbers of candidates, surprises can absolutely happen tonight.”

Chicago’s aldermanic and mayoral elections are nonpartisan and do involve runoffs if no candidate gets 50% of the vote. There have been runoffs in the last three mayoral elections. But the state does not have the same rules, and Chicago’s local elections are in 2027.

The Chicago Board of Elections say voter turnout is over 16%, including early voting and mail-in ballots, as of noon Tuesday.

Officials said as of 12 p.m., 250,364 ballots have been cast in total in the Illinois primary.

There are more than 1.5 million active registered voters in Chicago, putting voter turnout at 16.11% so far.

So far the highest number of ballots have been cast by Chicagoans aged 65-74 (53,074), followed by ages 55-64 (42,982), Chicagoans over the age of 75 (41,534) and then ages 35-44 (36,710).

The number of ballots cast has also risen steadily hour by hour since polls opened at 6 a.m.

Polls close in Illinois at 7 p.m.

The race to fill Dick Durbin’s Senate seat could provide to be a tone-setter for other Democratic midterm primaries on issues like President Trump’s deportation policies and outside spending on state races. It also could reveal how much sway Gov. JB Pritzker has on Illinois Democrats.

Pritzker has endorsed and donated millions to the campaign of his lieutenant governor, Juliana Stratton. But all three leading Democratic candidates –- Stratton, and Reps. Robin Kelly and Raja Krishnamoorthi –- have pledged to fight Trump on ICE and homeland security, as well as on other Trump Administration policies, but to differing degrees.

At the same time, the candidates have raised millions of dollars from outside groups including Super PACs and even individual out-of-state donors. Krishnamoorthi has outraised and outspent his opponents, and has outspent Stratton on advertising by more than $20 million, according to advertisement tracking firm AdImpact.

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There are seats on the 2026 Illinois primary ballot that haven’t been open in years, even decades.

Gov. JB Pritzker is running for a third term with a new running mate, because Lt. Gov. Juliana Stratton is one of the Democratic candidates for the U.S. Senate seat previously held for decades by U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin. Other contenders for the seat include U.S. Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi and U.S. Rep. Robin Kelly.

Because Krishnamoorthi and Kelly are both running for Senate, their U.S. House seats are now open in the 8th and 2nd districts. Former U.S. Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr., who previously represented the 2nd District, which Kelly now represents, from 1995 until Nov. 2012, when he stepped down citing health reasons, is on the ballot again and could win the Democratic nomination in a bid to reclaim the seat.

The 8th District, represented by Krishnamoorthi, includes the Far Northwest Side of Chicago and several west and northwest suburbs, including parts of Carol Stream, Schaumburg, Hoffman Estates, Geneva and Elgin.

U.S. Rep. Danny Davis is also retiring, opening a crowded ballot in the 7th District for a seat that’s been held for 30 years.

U.S. Rep. Jan Schakowsky’s retirement after nearly 30 years in office has opened a wide race with many candidates in the 9th District of Illinois.

Do you know where your polling place is?

To find your specific polling place, go to theIllinois Board of Elections website, where you need to enter your address. You can do the same thing at the clerk’s website for the county you live in.

Some areas, especially in the city of Chicago, have multiple polling place representing the same precinct in the same neighborhoods, or polling places that serve multiple precincts that are both located in that neighborhood. It’s best to check your polling place before you leave to cast your vote to make sure you’re going to the right place.

If you haven’t already cast your vote in Illinois’ primary, you’ve still got hours left to do so.

All polls in Illinois open at 6 a.m. on primary day and close at 7 p.m. If you’re still in line to vote at 7 p.m., stay in line because anyone in line will be allowed to cast their ballot and have their vote counted.

Chicago and Cook County both posted strong early and mail-in voting numbers before primary day but plenty of people also wait until the day of to cast their votes.