Election Day in Illinois: What to know about Tuesday’s primary

The presidential nominations of Democratic incumbent Joe Biden and Republican challenger Donald Trump are already certain. So Tuesday’s primary Election Day in Illinois is focused on several down-ballot races as many are expecting a lower voter turnout than years when the presidential races were more competitive.

Here’s what to know about the Illinois primary, including the Bring Chicago Home referendum. For more news, sign up for our politics newsletter.

How to vote

Monday marks the final day of early voting in Chicago and the suburbs. And Tuesday is Election Day. So voters need to either go to their local polling places to cast their ballots or if they want to vote by mail still Tuesday is the latest date a mail-in ballot can be postmarked to be counted. Any registered voter may participate in any party’s primary. Illinois does not register voters by party but voters must choose whether to pull a Republican or Democratic ballot.

On Election Day, polls close at 7 p.m.

If you live in Chicago, here’s our voters’ guide. In Chicago, voters are being offered a newly designed “I voted!” sticker. And here’s our guide for suburban voters.

To register on Election Day or in person during early voting, you must bring two forms of identification, one of which must list your current address. Here is a list of acceptable forms of ID. If you are already registered and your address is correct, you do not need to bring your ID — though it’s not a bad idea to bring it in case your signature doesn’t match the one on file.

What are the races to watch?

Three incumbent congressmen are facing the most competitive challenges — two Chicago Democrats and one downstate Republican. There’s also a heated race to replace Kim Foxx as Cook County state’s attorney and a controversial Chicago referendum to hike a real estate tax on $1 million-plus properties to raise money for homeless services. Scores of state legislative and other local contests also are on the ballot.

• On Election Day, progressive candidates and causes are at the center of Democratic primary ballot

Cook County State’s Attorney

Two Democrats are seeking the become the nominee for Cook County’s next state’s attorney in November. Retired Appellate Judge and former prosecutor Eileen O’Neill Burke is facing off against former prosecutor, government official and attorney Clayton Harris III. More than $4 million in fundraising has poured into the race, with most going to O’Neill Burke. Harris has gotten the backing of Foxx’s mentor, Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle and the county’s Democratic Party, and has pledged to uphold Foxx’s progressive reforms while more publicly highlighting successful prosecutions. O’Neill Burke has pledged to maintain some of Foxx’s programs, but said she’d unwind her retail theft policies and ask for detention “each and every time” someone is found with an assault weapon, threatens anyone with a weapon, or is involved in a violent crime. Republican Robert Fioretti, who has no challenger in the primary, will face the winner.

• O’Neill Burke rips Foxx in speech days before state’s attorney primary

• Harris leans on personal story in state’s attorney stump speech

• More than $4 million has poured into the Democratic primary for Cook County state’s attorney. Here’s who’s contributing to the campaigns.

7th Congressional District

In the race to represent the 7th Congressional District — which stretches from the west suburbs through Chicago’s West Side and all the way downtown and then north to the Old Town neighborhood and south to West Englewood — Democratic U.S. Rep. Danny Davis is seeking a 15th term versus four opponents. He’s running against Chicago City Treasurer Melissa Conyears-Ervin, progressive candidate Kina Collins, who is making her third challenge to Davis, Kouri Marshall and Nikhil Batia.

• As U.S. Rep. Danny Davis seeks 15th term, opponents argue it’s time to move on

Bring Chicago Home

On Chicago ballots will be a multiparagraph referendum question backed by Mayor Brandon Johnson to raise the real estate transfer tax on the sale of all $1 million-plus properties. Surviving late court challenges, the referendum would raise, on average, an additional $100 million annually for homeless services, supporters say. But real estate interests warn the extra costs will threaten Chicago’s recovery from the pandemic, exacerbate office vacancies and impede fresh development.

Other races to watch

The two other top congressional contests feature U.S. Rep. Jesus “Chuy” García facing off against Chicago Ald. Raymond Lopez in the Democratic primary race in the Latino-heavy 4th district and U.S. Rep. Mike Bost fending off a challenge from Darren Bailey in the Republican primary’s deep downstate 12th district race. Trump endorsed Bost over Bailey, who in 2022 lost his bid for governor.

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There are two other races in the suburbs. Democratic U.S. Rep. Bill Foster faces progressive challenger Qasim Rashid in the 11th Congressional District, which runs from McHenry through western Kane County and southern portions of DuPage County. In the 6th district, which includes west and southwestern suburbs as well as parts of the Southwest Side, U.S. Rep. Sean Casten faces lower-funded campaigns from public health administrator Mahnoor Ahmad and Charles Hughes, who has run for office several times before, in the Democratic primary.

On the Illinois Supreme Court, Justice Joy Cunningham is seeking to be elected to a full term after being appointed to fill the vacancy of Justice Anne Burke. She’s running against Jesse Reyes, an appellate court judge who finished second in the 2020 race for a seat on the state’s highest court.

Two other county races have generated interest. First-term Cook County Clerk of the Court Iris Martinez is facing off against Mariyana Spyropoulos, a commissioner on the board of the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Greater Chicago. And five-term Cook County Board of Review member Larry Rogers Jr. is being challenged by Larecia Tucker, who is is being backed by Cook County Assessor Fritz Kaegi in a high-spending race.

All 118 House seats and 23 of 59 Senate seats are on ballots this Tuesday. The race that’s gotten the most attention is for the 20th district Senate seat on Chicago’s North and Northwest sides. There’s a four-way Democratic contest between incumbent state Sen. Natalie Toro, who was appointed to the seat last year and has the backing of several state and local Chicago-area Democrats, Graciela Guzmán, an organizer for the Chicago Teachers’ Union, Dave Nayak, who owns a farming business and runs a free asthma and allergy clinic in Roscoe Village, and Geary Yonker, a community organizer in Logan Square.

• Democratic incumbents face primary competition as party seeks to keep hold on Illinois legislature

• Trump’s Illinois delegates: Some tout election denials, others claim vaccines were useless or QR codes lead to government tracking

• U.S. Supreme Court ruling allows Donald Trump to remain on Illinois primary ballot

Endorsements

The Tribune Editorial Board continued its decadeslong tradition of endorsing political candidates appearing on Illinois ballots. Here are their endorsements for the 2024 primary.