The Illinoize Election Night Live Blog (update 12:15am)
Sen. Darren Bailey (R-Xenia), the expected Republican nominee for Governor.
Here is our updated spreadsheet of results as they come in:
(If the sheet isn’t displaying correctly, click here.)
Updates will come from Patrick Pfingsten (pp), Ben Garbarek (bg), and Rebecca Holland (rh).
12:15 A.M.
The AP has called the Republican U.S. Senate primary for Kathy Salvi. -pp
11:15 PM:
The race for IL-13 appears to be set. Decatur-based educator and small business owner Regan Deering is poised to be the GOP nominee and will face Nikki Budzinski. One of her opponents in the GOP primary, Jesse Reising, has conceded. - BG
10:50 PM:
More from our Rebecca Holland on the race for IL-17 after tonight’s results:
Eric Sorenson won the Democratic primary in the 17th Congressional district and is expected to face Republican Esther Joy King.
Six Democrats and two Republicans ran for the seat being vacated by Rep. Cheri Bustos. The 6th district includes much of northwest Illinois, including part of the Quad Cities, Peoria and Rockford. Barack Obama won the district both in 2008 and 2012, and Donald Trump won it in both 2016 and 2020.
Sorensen, who lives in the Quad Cities, previously worked as a meteorologist for WQAD News 8 and as chief meteorologist at WREX. He is a proud member of the LGBTQ+ community, has served on the boards of Clock, Inc. and The Project of the Quad Cities, where he has helped connect people to health services. He also started Project Tornado, which brings meteorologists into schools to help kids feel safe during severe weather.
King practices law in East Moline and previously served as a captain in the U.S. Army Reserve where she spent time in Afghanistan, where she says she worked on women’s rights. During the U.S. military withdrawal from Afghanistan she said she helped dozens of young girls she previously taught to escape the Taliban.
10:48 PM:
Close call for Danny Davis. The veteran Chicago Democrat appears to narrowly escape a competitive primary challenge from community activist Kina Collins. - BG
10:44 PM:
Kathy Salvi has declared victory in the GOP race for US Senate. She’s set to face incumbent Sen. Tammy Duckworth who ran unopposed in the Democratic primary. Salvi’s husband Al also won the Republican nomination for US Senate in 1996, but lost to then Rep. Dick Durbin. - BG
10:37 PM:
Attorney Tom DeVore poised to win the GOP nomination for Illinois Attorney General, beating another Griffin-backed candidate. Griffin 0-3 on the evening. DeVore will face current AG Kwame Raoul who was unopposed in the Democratic primary. - BG
10:30 PM:
Minutes after Alexi Giannoulias declared victory, Anna Valencia is conceding the Democratic race for Secretary of State. - BG
10:28 PM:
WGN-TV’s Ben Bradley shared this interesting figure from tonight. For all the attention on the GOP gubernatorial race, Pritzker received more votes than all the Republican candidates combined with token opposition. Not necessarily foreshadowing for the November general, but a surprising data point. - BG
10:16 PM:
Alexi Giannoulias is declaring victory in the Democratic race for Secretary of State. Giannoulias and Chicago City Clerk Anna Valencia are the top two vote-getters in the race. The 2010 Democratic candidate for US Senate has had a solid lead since the polls closed but the race hasn’t been called yet. - BG
10:09 PM:
The AP is calling the Democratic primary for Illinois’s 13th Congressional seat for Nikki Budzinski. The former senior advisor to Gov. Pritzker was most recently the chief of staff at the Office of Management and Budget in Washington.
10:02 PM:
Pritzker gets his wish? After buying TV ads to help Bailey at Irvin’s expense, UVA’s Center for Politics Crystal Ball shifts the Illinois Governor’s race from “lean D” to “safe D”. - BG
9:58 PM:
Another Griffin-backed candidate concedes. John Milhiser tweeted this thread conceding the race for the GOP nomination for IL Secretary of State. - BG
9:55 PM:
More on the IL-06 race from our Rebecca Holland:
In a contentious race that pitted incumbents against each other, Sean Casten took the Democratic nomination for Illinois’ 6th Congressional District.
Casten, who has held the seat since 2018, faced Rep. Marie Newman, who currently represents the 3rd district but was drawn out of her seat during redistricting after the 2020 census.
As of 9:50 p.m. Casten had pulled in 66.8% of the votes, while Newman was at 30% with 96% of precincts reporting.
Prior to his election, Casten co-founded and led Recycled Energy Development, which focused on recycling wasted energy and converting energy facilities to cleaner, more economic uses. He has also served as president and CEO of Turbosteam Corporation.
Biden won the district by 11 points in 2020, and Gov. Pritzker won it by 5 points in 2018.
9:54 PM:
The race for Illinois’s 17th Congressional District is all but set. Former TV meteorologist Eric Sorenson is poised to win the Democratic primary. He would face Esther Joy King who is projected to win the GOP primary. - BG
9:47 PM:
Incumbent upset. Rep. Michael Zalewski conceded the Democratic primary for the Illinois’s 21st House District to Abdelnasser Rashid. - BG
9:40 PM:
Esther Joy King gets another shot at going to Washington. The AP is calling the race for the GOP nomination for IL-17 for King. King nearly upset Rep. Cheri Bustos in 2020. - BG
9:36 PM:
More on the IL-03 race from Rebecca Holland:
State Rep. Delia Ramirez handily won todays’ Democratic Primary in Illinois’ newly created 3rd Congressional District. With her win, Illinois added another Latino legislator to the U.S. House of Representatives, and Ramirez becomes the first Latina congresswoman from the Midwest.
Ramirez was elected to the Illinois General Assembly in 2018, and previously served in leadership positions for numerous organizations, including the Latin United Community Housing Association. She took a strong lead over Ald. Gilbert “Gil” Villegas (36th), her main competitor over the past few weeks.
Ramirez ran on a progressive platform and was endorsed by Sen. Elizabeth Warren, Sen. Bernie Sanders, Rep. Jesus “Chuy” Garcia (who currently represents a portion of the district), the Chicago Teachers Union, and the Working Families Party, among others.
She will represent the new 124.5 square mile district that runs from Western Avenue in the city and stretches west toward Humboldt Park, Logan Square, Albany Park, Portage Park, and into the suburbs out to Elmwood Park, Schiller Park, Bensenville, Elk Grove Village, Rosemont, Addison, Wheaton, Winfield, Bartlett and West Chicago.
Justin Brau was uncontested in the Republican primary. About 44% of the voting age population in the district is Latino, and President Biden won it by 41 points.
9:33 PM:
The concessions continue. Rep. Marie Newman concedes to Rep. Sean Casten saying in part, “while this is not the result we wanted, know that we have to unite in November to keep this seat blue and protect our Democratic majority.” - BG
9:28 PM:
Rep. Rodney Davis concedes to Rep. Mary Miller. - BG
9:25 PM:
Two incumbents survive.
Suburban Chicago Democratic Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi fends off a primary challenge from community activist Junaid Ahmed in the IL-08 race.
Meanwhile Central Illinois Republican Rep. Darin LaHood fends off three challengers in the GOP primary for IL-16. - BG
9:14 PM:
Another Griffin-backed candidate bites the dust. State Rep. Dan Brady will be the GOP nominee for Secretary of State, beating former US Attorney John Milhiser. - BG
9:03 PM:
Rep. Mary Miller survives. Wasserman is now projecting she’ll beat Rep. Rodney Davis in the GOP race for Illinois’s 15th Congressional District. The two members of Congress were pitted against each other after congressional redistricting.
Miller has made national headlines throughout her first term for gaffes, including this past week for saying the overturning of Roe v. Wade was a “victory for white life”. Miller was endorsed by former President Trump at a rally last week. - BG
8:58 PM:
The first Vietnamese-American on the ballot in state history is poised to pull off an upset in the Illinois House of Representatives District 13 Democratic primary. Hoan Huynh is projected to beat his well-funded opponent Eileen Dordek. -BG
8:35 PM:
Family matters - Jonathan Jackson, son of Rev. Jesse Jackson, is poised to win the Democratic race for Illinois’s 1st Congressional seat. The Cook Political Report’s Dave Wasserman is projecting a win for Jackson.
8:28 PM:
Aurora Mayor Richard Irvin just conceded the race for the GOP nomination for governor to state Sen. Darren Bailey. Irvin was backed by $50 million from billionaire Ken Griffin and will finish a distant second. - BG
8:13 PM:
Darren Bailey is expected to win the Republican primary for Illinois governor. NBC News is calling the race for the state senator from southern Illinois. -BG
7:57PM:
Here are the first notable results for the evening. Dave Wasserman of the Cook Political Report is calling the race for the Democratic nomination in Illinois’s 6th Congressional District for Rep. Sean Casten over Rep. Marie Newman. The two members of Congress were pitted against each other when Illinois lost a Congressional seat during the most recent census.
Wasserman is also calling the race for Illinois’s 3rd Congressional District for state Rep. Delia Ramirez over Chicago Alderman Gilbert Villegas. - BG
7:40 PM:
No surprise - Governor JB Pritzker has won the Democratic nomination for governor. The AP is calling the race for the incumbent governor, fending off a challenge from the lesser known Beverly Miles. -BG
7:00 PM:
Polls are closed. Let the fun begin. -pp
Patrick is live on WGN-TV tonight. You can watch on the old fashioned TV or online here.
