Illinois Primaries Kick Off, and They’re Not Just Presidential

President Joe Biden talks with Rep. Danny Davis (D-Ill.), as Emanuel Cleaver (D-Mo.) watches after the State of the Union address in the House Chamber of the U.S. Capitol in Washington on Feb. 7, 2023. Jacquelyn Martin /AFP via Getty Images

Illinois is holding primaries on March 19—and while the presidential contests are now of less interest, they won’t be the only races that day in the Land of Lincoln.

The Democrat and Republican presidential primaries follow decisive March 12 presidential primaries in multiple states.

That day’s contests saw President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump secure delegate majorities to their respective party conventions. Both men are now presumptive nominees for the presidency.

“We now have to go on to victory because our country’s in serious trouble,” President Trump said in a victory speech after the races.

President Trump’s last serious rival in the GOP, former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley, dropped out after delegate-heavy contests on March 5, Super Tuesday.

She won a single state, Vermont, during that set of races. Ms. Haley hasn’t yet endorsed President Trump.

Republican presidential candidate former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley speaks with the press in North Augusta, S.C., on Feb. 21, 2024. Madalina Vasiliu/The Epoch Times

The March 19 presidential primaries in Illinois will come alongside presidential primaries that same day in Arizona, Florida, Kansas, and Ohio.

All will involve both parties except Florida, where Democrats effectively canceled their primary by only submitting President Biden’s name to the secretary of state.

In Illinois, the polls open at 6 a.m. CT and close at 7 p.m. A webpage operated by the state’s Board of Elections enables voters to identify their election-day polling places.

Expanded early voting began in more places across Illinois earlier this month after starting at a more limited range of sites in February.

Early voting was paused in Chicago in February when an appellate court judge ordered the removal of a judicial candidate’s name from the Democrat ballot.

Vote by mail is also an option.

Other Illinois Races and Referenda

The Illinois State Board of Elections has a list of all offices up for election across the state on March 19, ranging from the Prairie Du Pont Levee and Sanitary District, near St. Louis, to circuit and subcircuit judgeships in various districts.

Voters can choose between the Democrat and Republican primary ballots.

Chicagoans will be able to choose nominees for U.S. representative, state senator, state representative, Water Reclamation District commissioner, Cook County circuit court clerk, Cook County state’s attorney, Cook County commissioner, Board of Review commissioner, Illinois Supreme Court judge, Illinois Appellate Court judge, circuit court judge, and subcircuit judge.

In addition, they will be able to vote on their ward committeeperson and both regular and alternate delegates to their party’s national convention.

Chicagoans will also be able to vote on various referenda, some localized to specific precincts within particular wards.

For example, voters in Ward 7’s eighth precinct will be able to weigh in on a possible community benefits agreement “to prevent the displacement of renters, condo and home owners in South Shore in light of the impact of the Obama Center.”

Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker speaks during a ceremonial groundbreaking at the Obama Presidential Center in Jackson Park, in Chicago, on Sept. 28, 2021. Scott Olson/Getty Images

One major ballot question in the Windy City is on the “Bring Chicago Home” referendum, an initiative supported by Mayor Brandon Johnson.

It proposes to raise taxes on real estate transfers of more than $1 million to fund “permanent affordable housing and the services necessary to obtain and maintain permanent housing in the City of Chicago” for the homeless.

It would also lower taxes on real estate transfers of less than $1 million.

The Illinois Supreme Court ruled on March 13 that votes on the measure will be counted.

That upholds an appellate court decision overturning a Cook County judge’s decision to discount votes on the measure, which has drawn opposition from the real estate industry.

There will be referenda on various other issues on ballots across the state, such as school funding.

Noteworthy Races

One key primary will be the Democrats’ contest in Illinois’s Sixth District. The district covers parts of Cook and DuPage counties, encompassing heavily Arab American sections of the southwestern suburbs.

Incumbent Rep. Sean Casten (D-Ill.), born in Ireland to American energy recycling entrepreneur Thomas Casten, is facing two challengers, Nicor Gas operations technician Charles Hughes and public health administrator Mahnoor Ahmad.

Pakistan-born Ms. Ahmad is calling for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza, while Mr. Hughes, born in Chicago, advocates a two-state solution to the Israeli–Palestinian conflict.

Rep. Sean Casten (D-Ill.) speaks during a news conference outside the U.S. Capitol in Washington on Feb. 8, 2022. Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

“Every part of the world is rising up and turning against what Israel is doing. We cannot go on like this. It is unsustainable to be with the status quo right now,” Ms. Ahmad said in a December 2023 interview with Ray Hanania on US Arab Radio.

Rep. Danny K. Davis (D-Ill.) will also face numerous Democrat primary challengers for his Seventh District seat, which covers much of the West and South Sides of Chicago.

The Intercept reported that Mr. Davis allegedly used money from his office for campaign advertising, according to a complaint from a constituent to the House Ethics Committee.

One of his opponents, Chicago Treasurer Melissa Conyears-Ervin, the wife of 28th Ward Alderman Jason Ervin, has dealt with ethics-related scrutiny, too.

In late 2023, the Chicago Board of Ethics ratified a determination from City of Chicago Inspector General Deborah Witzburg that the treasurer fired a pair of city workers after they warned her that she was violating ethical guidelines by using official resources to promote a prayer meeting.

The city reached a $100,000 settlement with the employees preventing them from discussing their experiences, according to the Chicago Tribune.

WTTW reported that a scheduled March 11 Chicago Board of Ethics meeting investigating Ms. Conyears-Ervin didn’t convene because a majority of the board couldn’t attend.

Chicago Treasurer Melissa Conyears-Ervin listens as her press secretary, Yolanda Joe, speaks during an interview at Ms. Conyears-Ervin’s office in City Hall in Chicago on Nov. 21, 2019. John J. Kim/Chicago Tribune/TNS

Mr. Davis’s opponents on March 19 also include Kina Collins, a community organizer who has run for his seat twice before.

She came within striking distance in the 2022 Democratic primary, receiving 45.7 percent of the vote to Mr. Davis’s 51.9 percent.

Educator Nikhil Bhatia and Kouri Marshall, deputy director of personnel for Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker, are in the running, too.

The Republican primary contest in Illinois’s 17th District, ranked competitive but “Lean Democrat” by the nonpartisan Cook Political Report, also deserves some attention.

First-term incumbent Rep. Eric Sorensen (D-Ill.), a former television meteorologist, isn’t facing any challengers within his party in the primary.

But he only won his seat by 4 percent in the 2022 general election, besting Republican and U.S. Army reservist Esther Joy King 52 percent to 48 percent.

That suggests that the winner of the March 19 Republican contest could give Mr. Sorensen a serious challenge several months from now, particularly if the national party concentrates more of its attention and resources on not losing the House.

Farmer Scott Crowl, who formerly led the American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees, is facing retired Judge Joe McGraw.

Illinois state Sen. Darin LaHood speaks in Peoria, Ill., on Sept. 10, 2015. Ron Johnson/Journal Star via AP

Both men have emphasized their concern with the situation at the United States’ southern border.

Mr. McGraw boasts endorsements from a slew of local and even national political leaders, including Reps. Darrin LaHood (R-Ill.) and Elise Stefanik (R-N.Y.).

Mr. Crowl’s campaign website doesn’t have endorsements on par with Mr. McGraw’s. It does describe him as “an American First Republican.”