2026 Illinois Midterm Elections: Everything you should know

CHICAGO - Labor Day weekend marked the unofficial kickoff of the 2026 Midterm General Election season in Illinois and around the country.

Several offices at the federal, state, and local levels will be on the ballot for voters in Chicago and the surrounding suburbs.

Here is a rundown of everything you should know before voting starts on several significant races in our area.

Why does this election matter?

The 2026 midterm elections will almost certainly have far-reaching consequences for Chicago, the state and the nation. 

The most obvious issue is control of Congress. Democrats are widely expected to retake the House of Representatives, and potentially even the Senate, as President Donald Trump’s approval rating has approached record lows in recent polls.

Chicago-area voters routinely send Democratic candidates to Congress, so this year’s elections in Illinois won’t actually make a difference in control of either chamber.

However, this year will see an unusually high number of new faces in the Illinois delegation to the nation’s Capitol with the retirement of four longtime Democratic stalwarts.

Sen. Dick Durbin and Reps. Danny Davis (7th), Jesus "Chuy" Garcia (4th) and Jan Schakowsky (9th) all announced they were retiring after this year and wouldn’t run again for their seats.

Reps. Raja Krishnamoorthi (8th) and Robin Kelly (2nd) both ran unsuccessfully for Durbin’s Senate seat, which means they won’t be returning to Washington either come January.

They are all widely expected to be succeeded by the Democratic candidates in each race, including the state’s sitting Lt. Gov. Juliana Stratton, who won the nomination for Durbin’s Senate seat. She would be only the state’s second Black woman to serve as a U.S. senator.

Gov. JB Pritzker is also primed to win a third term in office, the first Illinois governor to do so since Jim Thompson in the 1980s. While Democrats are also expected to maintain their trifecta in state government, Pritzker’s probable reelection could be especially noteworthy if he runs for president in 2028 because candidates will likely begin announcing their campaigns in the first few months of next year.

Voters in Chicago will also, for the first time, fully elect the members of the city’s Board of Education. The board will be made of 21 members: 20 members each representing a sub-district and one president elected at-large. It’s a historic election as it will be the first time the board won’t include members appointed by a Chicago mayor.

When is Election Day?

Election Day is on Tuesday, Nov. 3.

When does early voting start?

Early voting across Illinois begins on Sept. 24, but check your local election authority for specific times and locations for where to vote early and in person.

Those wishing to vote by mail can already request a ballot in the mail. The first day that election authorities can mail out those ballots is Sept. 24. Mail-in ballots must be postmarked by Election Day in order to be counted.

Can I register to vote?

Residents can look up whether or not they are registered to vote at the State Board of Elections website: elections.il.gov.

The registration period will close at 11:59 p.m. on Oct. 18. After that date, eligible residents can still register during the "grace period" through Election Day.

Here are the requirements to register to vote in Illinois:

• Must be a U.S. citizen
• Must be 18 years old
• Must have been a resident of the precinct at least 30 days prior to Election Day

Eligible residents can vote online, by mail, or in person at various locations like their county clerk’s office, public libraries, city or village offices, and more.

Contact your local election authority for more information. That will typically be your county clerk’s office, although the City of Chicago has its own election office.

• Chicago Board of Elections
• Suburban Cook County Clerk
• DeKalb County Clerk
• DuPage County Clerk
• Grundy County Clerk
• Kane County Clerk
• Kankakee County Clerk
• Kendall County Clerk
• Lake County Clerk
• LaSalle County Clerk
• McHenry County Clerk
• Will County Clerk

Key races on the ballot

Here is a rundown of some of the major races on the ballot this November in Chicago and the surrounding area.

Federal

U.S. Senate: Senators are elected statewide

• Juliana Stratton (D)
• Don Tracy (R)

U.S. House: Illinois has 17 House districts, including 12 that cover parts of the Chicagoland area.

District 1 (Includes much of Chicago's South Side and parts of the south suburbs)

• Jonathan Jackson (D/Incumbent)
• Christian Maxwell (R)

District 2 (Includes parts of Chicago's South Side and south suburbs)

• Donna Miller (D)
• Michael Scott Noack (R)

District 3 (Includes parts of Chicago's Northwest Side, and northwest and western suburbs)

• Delia Ramirez (D/Incumbent)
• Angel Oakley (R)

District 4 (Includes parts of Chicago's Southwest Side and western suburbs)

• Patty Garcia (D)
• Chris Getty (Independent)
• Lupe Castillo (R)
• Ed Hersehy (Working Class Party)

District 5 (Includes parts of Chicago's North Side and northwest suburbs)

• Mike Quigley (D/Incumbent)
• Tommy Hanson (R)

District 6 (Includes parts of the west, south and southwest suburbs)

• Sean Casten (D/Incumbent)
• Niki Conforti (R)

District 7 (Includes parts of Chicago's Loop, West and South Sides)

• La Shawn K. Ford (D)
• Chad Koppie (R)

District 8 (Includes parts of the northwest suburbs)

• Melissa L. Bean (D)
• Jennifer Davis (R)

District 9 (Includes parts of Chicago's North Side and north suburbs)

• Daniel Biss (D)
• John Elleson (R)

District 10 (Includes much of the northern suburbs)

• Brad Schneider (D/Incumbent)
• Carl Lambrecht (R)

District 11 (Includes parts of the southwest and western suburbs)

• Bill Foster (D/Incumbent)
• Jeff Walter (R)

District 14 (Includes much of the far southwest suburbs)

• Lauren Underwood (D/Incumbent)
• Jim Marter (R)

State

Governor

• JB Pritzker (D/Incumbent)
• Darren Bailey (R)

Attorney General

• Kwame Raoul (D/Incumbent)
• Bob Fioretti (R)

Secretary of State

• Alexi Giannoulias (D/Incumbent)
• Diane Harris (R)

Comptroller

• Margaret Croke (D)
• Bryan Drew (R)

Treasurer

• Michael Frerichs (D/Incumbent)
• Max Solomon (R)

Illinois General Assembly

Each of the 118 seats in the Illinois House of Representatives will be on the ballot this November.

Only some of the Illinois Senate's 59 seats are up for election this year.

Cook County

Board President

• Toni Preckwinkle (D/Incumbent)
• Michael Murphy (Libertarian)

Assessor

• Pat Hynes (D)
• Nico Tsatsoulis (Libertarian)

Sheriff

• Thomas Dart (D/Incumbent)
• Brad Sandefur (Libertarian)

Board of Commissioners

Each of the 17 seats on the Cook County Board of Commissioners will also be on the ballot.

Chicago Board of Education

The Chicago Board of Education will consist of 21 elected members, with 20 members representing individual districts and one president elected district-wide. Click here for more information on the new school board composition and district races. Below is the latest list of candidates for the presidential seat.

President

• Jessica Biggs
• Hilario Dominguez
• Victor P. Henderson
• Sendhi Revuluri

Sitting board member Jennifer Custer announced last month that she was dropping her bid for the board president spot.