As primary day arrives, candidates make last-minute pitch while voter turnout numbers remain low

Illinois voters go to the polls Tuesday to pick Democratic and Republican Party nominees for federal, state and county offices for the Nov. 8 general election amid a continued pandemic, a shaky economy, rising inflation, court-ordered social changes and sporadic gun violence.

Candidates fanned out across the state Monday to make final get-out-the-vote pushes, some flying to different cities to rally at Illinois airports, some traveling to events by bus, and others leading supporters on a march to the polls to cap the last day of early voting.

On Tuesday, polling places will be open from 6 a.m. to 7 p.m. across the state. Those in line at 7 p.m. are still allowed to fill out their ballots. In Chicago, 51 polling stations established throughout the city for early voting will be open on Tuesday for people to vote regardless of where they live in Chicago. In addition, precinct voting locations will be opened for voters who are assigned to vote there.

This is the first primary day in Illinois to occur this late in the year since at least the Great Depression. Weather is predicted to be mostly sunny with temperatures in the mid-80s throughout the state, with low humidity — a notable improvement to the usual primary date of mid-March. This year’s primary was pushed back due to delays in the release of federal census figures used to redraw the state’s political boundaries.

Despite the good weather, early indications show voter turnout could be low in what are already traditionally low-turnout, off-presidential year midterm primaries. Voters must select either a Democrat or Republican ballot that aligns them to a political party.

Across Illinois as of Monday morning, 393,924 votes had already been cast, either through early voting or voting by mail, according to Illinois State Board of Elections spokesman Matt Dietrich.

That’s shy of the 449,749 early votes and vote-by-mail ballots returned in the 2018 midterm primary but nearly double the 202,020 early votes and mail ballots cast in 2014. Statewide voter turnout in the 2018 primary was 26.5%, Dietrich said, while 18.1% of registered voters turned out in the 2014 primary.

In Chicago, 98,512 votes had been cast by early voting or voting by mail, said Chicago Board of Elections spokesman Max Bever. By comparison, a total of 104,463 ballots had been cast two days before the 2018 midterm primary, Bever said.

The low turnout comes despite several contested races across the ballot for nominations in both parties.

The bulk of the campaign attention, spending and advertising has been devoted to the six-way race for the Republican nomination for governor and the right to challenge reelection-seeking, first-term Democratic Gov. J.B. Pritzker in the fall.

Pritzker, who faces nominal primary opposition, has already dubbed his primary night victory party at a South Loop hotel as a “general election kickoff event.”

The GOP race features state Sen. Darren Bailey of Xenia, Aurora Mayor Richard Irvin, businessman Gary Rabine of Bull Valley, former state Sen. Paul Schimpf of Waterloo, venture capitalist Jesse Sullivan of Petersburg and attorney Max Solomon of Hazel Crest as the party seeks a nominee who can return the Governor’s Mansion to Republicans after Pritzker’s defeat of Republican Gov. Bruce Rauner four years ago.

For Democrats, the marquee statewide primary contest is the race for secretary of state as incumbent Jesse White retires after first being elected to the statewide office in 1998. The Democratic race includes former state Treasurer Alexi Giannoulias, Chicago City Clerk Anna Valencia and Chicago Ald. David Moore, 17th. There’s also a Republican primary contest for the office that features state Rep. Dan Brady of Bloomington and former federal and county prosecutor John Milhiser of Springfield.

Republicans, shut out of all statewide offices, also have a primary for state attorney general involving Deerfield business attorney Steve Kim, Thomas DeVore of Sorrento and David Shestokas of Orland Park. The winner will face incumbent Democrat Kwame Raoul in the general election.

Another GOP statewide primary is to select the nominee to take on first-term Democratic U.S. Sen. Tammy Duckworth of Hoffman Estates. The Republican field includes Casey Chlebek of Lake Forest, Matthew Dubiel of Naperville, Robert Piton of Geneva, Peggy Hubbard of Belleville, Kathy Salvi of Mundelein, Jimmy Lee Tillman of Chicago and Anthony Williams of Dolton.

Other primaries in both parties are more localized, particularly with races for Congress in newly drawn districts amid the state’s loss of one of its current 18 U.S. House districts.

The largest field of candidates is in the 1st Congressional District to replace veteran Democratic U.S. Rep. Bobby Rush, who is retiring after 30 years in Congress in January. The newly drawn district stretches southwest from the South Side to Braidwood and Bourbonnais.

The race has produced a field of 17 Democrats and four Republicans vying for party nominations — though given how solidly Democratic the district is the Democratic Party’s nominee is expected to easily win the general election. The high interest by candidates is also reflective of the rarity with which congressional seats become open.

Another Democratic congressional primary race is in the west and southwest suburban 6th District, featuring a contest between two Democratic incumbents — two-term U.S. Rep. Sean Casten of Downers Grove and first-term U.S. Rep. Marie Newman of LaGrange. Newman opted to challenge Casten after Democratic mapmakers placed her residence in the same district as U.S. Rep. Jesus “Chuy” Garcia. Charles Hughes of Chicago is a third Democrat in the race.

Seeking to challenge that winner are six Republicans vying for the GOP nomination: Burr Ridge Mayor Gary Grasso, Orland Park Mayor Keith Pekau, Niki Conforti of Glen Ellyn, Scott Kaspar of Orland Park, and Catherine O’Shea and Robert Cruz of Oak Lawn.

Another high-profile Democratic congressional race is in the newly drawn 3rd District, which stretches westward from the city’s Logan Square neighborhood to West Chicago. Democrats drew the district with aims of electing a second Latino member to Illinois’ congressional delegation along with Garcia. Democrats seeking the nomination are Chicago Ald. Gilbert Villegas, 36th, and state Rep. Delia Ramirez of Chicago. Two other Chicago Democrats in the field are Iymen Chehade and Juan Enrique Aguirre of Chicago.

In the 7th Congressional District, which stretches from the near-west suburbs and West Side to the South Side, 25-year U.S. Rep. Danny Davis of Chicago is facing a challenge from activist Kina Collins of Chicago. A third Democrat, Denarvis Mendenhall of Maywood, is also on the ballot.

In the western suburbs and exurbs, six Republicans are competing for the right to challenge five-term Democratic U.S. Rep. Bill Foster of Naperville in the 11th District and five Republicans are vying for the nomination to challenge two-term Democratic U.S. Rep. Lauren Underwood of Naperville in the 14th Congressional District.

Downstate, the most watched congressional primary is the state’s lone one-on-one matchup of Republican members of Congress: five-term U.S. Rep. Rodney Davis of Taylorville and first-term U.S. Rep. Mary Miller of Oakland. The central Illinois 15th District is heavily Republican and the winner of the primary is expected to win the general election in November.

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