Illinois in Focus

(The Center Square) – Illinois saw 1.16 million early ballots cast as of Wednesday, roughly on par with the previous midterm election’s early vote turnout.

One political science professor says early voting may not be an important indicator for the state’s voters this year.

Ballots cast before election day come from two sources, mail-in voting and early in-person voting. As of Wednesday, the total number of in-person votes was about 608,000, while mail ballots returned totaled about 556,000 – less than half of all requested mail-in ballots.

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(The Center Square) – With tight races for the Illinois General Assembly taking place across the state, some downstate races receive less attention than some of the races in the Chicagoland area – even as many downstate races may be just as close this year.

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(The Center Square) – Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker and GOP gubernatorial candidate Darren Bailey sat beside each other Tuesday night for a wide-ranging forum on policy proposals, including some that would impact taxpayers.

The candidate forum, which aired on Chicagoland PBS station WTTW, was advertised to differ from typical televised debates, but both Pritzker and Bailey often spoke over one another.

The candidates were asked about a number of different fiscal policies, including addressing the size of the $56 billion state budget.

Bailey opened the budgetary discussion by saying the state budget hasn’t truly been balanced in at least half a century.

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(The Center Square) – Members of the Illinois Freedom Caucus are sounding the alarm over potential election insecurity issues caused by a federally indicted Central Illinois county clerk.

In Champaign County, Illinois, an area with about 210,000 residents and numerous different races listed on ballots around the jurisdiction, County Clerk Aaron Ammons is facing calls from local and statewide Republicans to step away from overseeing the 2026 midterm election.

What the clerk’s office referred to as a “technical issue” late last week led to a suspension in early voting later Thursday until Monday morning.

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With early voting in Illinois underway in most jurisdictions, Lt. Gov. Julianna Stratton – the Democrat hopeful to replace Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., in Congress – sat down with The Center Square to discuss politics, policies and goals for the seat if she wins the race. Stratton, a former state representative, has served as Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s second in command since taking office in 2019. Her opponent is Don Tracy, former chair of the state Republican Party and the Illinois Gaming Board under former Gov. Bruce Rauner. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See https://pcm.adswizz.com

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(The Center Square) – Early voting begins in Illinois on Thursday morning, but the state’s 40-day early voting period is accompanied by additional taxpayer costs.

The Center Square asked Rock Island County Clerk Karen Kinney if early voting resulted in additional staffing costs and taxpayer impact.

“Oh yes, it does, because we have to bring in election judges. There are additional employees throughout the election season,” Kinney said.

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(The Center Square) – New legislation has been filed to repeal an Illinois tax on sports wagering and fantasy contests. State Rep. Travis Weaver, R-Peoria, filed House Bill 5814 on Monday to repeal the tax that Gov. J.B. Pritzker signed into law last June. Weaver said the tax may be challenged in court. “Anytime a tax is tried for the first time ever, you’ve got to wonder why the other 49 states aren't doing it. It probably has to do with the fact that they think that it's illegal,” Weaver told The Center Square.

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(The Center Square) – A day after launching a new political action committee to support Democratic Party candidates around the country, Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker joined Texas Democrats at an event in Dallas on Wednesday.

Pritzker spoke just hours before Republicans opened a two-night convention in Dallas and said the GOP is clinically deranged and out of touch.

“And of course, we have Donald Trump himself, a president suffering from dementia,” Pritzker said. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See https://pcm.adswizz.com

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(The Center Square) – A new tax set to be imposed will soon make hotel rooms in Springfield the second-most taxed in the state, behind the city of Chicago. Debate over the new tax saw economic development pit against a burden the tax could place on the local hotel industry. A new 3% hotel tax passed by the Sangamon County Board on Tuesday is planned to fund an expansion of the publicly owned Bank of Springfield Center, which the county hopes to break ground on in the fall of 2027. 

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(The Center Square) – Following a U.S. Supreme Court decision Monday, Illinois elected officials are urging residents to send any mail-in ballots to be cast in the midterms ahead of election day. The highest court temporarily allowed the Trump administration to maintain an executive order placing restrictions on mail-in voting across the country, requiring the U.S. Postal Service to cross reference Homeland Security lists of legal citizen eligible voters. Ed Yohnka, spokesman for Illinois ACLU, said the ruling was disappointing but would allow the group's case to be ruled on to potentially block the executive order’s rule based on its merits. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See https://pcm.adswizz.com

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