We’re less than six weeks to primary day, and candidates for governor made some moves that could have big consequences leading up to March 20.Democratic candidate J.B. Pritzker was forced to apologize for how he talked about African-American politicians on taped phone calls from 2008 between him and then-Gov. Rod Blagojevich. We explain what he said then and what the candidates are saying now. State Rep. Jeanne Ives is defending her controversial political attack ad targeting her Republican primary opponent, incumbent Gov. Bruce Rauner. WBEZ’s politics team broke all of that down during our weekly Illinois Elections 2018 podcast.

It was another testy week for politicians across Illinois and Chicago: Gov. Bruce Rauner’s GOP primary challenger, State Rep. Jeanne Ives, suddenly grabbed the spotlight this week. A fiery debate performance and a wallop of campaign cash have some saying she’s a contender in the March primary.The number of candidates seeking to replace U.S. Rep. Luis Gutierrez is down to four. We explain why this local race has national implications.And if you want to get on a ballot in Illinois, you need to gather petition signatures.. And if an opponent wants you off the ballot? They’re going to scrutinize those signatures. All of them.  WBEZ’s politics team broke all of that down during our weekly Illinois Elections 2018 podcast, hosted this week by Marc Garber.

This week featured the first, fiery debate among Democratic Party candidates for governor of Illinois. We also had a chance to read an emoji-laden inspector general’s report that cleared State Sen. Ira Silverstein of Chicago of sexual harassment charges — with a caveat. And we reviewed a recently-unsealed lawsuit that alleges Bruce Rauner took private business meetings during his time as governor. Hear WBEZ’s politics team break down the latest state and local elections news, featuring host Melba Lara and WBEZ state politics reporters Dave McKinney and Tony Arnold.

Starting Jan. 26, WBEZ’s Illinois Elections 2018 podcast translates the biggest Illinois and Chicago election news ahead of the March primary. Listen each Friday afternoon to catch up on the latest developments, hear why they matter, and learn how they affect you. Because, hey, democracy moves pretty fast. If you don’t pay attention, you could miss it.