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Illinois' 4th Congressional District election, 2020 (March 17 Democratic primary)
- Primary date: March 17
- Primary type: Open
- Registration deadline(s): Feb. 18; Feb. 29 (online)
- Online registration: Yes
- Same-day registration: Yes
- Early voting starts: March 2
- Absentee/mail voting deadline(s): March 17 (postmarked); March 31 (received)
- Voter ID: No ID
- Poll times: 6 a.m. to 7 p.m.
2022 →
← 2018
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| Illinois' 4th Congressional District |
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| Democratic primary Republican primary General election |
| Election details |
| Filing deadline: December 2, 2019 |
| Primary: March 17, 2020 General: November 3, 2020 Pre-election incumbent: Jesus Garcia (Democratic) |
| How to vote |
| Poll times: 6 a.m. to 7 p.m. Voting in Illinois |
| Race ratings |
Inside Elections: Solid Democratic Sabato's Crystal Ball: Safe Democratic |
| Ballotpedia analysis |
| U.S. Senate battlegrounds U.S. House battlegrounds Federal and state primary competitiveness Ballotpedia's Election Analysis Hub, 2020 |
| See also |
U.S. Senate • 1st • 2nd • 3rd • 4th • 5th • 6th • 7th • 8th • 9th • 10th • 11th • 12th • 13th • 14th • 15th • 16th • 17th • 18th Illinois elections, 2020 U.S. Congress elections, 2020 U.S. Senate elections, 2020 U.S. House elections, 2020 |
A Democratic Party primary took place on March 17, 2020, in Illinois' 4th Congressional District to determine which Democratic candidate would run in the district's general election on November 3, 2020.
Incumbent Jesus Garcia advanced from the Democratic primary for U.S. House Illinois District 4.
| Candidate filing deadline | Primary election | General election |
|---|---|---|
Heading into the election, the incumbent was Jesus Garcia (Democrat), who was first elected in 2018.
A primary election is an election in which registered voters select a candidate that they believe should be a political party's candidate for elected office to run in the general election. They are also used to choose convention delegates and party leaders. Primaries are state-level and local-level elections that take place prior to a general election. In Illinois, state law provides for a closed primary where a voter must be affiliated with a party to vote in that party's primary. However, voters state their affiliation at the polls and any voter may change their affiliation on the day of the primary. A voter's eligibility to vote a party's ballot may be challenged.[1]
For information about which offices are nominated via primary election, see this article.
This page focuses on Illinois' 4th Congressional District Democratic primary. For more in-depth information on the district's Republican primary and the general election, see the following pages:
- Illinois' 4th Congressional District election, 2020 (March 17 Republican primary)
- Illinois' 4th Congressional District election, 2020
Election procedure changes in 2020
Ballotpedia provided comprehensive coverage of how election dates and procedures changed in 2020. While the majority of changes occurred as a result of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, some changes occurred for other reasons.
Illinois modified its primary election process as follows:
- Candidate filing procedures: Candidates for state-level office were exempted from filing statements of economic interests for the duration of the governor's disaster proclamation period and for 30 days thereafter.
For a full timeline about election modifications made in response to the COVID-19 outbreak, click here.
Candidates and election results
Democratic primary election
Democratic primary for U.S. House Illinois District 4
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ |  | Jesus Garcia | 100.0 | 88,874 |
| Total votes: 88,874 | |||
 = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
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District analysis
- See also: The Cook Political Report's Partisan Voter Index
- See also: FiveThirtyEight's elasticity scores
The 2017 Cook Partisan Voter Index for this district was D+33, meaning that in the previous two presidential elections, this district's results were 33 percentage points more Democratic than the national average. This made Illinois' 4th Congressional District the 19th most Democratic nationally.[2]
FiveThirtyEight's September 2018 elasticity score for states and congressional districts measured "how sensitive it is to changes in the national political environment." This district's elasticity score was 1.01. This means that for every 1 point the national political mood moved toward a party, the district was expected to move 1.01 points toward that party.[3]
Campaign finance
This section contains campaign finance figures from the Federal Election Commission covering all candidate fundraising and spending in this election.[4] It does not include information on fundraising before the current campaign cycle or on spending by satellite groups. The numbers in this section are updated as candidates file new campaign finance reports. Candidates for Congress are required to file financial reports on a quarterly basis, as well as two weeks before any primary, runoff, or general election in which they will be on the ballot and upon the termination of any campaign committees.[5] The chart below contains data from financial reports submitted to the Federal Election Commission.
| Name | Party | Receipts* | Disbursements** | Cash on hand | Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jesus Garcia | Democratic Party | $838,109 | $726,422 | $126,757 | As of December 31, 2020 |
|
Source: Federal Elections Commission, "Campaign finance data," 2020. This product uses the openFEC API but is not endorsed or certified by the Federal Election Commission (FEC).
* According to the FEC, "Receipts are anything of value (money, goods, services or property) received by a political committee." |
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General election race ratings
- See also: Race rating definitions and methods
Ballotpedia provides race ratings from four outlets: The Cook Political Report, Inside Elections, Sabato's Crystal Ball, and DDHQ/The Hill. Each race rating indicates if one party is perceived to have an advantage in the race and, if so, the degree of advantage:
- Safe and Solid ratings indicate that one party has a clear edge and the race is not competitive.
- Likely ratings indicate that one party has a clear edge, but an upset is possible.
- Lean ratings indicate that one party has a small edge, but the race is competitive.[6]
- Toss-up ratings indicate that neither party has an advantage.
Race ratings are informed by a number of factors, including polling, candidate quality, and election result history in the race's district or state.[7][8][9]
| Race ratings: Illinois' 4th Congressional District election, 2020 | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Race tracker | Race ratings | ||||||||
| November 3, 2020 | October 27, 2020 | October 20, 2020 | October 13, 2020 | ||||||
| The Cook Political Report | Solid Democratic | Solid Democratic | Solid Democratic | Solid Democratic | |||||
| Inside Elections with Nathan L. Gonzales | Solid Democratic | Solid Democratic | Solid Democratic | Solid Democratic | |||||
| Larry J. Sabato's Crystal Ball | Safe Democratic | Safe Democratic | Safe Democratic | Safe Democratic | |||||
| Note: Ballotpedia updates external race ratings every week throughout the election season. | |||||||||
See also
- Illinois' 4th Congressional District election, 2020 (March 17 Republican primary)
- Illinois' 4th Congressional District election, 2020
- United States House elections in Illinois, 2020 (March 17 Democratic primaries)
- United States House elections in Illinois, 2020 (March 17 Republican primaries)
- United States House Democratic Party primaries, 2020
- United States House Republican Party primaries, 2020
- United States House of Representatives elections, 2020
- U.S. House battlegrounds, 2020
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ Illinois General Assembly, "Ill. Rev. Stat. ch. 10, § 5/7–59," accessed September 10, 2025
- ↑ Cook Political Report, "Introducing the 2017 Cook Political Report Partisan Voter Index," April 7, 2017
- ↑ FiveThirtyEight, "Election Update: The Most (And Least) Elastic States And Districts," September 6, 2018
- ↑ Fundraising by primary candidates can be found on the race's respective primary election page. Fundraising by general election candidates can be found on the race's general election page.
- ↑ Federal Election Commission, "2022 Quarterly Reports," accessed March 2, 2022
- ↑ Inside Elections also uses Tilt ratings to indicate an even smaller advantage and greater competitiveness.
- ↑ Amee LaTour, "Email correspondence with Nathan Gonzalez," April 19, 2018
- ↑ Amee LaTour, "Email correspondence with Kyle Kondik," April 19, 2018
- ↑ Amee LaTour, "Email correspondence with Charlie Cook," April 22, 2018
