This Giving Tuesday, help ensure voters have the information they need to make confident, informed decisions. Donate now!
Illinois Secretary of State election, 2026 (March 17 Democratic primary)
|
← 2022
|
| Illinois Secretary of State |
|---|
 |
| Democratic primary Republican primary General election |
| Election details |
| Filing deadline: November 3, 2025 |
| Primary: March 17, 2026 General: November 3, 2026 |
| How to vote |
| Poll times:
6 a.m. to 7 p.m. |
| Ballotpedia analysis |
| Federal and state primary competitiveness State executive elections in 2026 Impact of term limits in 2026 State government trifectas State government triplexes Ballotpedia's Election Analysis Hub, 2026 |
| Illinois executive elections |
| Governor Lieutenant Governor |
A Democratic Party primary takes place on March 17, 2026, in Illinois to determine which candidate will earn the right to run as the party's nominee in the state's secretary of state election on November 3, 2026.
This page focuses on Illinois' Democratic Party Secretary of State primary. For more in-depth information on Illinois' Republican Secretary of State primary and the general election, see the following pages:
- Illinois Secretary of State election, 2026 (March 17 Republican primary)
- Illinois Secretary of State election, 2026
Candidates and election results
Democratic primary election
Democratic primary for Illinois Secretary of State
Incumbent Alexi Giannoulias is running in the Democratic primary for Illinois Secretary of State on March 17, 2026.
Candidate | ||
 | Alexi Giannoulias | |
| ||||
 = 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. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
Candidate profiles
There are currently no candidate profiles created for this race. Candidate profiles will appear here as they are created. Encourage the candidates in this race to complete Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey so that their profile will appear here. You can ask candidates in this race to fill out the survey by clicking their names below:
Voting information
- See also: Voting in Illinois
Election analysis
Click the tabs below to view information about demographics, past elections, and partisan control of the state.
- Presidential elections - Information about presidential elections in the state.
- Statewide elections - Information about recent U.S. Senate and gubernatorial elections in the state.
- State partisanship - The partisan makeup of the state's congressional delegation and state government.
- Demographics - Information about the state's demographics and how they compare to the country as a whole.
Cook PVI by congressional district
| District | Incumbent | PVI |
|---|---|---|
| Illinois' 1st | Jonathan Jackson | D+18 |
| Illinois' 2nd | Robin Kelly | D+18 |
| Illinois' 3rd | Delia Ramirez | D+17 |
| Illinois' 4th | Chuy Garcia | D+17 |
| Illinois' 5th | Mike Quigley | D+19 |
| Illinois' 6th | Sean Casten | D+3 |
| Illinois' 7th | Danny Davis | D+34 |
| Illinois' 8th | Raja Krishnamoorthi | D+5 |
| Illinois' 9th | Jan Schakowsky | D+19 |
| Illinois' 10th | Brad Schneider | D+12 |
| Illinois' 11th | Bill Foster | D+6 |
| Illinois' 12th | Mike Bost | R+22 |
| Illinois' 13th | Nikki Budzinski | D+5 |
| Illinois' 14th | Lauren Underwood | D+3 |
| Illinois' 15th | Mary Miller | R+20 |
| Illinois' 16th | Darin LaHood | R+11 |
| Illinois' 17th | Eric Sorensen | D+3 |
2024 presidential results by 2026 congressional district lines
| District | Kamala Harris  |
Donald Trump  |
|---|---|---|
| Illinois' 1st | 65.0% | 33.0% |
| Illinois' 2nd | 66.0% | 33.0% |
| Illinois' 3rd | 65.0% | 34.0% |
| Illinois' 4th | 63.0% | 35.0% |
| Illinois' 5th | 68.0% | 31.0% |
| Illinois' 6th | 52.0% | 47.0% |
| Illinois' 7th | 82.0% | 17.0% |
| Illinois' 8th | 53.0% | 46.0% |
| Illinois' 9th | 68.0% | 31.0% |
| Illinois' 10th | 60.0% | 38.0% |
| Illinois' 11th | 55.0% | 44.0% |
| Illinois' 12th | 28.0% | 71.0% |
| Illinois' 13th | 54.0% | 44.0% |
| Illinois' 14th | 52.0% | 47.0% |
| Illinois' 15th | 29.0% | 69.0% |
| Illinois' 16th | 38.0% | 61.0% |
| Illinois' 17th | 52.0% | 47.0% |
| Source: The Downballot | ||
2016-2024
How a state's counties vote in a presidential election and the size of those counties can provide additional insights into election outcomes at other levels of government including statewide and congressional races. Below, four categories are used to describe each county's voting pattern over the 2016, 2020, and 2024 presidential elections: Solid, Trending, Battleground, and New. Click [show] on the table below for examples:
| County-level voting pattern categories | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic | |||||||
| Status | 2016 | 2020 | 2024 | ||||
| Solid Democratic | D | D | D | ||||
| Trending Democratic | R | D | D | ||||
| Battleground Democratic | D | R | D | ||||
| New Democratic | R | R | D | ||||
| Republican | |||||||
| Status | 2016 | 2020 | 2024 | ||||
| Solid Republican | R | R | R | ||||
| Trending Republican | D | R | R | ||||
| Battleground Republican | R | D | R | ||||
| New Republican | D | D | R | ||||
Following the 2024 presidential election, 72.8% of Illinoisans lived in one of the state's 12 Solid Democratic counties, which voted for the Democratic presidential candidate in every election from 2016 to 2024, and 24.7% lived in one of 88 Solid Republican counties. Overall, Illinois was Solid Democratic, having voted for Hillary Clinton (D) in 2016, Joe Biden (D) in 2020, and Kamala Harris (D) in 2024. Use the table below to view the total number of each type of county in Illinois following the 2024 election as well as the overall percentage of the state population located in each county type.
| Illinois county-level statistics, 2024 | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Solid Democratic | 12 | 72.8% | |||||
| Solid Republican | 88 | 24.7% | |||||
| Trending Democratic | 2 | 2.5% | |||||
| Total voted Democratic | 14 | 75.3% | |||||
| Total voted Republican | 88 | 24.7% | |||||
Historical voting trends
Illinois presidential election results (1900-2024)
- 17 Democratic wins
- 15 Republican wins
| Year | 1900 | 1904 | 1908 | 1912 | 1916 | 1920 | 1924 | 1928 | 1932 | 1936 | 1940 | 1944 | 1948 | 1952 | 1956 | 1960 | 1964 | 1968 | 1972 | 1976 | 1980 | 1984 | 1988 | 1992 | 1996 | 2000 | 2004 | 2008 | 2012 | 2016 | 2020 | 2024 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Winning Party | R | R | R | D | R | R | R | R | D | D | D | D | D | R | R | D | D | R | R | R | R | R | R | D | D | D | D | D | D | D | D | D |
This section details the results of the five most recent U.S. Senate and gubernatorial elections held in the state.
U.S. Senate elections
The table below details the vote in the five most recent U.S. Senate races in Illinois.
Gubernatorial elections
- See also: Governor of Illinois
The table below details the vote in the five most recent gubernatorial elections in Illinois.
Congressional delegation
The table below displays the partisan composition of Illinois' congressional delegation as of October 2025.
| Congressional Partisan Breakdown from Illinois | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Party | U.S. Senate | U.S. House | Total |
| Democratic | 2 | 14 | 16 |
| Republican | 0 | 3 | 3 |
| Independent | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Vacancies | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Total | 2 | 17 | 19 |
State executive
The table below displays the officeholders in Illinois' top four state executive offices as of October 2025.
| Office | Officeholder |
|---|---|
| Governor | J.B. Pritzker |
| Lieutenant Governor | Juliana Stratton |
| Secretary of State | Alexi Giannoulias |
| Attorney General | Kwame Raoul |
State legislature
Illinois State Senate
| Party | As of October 2025 | |
|---|---|---|
| Democratic Party | 40 | |
| Republican Party | 19 | |
| Other | 0 | |
| Vacancies | 0 | |
| Total | 59 | |
Illinois House of Representatives
| Party | As of October 2025 | |
|---|---|---|
| Democratic Party | 78 | |
| Republican Party | 40 | |
| Other | 0 | |
| Vacancies | 0 | |
| Total | 118 | |
Trifecta control
Illinois Party Control: 1992-2025
Nineteen years of Democratic trifectas • Two years of Republican trifectas
Scroll left and right on the table below to view more years.
| Year | 92 | 93 | 94 | 95 | 96 | 97 | 98 | 99 | 00 | 01 | 02 | 03 | 04 | 05 | 06 | 07 | 08 | 09 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Governor | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | D | D | D | D | D | D | D | D | D | D | D | D | R | R | R | R | D | D | D | D | D | D | D |
| Senate | D | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | D | D | D | D | D | D | D | D | D | D | D | D | D | D | D | D | D | D | D | D | D | D | D |
| House | D | D | D | R | R | D | D | D | D | D | D | D | D | D | D | D | D | D | D | D | D | D | D | D | D | D | D | D | D | D | D | D | D | D |
The table below details demographic data in Illinois and compares it to the broader United States as of 2023.
| Demographic Data for Illinois | ||
|---|---|---|
| Illinois | United States | |
| Population | 12,812,508 | 331,449,281 |
| Land area (sq mi) | 55,512 | 3,531,905 |
| Race and ethnicity** | ||
| White | 63.3% | 63.4% |
| Black/African American | 13.8% | 12.4% |
| Asian | 5.8% | 5.8% |
| Native American | 0.5% | 0.9% |
| Pacific Islander | 0.4% | 0.4% |
| Other (single race) | 7.3% | 6.6% |
| Multiple | 9.2% | 10.7% |
| Hispanic/Latino | 18.5% | 19% |
| Education | ||
| High school graduation rate | 90.3% | 89.4% |
| College graduation rate | 37.2% | 35% |
| Income | ||
| Median household income | $81,702 | $78,538 |
| Persons below poverty level | 11.7% | 12.4% |
| Source: population provided by U.S. Census Bureau, "Decennial Census" (2020). Other figures provided by U.S. Census Bureau, "American Community Survey" (5-year estimates 2018-2023). | ||
| **Note: Percentages for race and ethnicity may add up to more than 100 percent because respondents may report more than one race and the Hispanic/Latino ethnicity may be selected in conjunction with any race. Read more about race and ethnicity in the census here. | ||
State profile
| Demographic data for Illinois | ||
|---|---|---|
| Illinois | U.S. | |
| Total population: | 12,839,047 | 316,515,021 |
| Land area (sq mi): | 55,519 | 3,531,905 |
| Race and ethnicity** | ||
| White: | 72.3% | 73.6% |
| Black/African American: | 14.3% | 12.6% |
| Asian: | 5% | 5.1% |
| Native American: | 0.2% | 0.8% |
| Pacific Islander: | 0% | 0.2% |
| Two or more: | 2.2% | 3% |
| Hispanic/Latino: | 16.5% | 17.1% |
| Education | ||
| High school graduation rate: | 87.9% | 86.7% |
| College graduation rate: | 32.3% | 29.8% |
| Income | ||
| Median household income: | $57,574 | $53,889 |
| Persons below poverty level: | 16.8% | 11.3% |
| Source: U.S. Census Bureau, "American Community Survey" (5-year estimates 2010-2015) Click here for more information on the 2020 census and here for more on its impact on the redistricting process in Illinois. **Note: Percentages for race and ethnicity may add up to more than 100 percent because respondents may report more than one race and the Hispanic/Latino ethnicity may be selected in conjunction with any race. Read more about race and ethnicity in the census here. | ||
Presidential voting pattern
- See also: Presidential voting trends in Illinois
Illinois voted for the Democratic candidate in all seven presidential elections between 2000 and 2024.
Pivot Counties (2016)
Ballotpedia identified 206 counties that voted for Donald Trump (R) in 2016 after voting for Barack Obama (D) in 2008 and 2012. Collectively, Trump won these Pivot Counties by more than 580,000 votes. Of these 206 counties, 11 are located in Illinois, accounting for 5.34 percent of the total pivot counties.[1]
Pivot Counties (2020)
In 2020, Ballotpedia re-examined the 206 Pivot Counties to view their voting patterns following that year's presidential election. Ballotpedia defined those won by Trump won as Retained Pivot Counties and those won by Joe Biden (D) as Boomerang Pivot Counties. Nationwide, there were 181 Retained Pivot Counties and 25 Boomerang Pivot Counties. Illinois had 11 Retained Pivot Counties, 6.08 percent of all Retained Pivot Counties.
More Illinois coverage on Ballotpedia
- Elections in Illinois
- United States congressional delegations from Illinois
- Public policy in Illinois
- Endorsers in Illinois
- Illinois fact checks
- More...
See also
| Illinois | State Executive Elections | News and Analysis |
|---|---|---|
 |
 |
 |
|
|
|
|
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ The raw data for this study was provided by Dave Leip of Atlas of U.S. Presidential Elections.
