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Republican Party primaries in Illinois, 2026

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2024

Republican Party primaries, 2026

Illinois Republican Party.png

Primary Date
March 17, 2026

Federal elections
Republican primaries for U.S. House

State party
Republican Party of Illinois
State political party revenue

This page focuses on the Republican primaries that will take place in Illinois on March 17, 2026.

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.

Federal elections

U.S. Senate

See also: United States Senate election in Illinois, 2026 (March 17 Republican primary)

A Republican Party primary takes place on March 17, 2026, in Illinois to determine which Republican candidate will run in the state's general election on November 3, 2026.

Republican primary election

Republican primary for U.S. Senate Illinois

The following candidates are running in the Republican primary for U.S. Senate Illinois on March 17, 2026.


Candidate Connection = 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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Withdrawn or disqualified candidates

U.S. House

See also: United States House elections in Illinois, 2026 (March 17 Republican primaries)
The U.S. House of Representatives elections in Illinois are scheduled on November 3, 2026. Voters will elect 17 candidates to serve in the U.S. House from each of the state's 17 U.S. House districts. The primary is March 17, 2026. The filing deadline was November 3, 2025. To see a full list of candidates in the primary in each district, click "Show more" below.
Show more

District 1

Republican Party Republican primary candidates

Note: The candidate list in this election may not be complete.


Did not make the ballot:
Candidate Connection = candidate completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey

District 2

Republican Party Republican primary candidates

Note: The candidate list in this election may not be complete.


Did not make the ballot:
Candidate Connection = candidate completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey

District 3

Republican Party Republican primary candidates

Note: The candidate list in this election may not be complete.


Did not make the ballot:

District 4

Republican Party Republican primary candidates

Note: The candidate list in this election may not be complete.

District 5

Republican Party Republican primary candidates

Note: The candidate list in this election may not be complete.

District 6

Republican Party Republican primary candidates

Note: The candidate list in this election may not be complete.

District 7

Republican Party Republican primary candidates

Note: The candidate list in this election may not be complete.


Did not make the ballot:
Candidate Connection = candidate completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey

District 8

Republican Party Republican primary candidates

Note: The candidate list in this election may not be complete.

District 9

Republican Party Republican primary candidates

Note: The candidate list in this election may not be complete.


Candidate Connection = candidate completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey

District 10

Republican Party Republican primary candidates

Note: The candidate list in this election may not be complete.

District 11

Republican Party Republican primary candidates

Note: The candidate list in this election may not be complete.


Candidate Connection = candidate completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey

District 12

Republican Party Republican primary candidates

Note: The candidate list in this election may not be complete.


Did not make the ballot:
Candidate Connection = candidate completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey

District 13

Republican Party Republican primary candidates

Note: The candidate list in this election may not be complete.

District 14

Republican Party Republican primary candidates

Note: The candidate list in this election may not be complete.


Did not make the ballot:

District 15

Republican Party Republican primary candidates

Note: The candidate list in this election may not be complete.

District 16

Republican Party Republican primary candidates

Note: The candidate list in this election may not be complete.


Did not make the ballot:
Candidate Connection = candidate completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey

District 17

Republican Party Republican primary candidates

Note: The candidate list in this election may not be complete.

State elections

State Senate

See also: Illinois State Senate elections, 2026
Elections for the Illinois State Senate will take place in 2026. The general election is on November 3, 2026. The primary is March 17, 2026. The filing deadline was November 3, 2025. To see a full list of state Senate candidates in the Republican primaries, click "Show more" below.
Show more

Illinois State Senate elections, 2026

  • Incumbents are marked with an (i) after their name.
  • Candidate Connection = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
  • The candidate list in this election may not be complete.
  • Please contact Ballotpedia about candidate additions, withdrawals, or disqualifications.
Office Democratic Party Democratic Republican Party Republican Other
District 2

Omar Aquino (i)


District 3

Mattie Hunter (i)


District 5

Lakesia Collins (i)
Frederick Collins


District 6

Sara Feigenholtz (i)
Nick Uniejewski  Candidate Connection


District 8

Ram Villivalam (i)

Vince Romano

District 9

Patrick Hanley  Candidate Connection
Rachel Ruttenberg  Candidate Connection

Tom Lally

District 11

Mike Porfirio (i)


District 12

Celina Villanueva (i)


District 14

Emil Jones (i)
Ahmed Karrar
Kenneth Williams

Brian Skala

District 15

Napoleon Harris (i)


Did not make the ballot:
Kenneth Henderson 

District 17

Elgie R. Sims, Jr. (i)

Frederick L. Walls

District 18

Frances Ann Hurley

Christine McGovern

District 20

Graciela Guzman (i)


District 21

Laura Ellman (i)

Julie Berkowicz

District 23

Suzanne Glowiak Hilton (i)

Linda Polacek

District 24

Ben McAdams

Seth Lewis (i)

District 26

Nabeela Syed

Darby Hills (i)

District 27

Carina Santa Maria

David Mathis  Candidate Connection

District 29

Julie Morrison (i)

Kate McGrath

District 30

Adriane Johnson (i)


District 32

Karen Battaglia

Craig Wilcox (i)

District 33

Michele Clark

Did not make the ballot:
Satnaam Singh Mago 

Jessica Breugelmans
Danielle Penman

Did not make the ballot:
Cody Holt 

District 35

Sarah Mertens

Dave Syverson (i)

District 36

Michael Halpin (i)

Brad Beekman
Patrick Harlan

Did not make the ballot:
Jennifer Fredrick  Candidate Connection

District 38

Ernie Marcelain  Candidate Connection

Sue Rezin (i)

District 39

Don Harmon (i)


District 41


John Curran (i)

District 42

Linda Holmes (i)
Justin Breaux

Edgardo Perez

District 44


Sally Turner (i)

District 45

Joe Berning  Candidate Connection

Andrew Chesney (i)
Joshua Atkinson  Candidate Connection

District 47


Neil Anderson (i)

District 48

Doris Turner (i)

Frank Lesko

District 50


Jil Tracy (i)

District 51


Chapin Rose (i)

District 53


Chris Balkema (i)

District 54


Steve McClure (i)

District 56

Marsia Geldert-Murphey
Kevin Hall

Erica Harriss (i)

District 57

Christopher Belt (i)

Daniel Rhyne  Candidate Connection

District 59

Tamiko Mueller

Paul Jacobs
Stephen Vercellino


House of Representatives

See also: Illinois House of Representatives elections, 2026
Elections for the Illinois House of Representatives will take place in 2026. The general election is on November 3, 2026. The primary is March 17, 2026. The filing deadline was November 3, 2025. To see a full list of state House candidates in the Republican primaries, click "Show more" below.
Show more

Illinois House of Representatives elections, 2026

  • Incumbents are marked with an (i) after their name.
  • Candidate Connection = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
  • The candidate list in this election may not be complete.
  • Please contact Ballotpedia about candidate additions, withdrawals, or disqualifications.
Office Democratic Party Democratic Republican Party Republican Other
District 1

Aaron Ortiz (i)
Guadalupe Rivera


District 2

Elizabeth Hernandez (i)

Laura Hruska

District 3

Eva-Dina Delgado (i)

Juvandy Rivera

District 4

Lilian Jiménez (i)
Kirk Ortiz


District 5

Kimberly du Buclet (i)


District 6

Sonya Harper (i)


District 7

Emanuel Welch (i)


District 8

Jill Bush
Shantel Franklin
John Harrell
Latonya Mitts


District 9

Yolonda Morris (i)


District 10

Jawaharial Williams (i)


District 11

Ann M. Williams (i)


District 12

Paul Kendrick
Litcy Kurisinkal
Karim Lakhani
Mac LeBuhn  Candidate Connection

Justin Kumar

District 13

Adam Braun
Ridge Knapp
Sunjay Kumar
James O'Brien
Demi Palecek  Candidate Connection

Terry Le

District 14

Kelly Cassidy (i)


District 15

Michael Kelly (i)


District 16

Kevin Olickal (i)
Naema Abraham


District 17

Jennifer Gong-Gershowitz (i)

Jim Geldermann

District 18

Robyn Gabel (i)

Pete Donaghue

District 19

Lindsey LaPointe (i)

John Zimmers

District 20


Brad Stephens (i)

District 21

Abdelnasser Rashid (i)

Eric Su  Candidate Connection

District 22

Angelica Guerrero-Cuellar (i)

Charles Spizzirri

District 23

Edgar Gonzalez Jr. (i)


District 24

Theresa Mah (i)

Francisco Rodriguez

District 25

Curtis Tarver II (i)


District 26

Kambium Buckner (i)
Kenya Franklin

Joan McGloin

District 27

Justin Slaughter (i)


District 28

Robert Rita (i)
Dyvonna Moss


District 29

Thaddeus Jones (i)


District 30

William Davis (i)


District 31

Michael Crawford (i)


District 32

Lisa Davis (i)


District 33

Marcus Evans (i)


District 34

Cleopatra Cowley
Aja Kearney
Antwon Russell


District 35

Mary Gill (i)

David Dewar
Charles Lay

District 36

Rick Ryan (i)

David Sheppard

District 37


Patrick Sheehan (i)

District 38

Debbie Meyers-Martin (i)


District 39

Will Guzzardi (i)

Cesar Guillen

District 40

Jaime Andrade (i)
Miguel Alvelo-Rivera  Candidate Connection


District 41

Janet Yang Rohr (i)

Ajay Gupta

District 42

Margaret DeLaRosa (i)
Lynn LaPlante

Stephanie Trussell

District 43

Anna Moeller (i)


District 44

Fred Crespo (i)

Ralph Black

District 45

Martha Deuter (i)

Gina Parrilli

District 46

Diane Blair-Sherlock (i)

Tedora Brown
Pedro Mendoza

District 47

Erica Bray-Parker

Robert Vrankovich

District 48

Amanda Zahorak

Jennifer Sanalitro (i)

District 49

Maura Hirschauer (i)

John Paul Augustynowicz

District 50

Barbara Hernandez (i)


District 51

Jenny Levin

Lori Smith

Did not make the ballot:
Tosi Ufodike 

District 52

Erin Chan Ding
Maria Peterson

Martin McLaughlin (i)

District 53

Nicolle Grasse (i)

Elizabeth Bauer

District 54

Mary Beth Canty (i)

Wayne Keen

District 55

Justin Cochran

Did not make the ballot:
Martin J. Moylan (i)

Joseph Johnson

District 56

Michelle Mussman (i)

Edward Lapinski

Did not make the ballot:
Peter R. Dombrowski 

District 57

Tracy Katz Muhl (i)

Daniel Behr

District 58

Bob Morgan (i)


District 59

Daniel Didech (i)


District 60

Rita Mayfield (i)


District 61

Joyce Mason (i)

Tina Durrant

District 62

Laura Dias (i)


District 63

Brian Meyers

Steven Reick (i)

District 64

AJ Johnson

Tom Weber (i)

District 65

Ricky Rivard

Dan Ugaste (i)

District 66

Suzanne Ness (i)

Laurie Parman

District 67

Maurice West II (i)


District 68

Dave Vella (i)

Kathy Easton

District 69

Peter Janko

Joe Sosnowski (i)

District 70

Veronica Garcia-Martinez

Jeff Keicher (i)

District 71

Kermit Thomas

Daniel Swanson (i)

District 72

Gregg Johnson (i)


District 73

Nicole Dopler

Ryan Spain (i)

District 74

Nolan Kemp

Brad Fritts (i)

District 75

Caroline McCree

Jed Davis (i)

District 76

Amy Murri Briel (i)

Liz Bishop
Crystal Loughran

District 77

Norma Hernandez (i)

Anthony Airdo

District 78

Camille Y. Lilly (i)

Julian-Jahleel Jemison

District 79

Robert Ellington-Snipes

Jackie Haas (i)

District 80

Anthony DeLuca (i)

Adam Beaty

District 81

Anne Stava (i)

Laura Hois

District 82


Nicole La Ha (i)

District 83

Matt Hanson (i)

Jesse Rodriguez

District 84

Saba Haider  Candidate Connection
Jared Ploger

Brian Scopa

District 85

Dagmara Avelar (i)

Chris Metcalfe

District 86

Lawrence Walsh, Jr. (i)


District 87


Bill Hauter (i)

District 88


Regan Deering (i)

District 89


Tony McCombie (i)
Victoria Onorato  Candidate Connection

District 90

John Ping

John M. Cabello (i)
Nancy Edwardsen

District 91

Sharon Chung (i)


District 92

Jehan Gordon-Booth (i)


District 93

Zoey Carter

Travis Weaver (i)

District 94


Norine Hammond (i)
Joshua Higgins

District 95


Mike Coffey (i)

District 96

Sue Scherer (i)


District 97

Harry Benton (i)

Gabby Shanahan

District 98

Natalie Manley (i)

Nona Parker

District 99


Kyle Moore (i)

District 100


C.D. Davidsmeyer (i)

District 101

Douglas Fagan

Chris Miller (i)

District 102


Adam Niemerg (i)

District 103

Carol Ammons (i)


District 104

Mary Catherine Roberson

Brandun Schweizer (i)

District 105


Did not make the ballot:
Lisa Tejeda 

Tim Ruestman

District 106


Jason Bunting (i)

District 107


Brad Halbrook (i)
John Hauge

District 108


Wayne Arthur Rosenthal (i)

District 109


Charles E. Meier (i)
Zachary Meyer

District 110


Blaine Wilhour (i)

District 111

Rosetta Brown

Amy Elik (i)

District 112

Katie Stuart (i)

Did not make the ballot:
Halley Johnson  Candidate Connection

Jimmy Ford

District 113

Jay C. Hoffman (i)

Did not make the ballot:
Jamil Mckinney 


District 114


Kevin Schmidt (i)

District 115


David Friess (i)

District 116


Dave Severin (i)
Angela Evans

District 117


Patrick Windhorst (i)

District 118

Homer Markel

Joe DeBose
Scott Doody
Dayton Loyd  Candidate Connection
Harold Visser


State executive offices

See also: Illinois state executive official elections, 2026

Six state executive offices are up for election in Illinois in 2026:

Governor
Lieutenant Governor
Attorney General
Secretary of State
Comptroller
Treasurer


To see a full list of candidates in the Republican primaries, click "Show more" below.
Show more

Governor of Illinois

Republican primary candidates

Note: The candidate list in this election may not be complete.


Did not make the ballot:

Lieutenant Governor of Illinois

Republican primary candidates

Note: The candidate list in this election may not be complete.


Did not make the ballot:

Attorney General of Illinois

Republican primary candidates

Note: The candidate list in this election may not be complete.


Did not make the ballot:
Candidate Connection = candidate completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey

Illinois Secretary of State

Republican primary candidates

Note: The candidate list in this election may not be complete.

Illinois Comptroller

Republican primary candidates

Note: The candidate list in this election may not be complete.

Illinois Treasurer

Republican primary candidates

Note: The candidate list in this election may not be complete.

    State court of appeals

    See also: Illinois intermediate appellate court elections, 2026
    The terms of seven Illinois intermediate appellate court judges will expire on December 7, 2026. Five seats are up for retention election on November 3, 2026. Another two seats is up for partisan election on November 3, 2026. The primary election for the partisan races is March 17, 2026. The filing deadline for major party candidates to run in the partisan election was November 3, 2025. To see a full list of candidates in the primaries, click "Show more" below.
    Show more

    Illinois Third District Appellate Court

    Adrienne W. Albrecht vacancy
    Republican primary candidates

    Note: The candidate list in this election may not be complete.

      Joseph Hettel's seat
      Republican primary candidates

      Note: The candidate list in this election may not be complete.

      Illinois Fifth District Appellate Court

      James Hackett's seat
      Republican primary candidates

      Note: The candidate list in this election may not be complete.

      Voting information

      See also: Voting in Illinois

      Election information in Illinois: March 17, 2026, election.

      What is the voter registration deadline?

      • In-person: March 17, 2026
      • By mail: Postmarked by Feb. 17, 2026
      • Online: March 1, 2026

      Is absentee/mail-in voting available to all voters?

      N/A

      What is the absentee/mail-in ballot request deadline?

      • In-person: March 16, 2026
      • By mail: Received by March 12, 2026
      • Online: March 12, 2026

      What is the absentee/mail-in ballot return deadline?

      • In-person: March 17, 2026
      • By mail: Postmarked by March 17, 2026

      Is early voting available to all voters?

      Yes

      What are the early voting start and end dates?

      Feb. 5, 2026 to March 16, 2026

      Are all voters required to present ID at the polls? If so, is a photo or non-photo ID required?

      N/A

      When are polls open on Election Day?

      6:00 a.m. - 7:00 p.m. (CT)


      Context of the 2026 elections

      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

      State party overview

      Republican Party of Illinois

      See also: Republican Party of Illinois


      State political party revenue

      See also: State political party revenue and State political party revenue per capita

      State political parties typically deposit revenue in separate state and federal accounts in order to comply with state and federal campaign finance laws.

      The Democratic Party and the Republican Party maintain state affiliates in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, and select U.S. territories. The following map displays total state political party revenue per capita for the Republican state party affiliates.


      Pivot Counties

      See also: Pivot Counties by state

      Eleven of 102 Illinois counties—10.8 percent—are Pivot Counties. These are counties that voted for Barack Obama (D) in 2008 and 2012 and for Donald Trump (R) in 2016. Altogether, the nation had 206 Pivot Counties, with most being concentrated in upper midwestern and northeastern states.

      Counties won by Trump in 2016 and Obama in 2012 and 2008
      County Trump margin of victory in 2016 Obama margin of victory in 2012 Obama margin of victory in 2008
      Alexander County, Illinois 8.30% 13.65% 12.62%
      Carroll County, Illinois 26.69% 1.49% 4.81%
      Fulton County, Illinois 14.93% 11.04% 21.33%
      Henderson County, Illinois 28.43% 12.25% 17.67%
      Henry County, Illinois 20.99% 3.08% 7.74%
      Jo Daviess County, Illinois 14.64% 1.16% 10.49%
      Knox County, Illinois 2.91% 17.37% 19.89%
      Mercer County, Illinois 20.36% 7.39% 11.91%
      Putnam County, Illinois 19.92% 1.82% 15.64%
      Warren County, Illinois 16.50% 5.47% 8.08%
      Whiteside County, Illinois 6.18% 17.02% 17.56%

      In the 2016 presidential election, Hillary Clinton (D) won Illinois with 55.8 percent of the vote. Donald Trump (R) received 38.8 percent. In presidential elections between 1900 and 2016, Illinois voted Republican 50 percent of the time and Democratic 50 percent of the time. Illinois voted Democratic in all five elections from 2000 to 2016.

      Presidential results by legislative district

      The following table details results of the 2012 and 2016 presidential elections by state House districts in Illinois. Click [show] to expand the table. The "Obama," "Romney," "Clinton," and "Trump" columns describe the percent of the vote each presidential candidate received in the district. The "2012 Margin" and "2016 Margin" columns describe the margin of victory between the two presidential candidates in those years. The "Party Control" column notes which party held that seat heading into the 2018 general election. Data on the results of the 2012 and 2016 presidential elections broken down by state legislative districts was compiled by Daily Kos.[2][3]

      In 2012, Barack Obama (D) won 75 out of 118 state House districts in Illinois with an average margin of victory of 39.2 points. In 2016, Hillary Clinton (D) won 76 out of 118 state House districts in Illinois with an average margin of victory of 42.1 points. Clinton won 13 districts controlled by Republicans heading into the 2018 elections.
      In 2012, Mitt Romney (R) won 43 out of 118 state House districts in Illinois with an average margin of victory of 15 points. In 2016, Donald Trump (R) won 42 out of 118 state House districts in Illinois with an average margin of victory of 22.1 points. Trump won four districts controlled by Democrats heading into the 2018 elections.


      See also


      External links

      Footnotes