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Willie Preston
Willie Preston (Democratic Party) is a member of the Illinois State Senate, representing District 16. He assumed office on January 11, 2023. His current term ends on January 10, 2029.
Preston (Democratic Party) is running for election to the U.S. House to represent Illinois' 2nd Congressional District. He declared candidacy for the Democratic primary scheduled on March 17, 2026.[source]
Biography
Willie Preston was born and lives in Chicago, Illinois. Preston's career experience includes operating a construction firm and working as a carpenter and as an organizer with the Grassroots Alliance for Police Accountability. He has served on the board of the Chicagoland YMCA’s early childhood education program and the Local School Council at Scott Joplin Elementary School.[1]
Sponsored legislation
The following table lists bills this person sponsored as a legislator, according to BillTrack50 and sorted by action history. Bills are sorted by the date of their last action. The following list may not be comprehensive. To see all bills this legislator sponsored, click on the legislator's name in the title of the table.
Elections
2026
See also: Illinois' 2nd Congressional District election, 2026
General election
The primary will occur on March 17, 2026. The general election will occur on November 3, 2026. Additional general election candidates will be added here following the primary.
General election for U.S. House Illinois District 2
Ashley Banks is running in the general election for U.S. House Illinois District 2 on November 3, 2026.
Candidate | ||
| Ashley Banks (Independent) | ||
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 = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
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Democratic primary election
Democratic primary for U.S. House Illinois District 2
The following candidates are running in the Democratic primary for U.S. House Illinois District 2 on March 17, 2026.
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| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
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Withdrawn or disqualified candidates
- Robin Kelly (D)
Republican primary election
Republican primary for U.S. House Illinois District 2
Calvin Coleman, Mike Noack, and Ashley Ramos are running in the Republican primary for U.S. House Illinois District 2 on March 17, 2026.
Candidate | ||
 | Calvin Coleman | |
| Mike Noack | ||
 | Ashley Ramos | |
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| = 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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Endorsements
Ballotpedia is gathering information about candidate endorsements. To send us an endorsement, click here.
2024
See also: Illinois State Senate elections, 2024
General election
General election for Illinois State Senate District 16
Incumbent Willie Preston won election in the general election for Illinois State Senate District 16 on November 5, 2024.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ |  | Willie Preston (D) | 100.0 | 53,401 |
| Total votes: 53,401 | |||
| = 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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Democratic primary election
Democratic primary for Illinois State Senate District 16
Incumbent Willie Preston advanced from the Democratic primary for Illinois State Senate District 16 on March 19, 2024.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Willie Preston | 100.0 | 17,011 |
| Total votes: 17,011 | |||
| = 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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Campaign finance
Endorsements
Ballotpedia did not identify endorsements for Preston in this election.
2022
See also: Illinois State Senate elections, 2022
General election
General election for Illinois State Senate District 16
Willie Preston won election in the general election for Illinois State Senate District 16 on November 8, 2022.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Willie Preston (D) | 100.0 | 38,713 |
| Total votes: 38,713 | |||
| = 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. | ||||
Democratic primary election
Democratic primary for Illinois State Senate District 16
Willie Preston defeated La'Mont Raymond Williams in the Democratic primary for Illinois State Senate District 16 on June 28, 2022.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Willie Preston | 54.3 | 9,473 |
| La'Mont Raymond Williams | 45.7 | 7,978 | ||
| Total votes: 17,451 | |||
| = 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
2018
General election
General election for Illinois House of Representatives District 31
Incumbent Mary E. Flowers won election in the general election for Illinois House of Representatives District 31 on November 6, 2018.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ |  | Mary E. Flowers (D) | 100.0 | 30,214 |
| Total votes: 30,214 | |||
| = 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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Democratic primary election
Democratic primary for Illinois House of Representatives District 31
Incumbent Mary E. Flowers defeated Willie Preston in the Democratic primary for Illinois House of Representatives District 31 on March 20, 2018.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Mary E. Flowers | 82.8 | 14,077 |
| Willie Preston | 17.2 | 2,929 | |
| Total votes: 17,006 | |||
| = 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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Campaign themes
2026
Ballotpedia survey responses
See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection
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2024
Willie Preston did not complete Ballotpedia's 2024 Candidate Connection survey.
2022
Willie Preston did not complete Ballotpedia's 2022 Candidate Connection survey.
Campaign finance summary
Note: The finance data shown here comes from the disclosures required of candidates and parties. Depending on the election or state, this may represent only a portion of all the funds spent on their behalf. Satellite spending groups may or may not have expended funds related to the candidate or politician on whose page you are reading this disclaimer. Campaign finance data from elections may be incomplete. For elections to federal offices, complete data can be found at the FEC website. Click here for more on federal campaign finance law and here for more on state campaign finance law.
Scorecards
A scorecard evaluates a legislator’s voting record. Its purpose is to inform voters about the legislator’s political positions. Because scorecards have varying purposes and methodologies, each report should be considered on its own merits. For example, an advocacy group’s scorecard may assess a legislator’s voting record on one issue while a state newspaper’s scorecard may evaluate the voting record in its entirety.
Ballotpedia is in the process of developing an encyclopedic list of published scorecards. Some states have a limited number of available scorecards or scorecards produced only by select groups. It is Ballotpedia’s goal to incorporate all available scorecards regardless of ideology or number.
Click here for an overview of legislative scorecards in all 50 states. To contribute to the list of Illinois scorecards, email suggestions to editor@ballotpedia.org.
2024
| To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2024, click [show]. |
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In 2024, the Illinois State Legislature was in session from January 16 to May 29.
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2023
| To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2023, click [show]. |
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In 2023, the Illinois State Legislature was in session from January 11 to May 27.
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See also
2026 Elections
External links
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Officeholder Illinois State Senate District 16 |
Personal |
Footnotes
| Political offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Jacqueline Collins (D) |
Illinois State Senate District 16 2023-Present |
Succeeded by - |
