IL Gubernatorial Candidates File To Challenge Pritzker In 2026

The filing deadline for next year's election cycle has officially passed. While Gov. JB Pritzker is hoping Illinois voters give him a third term, a number of others are looking to oust the 60-year-old from Springfield next November, including Republican Darren Bailey, potentially setting up a rematch from the last gubernatorial election.

According to the Illinois State Board of Elections, Pritzker filed last week, with his pick for lieutenant governor, Christian Mitchell, also ready to be on the ballot representing the Democratic Party. Mitchell, who served as Pritzker's deputy governor during his first term, replaces Juliana Stratton on the ticket. The latter declared her candidacy for U.S. Senate in April.

RELATED: Illinois Lt. Gov. Juliana Stratton Announces Senate Run

Patricia Tillman, a former candidate for alderman in Chicago, is the only person seeking to challenge Pritzker in the Democratic primary, scheduled for March 17, 2026.

On the Republican side, Bailey is asking voters to give him a second chance to run against Pritzker. The former state senator and state representative ran an unsuccessful gubernatorial campaign in 2022, and also came up short in a Congressional primary two years later. The downstate farmer has chosen Aaron Del Mar as his running mate.

Bailey's campaign, though, is currently paused following the deaths of his son, daughter-in-law and two grandchildren, who were killed Oct. 22 in a helicopter crash in Montana.

RELATED: Darren Bailey's Son, Daughter-In-Law, 2 Grandchildren Die In Helicopter Crash

The other Republican candidates who filed Monday are:

• Ted Dabrowski, of Wilmette, who runs Wirepoints.org, a conservative research publication (Carrie Mendoza for lieutenant governor)
• James Mendrick, of Woodridge, DuPage County Sheriff (Robert Renteria for lieutenant governor)
• Rick Heidner, of Barrington Hills, a real estate developer and owner of a video gambling company (Christina Neitzke-Troike for lieutenant governor)
• Joseph Severino, of Lake Forest, a small business owner who ran as a write-in independent candidate in the Illinois' 10th District race last year (Rantch Isquith for lieutenant governor)
• Max Solomon, of Hazel Crest, an attorney, who ran in the primary for election to the Illinois State Senate to represent District 19 last year (Geno Young for lieutenant governor)
• Gregg Moore, of Broadview, who has filed the paperwork to run for the position in other election cycles, even suing the Illinois State Board of Elections in 2022 after not being placed on the ballot, a lawsuit he lost