Illinois Primary 2024: What's On The Ballot, What You Should Know

ILLINOIS — Amid reports of the lowest early voting turnout in a decade in Chicago and similar numbers in suburban counties— and with President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump having already unofficially clinched their nominations — there are still some hotly contested races on the ballot in Illinois.

Related: What To Expect In IL Presidential, State Primaries: AP Decision Notes

What You Need To Know

Polls open at 6 a.m. and close at 7 p.m. Tuesday. If you are already in line when the polls close, you can still vote — so don't leave!

If you are not registered to vote, or need to change your registration to a new address, you can register the same day at your polling place, but you must bring two forms of ID. To be eligible to vote, you must be:

• A U.S. Citizen;
• 18 years old to vote in a Consolidated or General Election or 17 years of age to vote in a Consolidated Primary or General Primary if you will be 18 by the time of the Consolidated or General Election;
• A resident of the precinct at least 30 days prior to Election Day.

If you don't know your polling place, find it here.

You can also find your polling place and sample ballots on your local county clerk's website:

• Chicago
• Suburban Cook County
• DuPage County
• Grundy County
• Kane County
• Kendall County
• Lake County
• McHenry County
• Will County

Races To Watch In Illinois

Biden didn't face serious opposition in the primary, but several candidates appear on Democratic ballots in Illinois — Michigan author Marianne Williamson and Minnesota Rep. Dean Phillips, who ended their campaigns, as well as New York entrepreneur Frank "Frankie" Lozada. As for Trump, all of his Republican challengers on the Illinois ballot — Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley, former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie and Texas pastor Ryan Binkley — have also suspended their campaigns.

In Illinois' 6th Congressional District, incumbent Sean Casten faces challenges from fellow Democrats Mahnoor Ahmad and Charles Hughes. The winner of the primary will face Republican Niki Conforti in the Nov. 5 general election.

In the 14th Congressional District, Naperville Democrat Lauren Underwood, the incumbent, is unopposed in the primary. Three Republicans are hoping for the chance to face off against her in November: Harvard business school grad Charlie Kim, Kendall County Republican Chairman Jim Marter and write-in candidate Krystal Dorey, who was removed from the ballot after a challenge.

In the 11th District, longtime Rep. Bill Foster, a scientist, goes up against fellow Democrat Qasim Rashid, a human rights lawyer. In the Republican primary, self-proclaimed "political outsider" Jerry Evans, surgeon/attorney Kent Mercado and Susan Hathaway-Altman sought the nomination.

After Cook County State's Attorney Kim Foxx announced she would not seek reelection, two Democrats are facing off to win the nod. Attorney Clayton Harris and retired judge Eileen O'Neill Burke are vying for the nomination, and the winner will likely have an edge in November, when they will face Republican Bob Fioretti and Libertarian Andrew Charles Kopinski. A Democrat has won every Cook County State's Attorney race since 1996, according to Ballotpedia.

Outside the Chicago area, in the 12th District, Republican Rep. Mike Bost has a primary challenge from former state Sen. Darren Bailey, who unsuccessfully ran against Gov. J.B. Pritzker in 2022.

Referenda

Depending on where you live, there could be some referenda on your ballot.

Residents in the Lockport Township High School District 205 will vote on an $85 million referendum that would fund renovations at the more than century-old Lockport Township Central Campus, which has been closed since November after a ceiling collapsed in a classroom overnight.

In Bolingbrook, voters will decide if the county clerk should remain elected or be appointed, and in Homer Glen, voters will grapple with the question, should township government be eliminated?

Meanwhile, McHenry County voters will be asked to sign off on a sales tax hike to fund the county's Mental Health Board, which would replace a current property tax levy for the mental health board and mental health services.

In Chicago, the "Bring Chicago Home"referendum seeks to raise the real estate transfer tax on the sale of million-dollar properties to address homelessness and fund affordable housing. Under the measure, the transfer tax for properties under $1 million would decrease from .75 percent to .60 percent. Properties sold for between $1 million and $1.5 million would incur a 2 percent transfer tax, almost three times the current rate, and properties sold for over $1.5 million would pay a 4 percent transfer tax rate.