Eye On Illinois: As this election ends, another campaign cycle is already spinning

Welcome to campaign season!

Oh sure, 2024 voting ends today, but while officials finalize those results, we can start looking ahead to 2026.

In two years we’ll be choosing a U.S. Senator, governor, attorney general, secretary of state, comptroller and treasurer. Only six members of the Senate are older than Dick Durbin, who turns 80 this month. Illinoisans only once elected any governor three times. If Durbin and/or Gov. JB Pritzker opt not to seek reelection – or if Pritzker pursues Durbin’s Senate seat – that shakes up the entire Democratic ballot.

The entire U.S. and Illinois House delegations will be on the ballot, as is always the case in even years. At present, a supermajority of the 59 state Senate districts will be contested as well.

Senate districts are broken into three groups so each seat can have two four-year terms and one two-year term per decade before the post-Census map reset. Group one is four-four-two, group two is four-two-four, and group three is two-four-four. That rotation yields a bit more stability than the House, although lawmakers ending their terms early – common in Illinois – routinely adds volatility.

Before all those details shake into place, there’s more important business: It’s exactly 16 weeks until the consolidated primary election on Feb. 25. Not every jurisdiction requires a primary, so you might be waiting another five weeks for the actual election. But serious candidates have already been working on campaign infrastructure: petition circulation began July 30.

Although municipal elections in Illinois can be partisan or nonpartisan, and many other offices like school and library boards are explicitly nonpartisan, organizers have channeled general election energy into local races, combining campaign events and door-to-door stumping with gathering signatures for the next cycle. That’s not to say it’s too late to run (don’t sleep on the importance of economic interest statements), just a reminder the push for power never fully abates.

Other deadlines loom. Nov. 25 is the last day to file most petitions for a public policy referendum and Dec. 9 is the last day for a local governing board to place a binding question on the ballot. These are just some of the many benchmarks under the state Election Code, all of which are available at elections.il.gov under the “Running for Office” header.

Turnout for local races is the smallest of any type of vote in Illinois. Petition thresholds are small, as is the support typically needed for victory. This can be especially true in at-large school board races where voters can mark multiple names on one ballot. Those with whom you might disagree certainly understand these conditions and will seek to exploit them for their own purposes.

Don’t skip these elections. They’ve already begun.

• Scott T. Holland writes about state government issues for Shaw Local News Network. Follow him on X @sth749. He can be reached at sholland@shawmedia.com.