Election 2026 - Bloomington and Normal have light ballots this year
The 2026 primary election is March 17. The general election is Nov. 3.
The primary ballot, at least for local races, is light.
There are no contested primaries for McLean County races, including 10 county board seats. (Seven of the races will be contested in the general election in November.) Three Republican candidates for sheriff [Lt. Jon Albee], county clerk [Kathy Michael] and treasurer [Rebecca McNeil] are running unopposed.
Four Republicans are running for governor trying to unseat Democrat JB Pritzker, who is running for a third term.
Democrats and Republicans both have crowded primaries for the U.S. Senate as Dick Durbin is retiring after this term.
There are two Republican candidates, Julie Bickelhaupt and Dillan Vancil, running for the seat held by two-term Democrat Eric Sorensen in Congress, a seat that includes parts of Bloomington-Normal.
Early voting began Feb. 5.
As a reminder, McLean County has two election authorities. Bloomington voters are handled by the Bloomington Election Commission. Voters in Normal and rural McLean County are served by the McLean County clerk.
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Republican Dillan Vancil was declared the winner shortly before 10 p.m. while leading by about 4,800 votes over Julie Bickelhaupt. -
Turnout in McLean County (including Bloomington voters) reached only 21.2% in this midterm, nonpresidential year primary election. That’s the third straight decline in turnout in elections of this type. -
Gov. Juliana Stratton won the hotly contested Democratic primary for U.S. Senate, defeating U.S. Reps. Raja Krishnamoorthi and Robin Kelly. -
The referendum passed by a 64%-36% margin [572-315] on Tuesday with all five precincts reporting, according to the McLean County Clerk’s office. -
Republican voters in Illinois have once again chosen former state Sen. Darren Bailey as their candidate for governor, giving him a second chance to unseat incumbent Democrat JB Pritzker in November. -
Nearly 4,000 voters in McLean County have cast ballots in person or by mail. That's about 3% percent of registered voters in the county. -
Eighteen former U.S. Department of Justice attorneys filed a brief in federal court this week opposing the Trump administration’s lawsuit that seeks access to sensitive personal information about every registered voter in Illinois. -
Gov. JB Pritzker denied a since-recanted comment by former President Bill Clinton that Clinton thought the pair may have traveled together on a plane owned by convicted sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein. -
Republicans Don Tracy, Casey Chlebek and Pamela Denise Long participated in a candidate forum broadcast Thursday on WTVP and presented by the League of Women Voters of Greater Peoria and the League of Women Voters of Illinois. -
Democrats Robin Kelly, Raja Krishnamoorthi and Juliana Stratton participated in candidate forum broadcast Thursday on WTVP and presented by the League of Women Voters of Greater Peoria and the League of Women Voters of Illinois.
