Election 2026

Julie Bickelhaupt is a farmer and chair of the Carroll County Board, a rural county along the Mississippi River border with Iowa. She said she’s running to lower costs for Americans, support farmers and strengthen education.

Amid Republican party efforts to gain congressional seats through off-cycle redistricting in Texas, there's an effort to revive a push for an Illinois state constitutional amendment to make political redistricting less, well, political.

Redistricting was a large focus at an annual gathering of the state party’s central committee and the Republican County Chair’s Association in Springfield, with a pre-taped message from Texas Gov. Greg Abbott that dubbed his push “fair” and “necessary” setting the tone for the day.

The man who hopes to be the next speaker of the U.S. House told an audience of Illinois Democrats Wednesday that President Donald Trump is a threat to American democracy and that Democrats can win back control of Congress if they stand up for middle class values.

Kevin Lamm of Rock City is seeking a state party position as the Democratic state central committeeman for the 16th Congressional District. The seat is currently held by John Daniel, who is not seeking re-election.

Scott Best, a Rivian worker from Normal, says he's running for the 16th Congressional District seat as a Democrat in the 2026 election.

'Tis the season for political candidates to firm up plans to run for party primaries next year. Dillan Vancil is running for Congress as a Republican in the 17th district. That U.S. House seat is currently held by Democrat Eric Sorensen.

The request sets the stage for an escalation of a war between the Trump administration and Illinois Democrats, with Gov. JB Pritzker at the helm. But it’s unclear what role federal agents can play in the matter, and there were no reports of FBI activity in the area housing Texas Democrats as of Thursday morning.

Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker has told NPR if Texas and other Republican majority states redraw new congressional districts outside the usual schedule after census periods, Illinois and blue states might follow the political escalation.

The U.S. Department of Justice last month requested information regarding statewide election procedures.