Election 2026

To say Tuesday's results were good for Democrats would be a serious understatement. Central Illinois political leaders told WGLT about how and why they think Democrats and Republicans got here.

Bloomington-Normal voters saw a range of advisory referendum questions on their ballots for the midterm election. The nonbinding questions are not actionable, but can signal voter sentiment on a variety of issues.

The district that provides firefighting and EMS to 1,184 taxpayers located west and southwest of Bloomington posed three ballot questions to help address rising costs. All three have failed.

By flipping a GOP-held seat and defending their own, Democrats will now have a 13-to-7 majority on the McLean County Board — one more than they had before. Democrats have steadily picked up seats on the board since 2018.

Overall, 52.7% of registered voters in McLean County [including Bloomington] turned out to vote in this year's election. That's a decrease from 2022's midterm election [56.8%] and the lowest turnout since 2014 [49.2%].

Democrat Joshua Crockett emphasized recent missteps made by four-term Republican incumbent Kathy Michael, who has been the county clerk since 2010.

Democratic Lt. Gov. Juliana Stratton will become Illinois’ next U.S. senator after defeating former Illinois Republican Party Chairman Don Tracy in a blue wave that was sweeping Democrats into power across the nation.

With 60% of votes tallied, the Associated Press announced LaHood, R-Dunlap, had defeated Paul Nolley by a 17-point margin to win in the 16th Congressional District.

For the second time in four years, it was a quick election night in the Illinois governor race, which the Associated Press called for Pritzker within a few minutes.

The latest election results from The Associated Press for congressional, statewide and state legislative races impacting McLean County.