Good morning, Chicago.
President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump swept to easy victories Tuesday in Illinois’ presidential primaries, racking up additional national convention delegates on top of those collected from earlier state contests that assured them of formally winning nomination this summer.
Biden, a Democrat, and Trump, a Republican, also easily won primaries Tuesday in Ohio. Trump also won Florida’s Republican primary. There was no contest for Biden to win in Florida as Democrats there canceled their primary and opted to award all 224 of their delegates to him, a move that has precedence for an incumbent president.
Get our full 2024 Illinois primary day election results and read our full election coverage.
And here are the top stories you need to know to start your day.
Subscribe to more newsletters | Puzzles & Games | Today’s eNewspaper edition
Johnson’s Bring Chicago Home referendum in serious trouble
Mayor Brandon Johnson’s Bring Chicago Home referendum was in peril Tuesday in the primary election, in what would be a stinging defeat for his grassroots base that sought to persuade voters to grant the city’s new progressives in charge a tax increase to address the homelessness crisis.
Clayton Harris III and Eileen O’Neill Burke in tight race to be Democratic nominee for Cook County state’s attorney
Nearly eight years after Kim Foxx took office vowing to “rebuild a broken criminal justice system” as Cook County state’s attorney, the Democratic primary that will likely decide her successor was still too close to call Tuesday night as retired Appellate Judge Eileen O’Neill Burke held a slim lead over former prosecutor and government official Clayton Harris III.
According to Cook County and Chicago election officials, the two were separated by about 10,000 votes as of 10 p.m., with several city precincts outstanding and tens of thousands of mail ballots left to potentially be tallied.
Justice Joy Cunningham expected to remain on the Illinois Supreme Court, according to unofficial results
Justice Joy Cunningham is expected to remain on the Illinois Supreme Court after beating out primary challenger Judge Jesse Reyes, according to unofficial results.
No Republicans have filed for the Nov. 5 race, which means Tuesday’s winner will likely win the seat. The court’s 5-2 Democratic majority is not expected to change.
U.S. Rep. Jesús ‘Chuy’ García defeats Ald. Raymond Lopez in 4th Congressional District
Three-term U.S. Rep. Jesús “Chuy” García defeated Chicago Ald. Raymond Lopez to win his first contested Democratic primary since being elected to Congress in 2018, according to The Associated Press.
Immigration and the ongoing migrant crisis were key issues for the race in the Latino-majority 4th Congressional District.
14-term Democratic U.S. Rep. Danny Davis defeats four challengers in 7th Congressional District
Davis won his 2022 primary by just 6 percentage points, and his opponents this time around argued that it was time for the 82-year-old congressman to move on.
Davis argued that his seniority and the relationships he’s forged in Washington since first being elected to Congress in 1996 continue to be a boon for the 7th District, which stretches from the lakefront through western suburbs and takes in large swaths of the West and South sides of Chicago.
Former state Sen. Darren Bailey concedes to U.S. Rep. Mike Bost in 12th Congressional District Republican primary race
It is Bost’s second intraparty challenge in seeking his sixth term in Congress. Bailey, the unsuccessful 2022 GOP nominee for governor, was hoping to unseat the 63-year-old incumbent.
Bailey, 57, has maintained that Bost is not conservative enough. Illinois’ 12th Congressional District, redrawn after the 2020 Census, now includes a large chunk of southeastern Illinois that gave Donald Trump more than 70% of the vote in both 2016 and 2020. Bailey’s hopes to win the endorsement in this race from the former president were dashed when Trump, the presumptive 2024 presidential nominee, gave his backing to Bost.
Democratic U.S. Rep. Bill Foster defeats progressive challenger in 11th Congressional District
Redrawn after the 2020 census, the district now sweeps from the western part of Lake County as far west as Belvidere and south through McHenry, Kane and DuPage counties to Bolingbrook and Lemont, taking in parts of Aurora and Naperville.
In the November general election, Foster will take on the winner of a three-way race on the Republican primary ballot.
U.S. Rep. Sean Casten defeats two challengers in 6th Congressional District primary
Casten, of Downers Grove, held a massive fundraising advantage over both competitors, Mahnoor Ahmad and Charles Hughes.
The former owner of a clean energy business, Casten has made taking on climate change a pillar of his tenure in Washington. He also campaigned heavily on protecting reproductive rights.
