Now that polls are closed in McHenry County, voters will soon be getting their first chance to see who might be on their ballot in November.
At the top of the GOP ticket, four candidates are vying for the Republican Party nomination for governor: former state Sen. Darren Bailey, former editor of conservative research publication Wirepoints Ted Dabrowski, businessman Rick Heidner and DuPage County Sheriff James Mendrick. Republican Joseph Severino of Lake Forest was removed from the ballot for insufficient signatures.
[ Here are McHenry County’s March 2026 primary election results ]
Most of the candidates appeared at a forum in McHenry in January and largely agreed on issues, including getting rid of the TRUST Act, a law signed by Republican Gov. Bruce Rauner in 2017 that prohibits local law enforcement from aiding federal immigration officials and the SAFE-T Act, the controversial criminal justice reform law that abolished cash bail, among other things.
If Bailey wins, it will be a rematch of the 2022 gubernatorial election, as incumbent Democratic incumbent Gov. JB Pritzker had an uncontested primary after Democrat Patricia L. Tillman of Chicago was removed from the ballot.
After the retirement of U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin, a Democrat, 10 Democrats have filed to run for the seat. The frontrunners in the primary include Lt. Gov. Juliana Stratton of Chicago and U.S. Reps. Raja Krishnamoorthi of Schaumburg and Robin Kelly of Lynwood. Leading candidates on the Republican side include former Illinois GOP chair Don Tracy of Springfield, Chicago attorney Jeannie Evans and IT professional Casey Chlebek.
All 17 Illinois U.S. House seats are up for reelection this year. Following the retirement of Jan Schakowsky in the 9th District, which covers southeastern McHenry County, 14 Democrats, including Evanston Mayor Daniel Biss, internet personality Kat Abughazaleh, state Sen. Laura Fine, state Sen. Mike Simmons and Skokie school board member Bushra Amiwala, filed to to run for the seat.
In the 11th Congressional District, which covers central, east central and southwestern McHenry County, four Republicans, Elburn Village President Jeff Walter, Naperville resident Michael Pierce, Palos Park resident Tedora Brown and Charlie Kim of Aurora are running for the Republican nomination. The winner faces incumbent Democrat U.S. Rep. Bill Foster of Naperville in November.
Incumbent Comptroller Suzana Mendoza, a Democrat, is not seeking another term. Four Democrats, state lawmakers Margaret Croke of Chicago, Stephanie Kifowit of Oswego, Karina Villa of West Chicago and Lake County Treasurer Holly Kim are running. Republican Bryan Drew of Benton is unopposed in the GOP primary. Mendoza has endorsed Kim.
All of the state representatives and senators representing McHenry County are up for reelection this year, but only a couple of seats have contested primaries.
In the 33rd Senate District, State Sen. Don DeWitte, a Republican who represents portions of south-central McHenry County, is not running again. Republicans Danielle Penman of St. Charles and Jessica Breugelmans of Geneva, whom DeWitte endorsed, are seeking the party’s nomination. The winner faces Democrat Michele Clark of Algonquin, who has an uncontested primary, in November.
In the 52nd House District, which covers portions of southeastern McHenry County, Democrats Erin Chan Ding of South Barrington and Maria Peterson of North Barrington are competing for the party’s primary. The winner faces incumbent State Rep. Martin McLaughlin, a Barrington Hills Republican, in November. McLaughlin narrowly defeated Peterson in 2024.
In McHenry County, all of the countywide officeholders had uncontested primaries Tuesday. Sheriff Robb Tadelman, Clerk-Recorder Joe Tirio, Regional Superintendent of Schools Diana Hartmann, and Treasurer Donna Kurtz, all Republicans, had no primary opponents.
Tirio will face Democrat Bill McNeese in the November general election, and Kurtz will face Democrat Amin Karim. McNeese and Karim also had uncontested primaries, but Karim lost to Kurtz in 2022.
Most McHenry County Board races were uncontested in Tuesday’s primary, but two incumbents faced primary challenges. The GOP enjoys a 15-3 supermajority on the board and gained two seats after the 2024 election. Nine of the 18 board members are up for reelection, and eight of them ran again.
Republican voters in District 7, in central McHenry County, will choose between incumbent board member Brian Sager of Woodstock and Jeff Schwartz of McHenry.
The winner of the primary will face Democrat Patrick Shea in the November election.
In District 8, which covers large portions of the northern and western parts of McHenry County, voters were choosing between incumbent board member Larry Smith of Harvard and Marty Mohr of Marengo.
The winner of the primary will face Democrat Christy “Chris” Stevens in November.
But voters in at least one county board district will have a new county board member after the election. County Board District 9, in the southwestern part of the county, will have a new board member after incumbent Michael Skala, a Huntley Republican, declined to run for reelection.
The district had no contested primaries and Republican Niko Kanakaris will face Democrat Christine Hamm for the seat in the November election.
Voters in McHenry County are also among those in Illinois who will be asked a nonbinding question about whether Illinois should opt into the federal scholarship tax credit program.