The presidential nominees are all but installed. And, while there are some interesting races in the Chicago area, much of the rest of the state is not competitive in the March 19 primary.
One expert says one reason is how supermajority Democrats have drawn the political maps.
“One of the products of political gerrymandering is that you create as many noncompetitive districts as possible,” said Kent Redfield, a political science professor at University of Illinois Springfield. “You want all of your opponents in a district where – let’s say the Democrats are drawing the map, which they did – you want the Republicans in 90 / 10 districts.”
Another, says Redfield, is the decline of the Illinois Republican Party.
“Fighting over Downstate is not the way you win statewide elections in Illinois,” said Redfield. “You win them in the (Chicago) suburbs, and the Republicans used to control the suburbs. They lost suburban Cook (County) in the nineties. The Democrats lose a seat Downstate, and they pick up two in the suburbs.”
A southern Illinois Republican congressional primary appears to be going for incumbent U.S. Rep. Mike Bost (R-Murphysboro), said Redfield, now that Bost has garnered the endorsement of former president Donald Trump. Former state lawmaker Darren Bailey, the GOP nominee for governor in 2022, is challenging Bost, though Redfield says Bailey cannot compete financially with Bost in advertising.
In another congressional district, two underfunded and nearly anonymous Republicans are competing for the right to face a Democrat incumbent in November.