By Townhall Chicago News Staff
Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker won a third term Tuesday, leading a Democratic sweep of statewide races, according to results reported during election-night broadcast coverage.
The win extends Pritzker’s tenure in Springfield into a third four-year term. Lt. Gov. Juliana Stratton also won the U.S. Senate seat being vacated by Sen. Dick Durbin, defeating Republican Don Tracy, according to the same broadcast results.
“We climbed one mountain tonight, but we are sitting at the base of another,” Pritzker said after the results came in. He did not elaborate on what he meant.
Pritzker defeated Republican Darren Bailey, a Clay County farmer and former state senator who also lost to Pritzker in the 2022 governor’s race. Bailey said of Tuesday’s loss, “I have no regrets. There are no regrets.” Bailey had entered the 2026 race in September 2025 with Cook County Republican Party Chair Aaron Del Mar as his running mate, campaigning on taxes and the cost of living in Illinois.
Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul and Democratic candidate Alexi Giannoulias also won their statewide races Tuesday, according to the broadcast results. The results were reported on-air and had not been certified by the Illinois State Board of Elections at the time of the broadcast.
Republicans held onto three U.S. House seats in the state: Rep. Mike Bost in the 12th District, Rep. Mary Miller in the 15th District and Rep. Darin LaHood in the 16th District. Democrat Daniel Biss won the 9th District seat being vacated by retiring Rep. Jan Schakowsky, defeating John Ellison. State Rep. La Shawn Ford won the 7th District seat being vacated by retiring Rep. Danny Davis.
Pritzker’s two previous terms included balancing the state budget each year, eliminating a multibillion-dollar bill backlog built up under previous administrations, and multiple credit-rating upgrades for the state, according to his administration’s record. He also oversaw an increase in the state minimum wage and an expansion of renewable energy production in Illinois during that time.
Final, certified results from the Illinois State Board of Elections were not available at the time of the broadcast. Stratton is set to succeed Durbin when the new Congress convenes in January.
Before entering elected office, Pritzker built a career in business and philanthropy. He founded 1871, a nonprofit small-business incubator in Chicago, and led the creation of the Illinois Holocaust Museum and Education Center.
Pritzker’s third term is set to begin when he is sworn in for a new four-year term in January 2027.
