Election filing deadline: Pritzker to face primary challenge; DeVore files for AG

[March 15, 2022]  By Kevin Bessler | The Center Square

The Center Square) – The 2022 ballot for the June 28 primary election in Illinois is coming into focus.

Monday was the deadline for candidates to file their intent to run for office. Gov. J.B. Pritzker learned he will have an opponent in the Democratic primary in his bid for re-election. He will be challenged by Chicago nurse and Army veteran Beverly Miles.

"I’m a concerned citizen who is sick and tired of the issues that are going on in the state of Illinois and I decided to do something about it,” Miles said.

Several Republican candidates have ambitions to be governor, including Aurora Mayor Richard Irvin, state Sen. Darren Bailey, suburban businessman Gary Rabine, former state Sen. Paul Schimpf, venture capitalist Jesse Sullivan, Max Solomon, Emily Johnson and Keisha Smith.

“We have a generation of leaders that have driven our state into the ground,” Sullivan, who waited until Monday to file, said. “They are best represented by Mike Madigan in a culture of corruption that has gotten us terrible results.”

Gov. J.B. Pritzker speaks at a news conference on Monday, Nov. 1, 2021.
Courtesy of Facebook

Three candidates will challenge Kwame Raoul for Illinois Attorney General, including high-profile lawyer Thomas DeVore. DeVore has been a vocal opponent of Pritzker's executive orders during the COVID-19 pandemic and filed suit against him multiple times. Steve Kim and David Shestokas will go up against DeVore in the Republican primary in June.

Democratic U.S. Sen. Tammy Duckworth filed in her re-election bid. Two Republicans who lost 2020 bids to challenge Democratic U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin, Casey Chlbek and Peggy Hubbard, filed to win their party’s nomination.

Now that the filing period has ended, candidates can have their petitions challenged for a number of reasons, including whether some of the signatures they presented are legitimate.

Illinois' primary election is June 28.

Kevin Bessler reports on statewide issues in Illinois for the Center Square. He has over 30 years of experience in radio news reporting throughout the Midwest.