Which Republicans are seeking statewide office in 2026? So far, hardly
any
[August 12, 2025]
By Ben Szalinski
SPRINGFIELD — With U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin, Comptroller Susana Mendoza and
other members of Congress not seeking reelection in 2026, robust fields
are growing in the Democratic primaries for the open seats.
Gov. JB Pritzker is seeking a rare third term and has been on the
campaign trail for more than a month. Three high-profile Democrats are
seeking to replace Durbin, sparking a flurry of state-level Democrats
seeking to climb the political ladder.
But on the Republican side, it’s a ghost town in primary races for
statewide offices so far.
“We’ve been decimated to the point in Illinois where we don’t have a
strong bench,” former Republican State Rep. Mark Batinick, now a
political consultant, told Capitol News Illinois.
At this week’s Illinois State Fair political days – long viewed as the
unofficial start to election season in Illinois – the GOP’s focus will
largely be on Washington in the absence of prominent state-level
candidates, according to the state party chair.
“We have an opportunity in Illinois not only because Pritzker is such a
trainwreck, but also because so many great things are happening with the
leadership of this Republican president,” Illinois Republican Party
Chair Kathy Salvi said in an interview.
But winning statewide elections has been a daunting task for Illinois
Republicans since President Donald Trump first entered the national
political stage in 2016. Two years later, in 2018, a “blue wave” swept
the nation in Trump’s first midterm election and Pritzker was elected
governor. Since that year, Democrats seeking statewide offices have
cruised to victory.
Thus far, just two lesser-known Republicans have expressed interest in
challenging Pritzker in 2026. A similar group of lesser-known candidates
is considering a U.S. Senate run, but there has been no news about
anyone running for comptroller, treasurer or secretary of state.
It’s still early in the election cycle — the petition gathering period
began last week and runs through October — and Salvi said she expects
there will be a Republican candidate in November for each statewide
office.
GOP’s 2026 message
The Illinois GOP isn’t going to shy away from Trump, Salvi said, even
though the party often tried to ignore his influence under her
predecessor, Don Tracy, who is considering a run for statewide office.
Salvi said embracing the One Big Beautiful Bill will be a key part of
her party’s message in 2026 that she believes will resonate with voters.
She encouraged voters to find common ground on areas they agree with
Trump and ignore things they disagree with.
“Look at the success of this White House,” Salvi said. “Go to the White
House website every week, or more than that, and learn what’s happening.
And if there’s something you don’t like, then fine. Just don’t talk
about that. Look to what you do like. Find what we have in common.”
That’s a welcome strategy for the Illinois Freedom Caucus, a group of
the General Assembly’s most conservative lawmakers that has criticized
the party for not embracing Trump in recent years.
Collin Moseley, the caucus’ state director, said in an interview they
want the party to support Trump-aligned candidates, but the Illinois
party still has too many leaders who disassociate with Trump.
“I think that it’s mostly being stifled by people who hate Donald Trump
in our own party, people who are clinging with a death grip to hold our
party further to the left instead of moving to the right to the issues
that working families care about,” Moseley said. “We are stuck in this
old-fashioned way of campaigning and the old Republican Party that
mostly has lost its way.”
Salvi is also hoping to capitalize on Trump’s performance in Illinois in
2024, in which he cut down 17-point losses in 2016 and 2020 to about 11
points, largely due to a falloff in Democratic votes. Meanwhile,
Republicans did not lose seats in Springfield despite Democrats
targeting several vulnerable districts.
Pritzker beatable?
Pritzker is beatable, Batinick argued, citing the results of a poll
released Thursday conducted by his polling firm and commissioned by the
conservative Illinois Policy Institute where Batinick also works as a
policy analyst. It found Pritzker’s favorability rating was at 47%.
The poll conducted last month of 752 likely 2026 Illinois voters found
60% of voters say “high taxes” is a top issue for them, while 26% named
“state governance” as a top issue. Batinick said Pritzker appears set to
run on his record of governing the state, but also frequently discusses
national issues.
“The issues that matter to Illinoisans aren’t the issues that JB
Pritzker is talking about right now,” he said.
The primary race to challenge Pritzker is still taking shape with DuPage
County Sheriff Jim Mendrick the most notable name seeking the office so
far. Lake Forest businessman Joseph Severino, who has run for Congress
as a Republican and independent, has announced his intention to run for
governor, but has not filed a fundraising committee with the State Board
of Elections.
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Kathy Salvi speaks to supporters at the 2022 Illinois State Fair in
Springfield as a candidate for U.S. Senate. Salvi was elected chair
of the Illinois Republican Party in 2024. (Capitol News Illinois
photo by Jerry Nowicki)
Batinick said that politicians seeking to “climb the political ladder”
benefit from running for office, but the risk of losing their current
elected position is keeping Republicans from stepping into a race where
their odds of winning are low in a state that leans left.
“Everybody has to give up what they got to run for something that they
don’t think they can win,” he said. “They’re looking at a Trump midterm;
they’re looking at a lack of money; they’re looking a lack of excitement
at the top of the ticket for governor and senator to date.”
Batinick thinks the right Republican candidate can beat Gov. JB Pritzker
and overcome his spending power.
“A Republican candidate is going to have to work hard on the ground and
we’re going to have to band together to really match the money that he
can just buy,” Batinick said. “Republicans are going to have to do it
with volunteers. It’s possible, you just need somebody that is inspiring
to the public.”
Other offices
In the Senate race, four Republicans have filed paperwork with the
Federal Election Commission and are actively raising money.
Former Illinois Republican Party Chair Don Tracy is reportedly
considering running for either governor or Senate and is expected to
make an announcement soon. Ted Dabrowski, the president of conservative
research site Wirepoints, is also considering running for governor.
Bob Fioretti, who has unsuccessfully run for several offices as a member
of both parties, is reportedly circulating petitions to run for attorney
general.
But even as petition-gathering begins, no other candidates are publicly
known to be interested in running for other statewide offices. Notable
names, including U.S. Rep. Darin LaHood and former Illinois Republican
National Committeeman Richard Porter have declined to run for governor
or Senate.
Candidate recruitment isn’t the state party’s role but rather turning
out voters, said Salvi, an attorney from Mundelein who was the party’s
nominee for U.S. Senate in 2022.
Democrats’ national focus
While Republicans head into the State Fair still in search of people to
run for statewide office, Democrats have two primary elections for
statewide offices and three crowded primaries for congressional seats in
the Chicago area.
The primary for the open comptroller seat continues to expand. Rep.
Stephanie Kifowit, D-Oswego, announced on Monday she will run for the
seat, joining Rep. Margaret Croke, D-Chicago, and Lake County Treasurer
Holly Kim in the race as other Democrats also consider jumping in.
But even as some Democrats gear up to compete against each other, much
of the party’s focus this summer has been on national politics,
including currently hosting Democrats in the Texas House who left their
state to prevent a vote on redrawing Texas’ congressional maps.
After the Illinois Democratic Party hosted Democratic National Committee
Chair Ken Martin last week for one of several news conferences in the
western suburbs with Texas Democrats, the Illinois Democratic County
Chairs’ Association will host U.S. House Minority Leader Hakeem
Jefferies at their annual brunch on Wednesday in Springfield as part of
State Fair festivities.
“Illinoisans face unprecedented harm from Donald Trump and Elon Musk and
I cannot think of a better national leader right now to talk to our
party about how to meet this moment,” association President Mark Guethle
said in a statement.
Pritzker, who has put himself at the center of Texas’ redistricting
fight, will also hold the governor’s traditional event at the State Fair
on Wednesday afternoon. Pritzker has continued trying to grow his
national profile this summer amid speculation he plans to run for
president in 2028, including with an appearance on Stephen Colbert’s
late-night show on CBS last week.
The Republicans will host FOX News analyst Gianno Caldwell as their
keynote speaker at the fair on Thursday.
Capitol News Illinois is
a nonprofit, nonpartisan news service that distributes state government
coverage to hundreds of news outlets statewide. It is funded primarily
by the Illinois Press Foundation and the Robert R. McCormick Foundation.
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