The 2022 Illinois gubernatorial election took place on November 8, 2022, to elect the

governor of Illinois The governor of Illinois is the head of government of Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. It borders on Lake Michigan to its northeast, the Mississippi River to its we ...

, concurrently with the 2022 Illinois general election. Gubernatorial candidates ran on

tickets Ticket or tickets may refer to: Slips of paper * Lottery, Lottery ticket * Parking violation, Parking ticket, a ticket confirming that the parking fee was paid (and the time of the parking start) * Ticket system, Toll ticket, a slip of paper use ...

with candidates for

lieutenant governor A lieutenant governor, lieutenant-governor, or vice governor is a high officer of state, whose precise role and rank vary by jurisdiction. Often a lieutenant governor is the deputy, or lieutenant, to or ranked under a governor — a "second-in-comm ...

. The incumbent governor and lieutenant governor, first-term Democrats

JB Pritzker Jay Robert Pritzker (born January 19, 1965) is an American businessman and politician serving since 2019 as the 43rd governor of Illinois. A member of the wealthy Pritzker family that owns the Hyatt hotel chain, Pritzker has started several vent ...

and

Juliana Stratton Juliana Stratton (née Wiggins; born September 8, 1965) is an American lawyer and politician serving as the 48th lieutenant governor of Illinois since 2019. She won the 2018 Illinois gubernatorial election, 2018 and 2022 Illinois gubernatorial el ...

, sought re-election together against Republican nominees Illinois State Senator

Darren Bailey Darren Bailey (born March 17, 1966) is an American politician who was a Republican member of the Illinois Senate for the 55th District and previously a member of the Illinois House of Representatives for the 109th District in Southern Illinois. ...

and his running mate Stephanie Trussell. On election day, Pritzker won re-election with 54.9% of the vote, 0.4% higher than his

2018 Events January * January 1 – Bulgaria takes over the Presidency of the Council of the European Union, after the Estonian presidency. * January 4 – SPLM-IO rebels loyal to Chan Garang Lual start a raid against Juba, capital of ...

performance, and the best raw vote percentage for a Democrat for governor since

1960 It is also known as the "Year of Africa" because of major events—particularly the independence of seventeen African nations—that focused global attention on the continent and intensified feelings of Pan-Africanism. Events January * Janu ...

. However, his margin of victory declined from 15.7% in 2018 to 12.5% in 2022. Pritzker's victory was once again the result of a strong performance in the

Chicago metropolitan area The Chicago metropolitan area, also referred to as Chicagoland, is the largest metropolitan statistical area in the U.S. state of Illinois, and the Midwest, containing the City of Chicago along with its surrounding suburbs and satellite cities. ...

—containing a majority of the state's population—winning a lopsided victory in strongly Democratic

Cook County Cook County is the most populous county in the U.S. state of Illinois and the second-most-populous county in the United States, after Los Angeles County, California. More than 40 percent of all residents of Illinois live within Cook County. ...

, the home of

Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

, as well as winning all but one of the neighboring

collar counties Collar counties is a colloquialism for DuPage, Kane, Lake, McHenry, and Will counties, the five counties of Illinois that border Cook County, which is home to Chicago. The collar counties are part of the Chicago metropolitan area and com ...

. Bailey improved upon former Republican governor

Bruce Rauner Bruce Vincent Rauner (; born February 18, 1956) is an American businessman, venture capitalist, and politician who served as the 42nd governor of Illinois from 2015 to 2019. A member of the Republican Party, he had a decades-long career in inves ...

's performance in 2018 by just under 4%, largely due to the absence of a strong third-party conservative candidate that appeared in 2018. Subsequently, Bailey was able to flip the counties of

Alexander Alexander () is a male name of Greek origin. The most prominent bearer of the name is Alexander the Great, the king of the Ancient Greek kingdom of Macedonia who created one of the largest empires in ancient history. Variants listed here ar ...

, Fulton,

Jackson Jackson may refer to: Places Australia * Jackson, Queensland, a town in the Maranoa Region * Jackson North, Queensland, a locality in the Maranoa Region * Jackson South, Queensland, a locality in the Maranoa Region * Jackson oil field in Durham, ...

, Knox, and Winnebago, which Pritzker had previously won, while Pritzker managed to flip McLean county, marking the first time since

1948 Events January * January 1 ** The General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) is inaugurated. ** The current Constitutions of Constitution of Italy, Italy and of Constitution of New Jersey, New Jersey (both later subject to amendment) ...

that it has voted for a Democrat in a gubernatorial election. Pritzker was the first Illinois governor to serve a full term and be reelected for a second since

Rod Blagojevich Rod R. Blagojevich ( ; born December 10, 1956), often referred to by his nickname "Blago", is an American politician who served as the 40th governor of Illinois from 2003 to 2009. A member of the Democratic Party, Blagojevich previously worked ...

2006 2006 was designated as the International Year of Deserts and Desertification. Events January * January 1– 4 – Russia temporarily cuts shipment of natural gas to Ukraine during a price dispute. * January 12 – A stampede during t ...

. If Pritzker serves the entirety of his term, he will become the first Democratic governor in the state's history to serve two full four-year terms, as every other Democratic governor had either been impeached, died or resigned before finishing their second term.

Background

The primaries and general elections coincided with those for federal congressional races, the state's U.S. Senate race, and those for other state offices. The election was part of the

2022 Illinois elections A general election was held in the U.S. state of Illinois on November 8, 2022. The elections for 2022 United States Senate election in Illinois, United States Senate and 2022 United States House of Representatives elections in Illinois, United ...

. The

primary election Primary elections or primaries are elections held to determine which candidates will run in an upcoming general election. In a partisan primary, a political party selects a candidate. Depending on the state and/or party, there may be an "open pr ...

was held on June 28. The general election was held on November 8, 2022.

Democratic primary

Candidates

Nominee

, incumbent governor **Running mate:

, incumbent lieutenant governor

Eliminated in primary

*Beverly Miles,

U.S. Army The United States Army (USA) is the primary land service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is designated as the Army of the United States in the United States Constitution.Article II, section 2, clause 1 of the United Stat ...

veteran, registered nurse and activist **Running mate: Karla Shaw

Endorsements

Results

2022 Illinois gubernatorial Democratic primary

Republican primary

Candidates

Nominee

state senator A state senator is a member of a State legislature (United States), state's senate in the bicameral legislature of 49 U.S. states, or a member of the unicameral Nebraska Legislature. History There are typically fewer state senators than there ...

** Running mate: Stephanie Trussell, former radio talk show host from Lisle, Illinois

Eliminated in primary

* Richard Irvin, mayor of

Aurora An aurora ( aurorae or auroras), also commonly known as the northern lights (aurora borealis) or southern lights (aurora australis), is a natural light display in Earth's sky, predominantly observed in high-latitude regions (around the Arc ...

**Running mate: Avery Bourne,

state representative A state legislature is a legislative branch or body of a political subdivision in a federal system. Two federations literally use the term "state legislature": * The legislative branches of each of the fifty state governments of the United St ...

*Gary Rabine, businessman **Running mate: Aaron Del Mar, Palatine Township Republican Committeeman * Paul Schimpf, former

and nominee for

Attorney General In most common law jurisdictions, the attorney general (: attorneys general) or attorney-general (AG or Atty.-Gen) is the main legal advisor to the government. In some jurisdictions, attorneys general also have executive responsibility for law enf ...

2014 The year 2014 was marked by the surge of the Western African Ebola epidemic, West African Ebola epidemic, which began in 2013, becoming the List of Ebola outbreaks, most widespread outbreak of the Ebola, Ebola virus in human history, resul ...

**Running mate: Carolyn Schofield, McHenry County Board member *Max Solomon, Attorney **Running Mate: Latasha Fields * Jesse Sullivan, venture capitalist **Running mate: Kathleen Murphy, former director of communications for state representative

Jeanne Ives Jeanne M. Ives (née Remmes, born October 4, 1964) is an American politician. A Republican, she is a former member of the Illinois House of Representatives for the 42nd district. She was a candidate for governor of Illinois and U.S. representat ...

Removed from ballot

* Emily Johnson * Keisha Smith

Declined

* Rodney Davis,

U.S. representative The United States House of Representatives is a chamber of the bicameral United States Congress; it is the lower house, with the U.S. Senate being the upper house. Together, the House and Senate have the authority under Article One of th ...

for ''( ran for re-election)'' *

Kirk Dillard Kirk W. Dillard (born June 1, 1955) is an American politician and the current Chairman of the Regional Transportation Authority Board of Directors. Previously, he served as a Republican member of the Illinois State Senate, representing the 24th ...

, chair of the Regional Transportation Authority, former

, and candidate for governor in

2010 The year saw a multitude of natural and environmental disasters such as the 2010 Haiti earthquake, the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, and the 2010 Chile earthquake. The 2009 swine flu pandemic, swine flu pandemic which began the previous year ...

and

Adam Kinzinger Adam Daniel Kinzinger (; born February 27, 1978) is an American politician, senior political commentator for CNN, and former lieutenant colonel in the Air National Guard. He served as a United States representative from Illinois from 2011 to 20 ...

for * Todd Ricketts, finance chair of the

Republican National Committee The Republican National Committee (RNC) is the primary committee of the Republican Party of the United States. Its members are chosen by the state delegations at the national convention every four years. It is responsible for developing and pr ...

, member of the

TD Ameritrade TD Ameritrade Holding Corporation was a stockbroker that offered an electronic trading platform for the trade of financial assets. The company was founded in 1975 as First Omaha Securities. In 2006, it acquired the United States operations of TD ...

Board of Directors, and co-owner of the

Chicago Cubs The Chicago Cubs are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The Cubs compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League Central, Central Division. Th ...

Endorsements

Polling

Graphical summary

Results

2022 Illinois gubernatorial Republican primary

Libertarian convention

Candidates

Nominee

Scott Schluter The 2022 Illinois gubernatorial election took place on November 8, 2022, to elect the governor of Illinois, concurrently with the 2022 Illinois elections, 2022 Illinois general election. Gubernatorial candidates ran on Ticket (election), ticke ...

, veteran, diesel technician, and chair of the Southern Illinois Libertarian Party **Running mate: John Phillips

Withdrew

*Jon Stewart, former professional wrestler and candidate in

Other parties and independents

Independents

Declared but never filed

Mancow Muller Matthew Erich "Mancow" Muller (born June 21, 1966) is an American radio and television personality, actor, and former child actor. Considered a shock jock, his career has been well known for controversy and clashes with the Federal Communication ...

, radio personality

Removed from ballot

* Tommy Belg

General election

Predictions

Post-primary endorsements

Polling

Aggregate polls Graphical summary
JB Pritzker vs. Richard Irvin
JB Pritzker vs. Gary Rabine
JB Pritzker vs. Paul Schimpf
JB Pritzker vs. Jesse Sullivan
JB Pritzker vs. generic Republican
JB Pritzker vs. generic opponent
Generic Democrat vs. generic Republican

Debates

Results

Counties that flipped from Democratic to Republican

(largest city:

Cairo Cairo ( ; , ) is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Egypt and the Cairo Governorate, being home to more than 10 million people. It is also part of the List of urban agglomerations in Africa, largest urban agglomeration in Africa, L ...

) * Fulton (largest city:

Canton Canton may refer to: Administrative divisions * Canton (administrative division), territorial/administrative division in some countries * Township (Canada), known as ''canton'' in Canadian French Arts and entertainment * Canton (band), an It ...

) *

(largest city: Carbondale) * Knox (largest city: Galesburg) * Winnebago (largest city: Rockford)

Counties that flipped from Republican to Democratic

* McLean (largest city: Bloomington)

By congressional district

Pritzker won 14 of 17 congressional districts.

Notes

Partisan clients

References

External links

Official campaign websites
Darren Bailey (R) for Governor

JB Pritzker (D) for Governor

Scott Schluter (L) for Governor
{{Illinois elections

2022 The year began with another wave in the COVID-19 pandemic, with SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant, Omicron spreading rapidly and becoming the dominant variant of the SARS-CoV-2 virus worldwide. Tracking a decrease in cases and deaths, 2022 saw ...

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. It borders on Lake Michigan to its northeast, the Mississippi River to its west, and the Wabash River, Wabash and Ohio River, Ohio rivers to its ...

2022 Illinois elections, Gubernatorial Pritzker family