Illinois’ primary elections Tuesday saw multiple contested party races decided, setting the stages for November’s midterm elections.

In the 13th Congressional District, which includes Champaign-Urbana, incumbent U.S. Rep. Nikki Budzinski won the Democratic primary over challenger Dylan Blaha Tuesday night.

Budzinski had 75.5% of the total vote share, winning every county in the district. Blaha’s largest vote total was 39.8% in Champaign County, where he resides. Both Blaha and Budzinski are University alums.

At a campaign watch party in Champaign, Blaha addressed the crowd of supporters and campaign volunteers around 9 p.m., shortly after calling Budzinski’s campaign team to concede.

“When I got up this morning, even though it’s been 10 months and some change since our campaign launched, it would’ve been hard to imagine that over 10,000 people trusted me enough to be their voice in Congress,” Blaha said during his concession speech. “I’m sorry that that is not the case yet.”

In a statement, Budzinski said she looks forward to continuing to represent the 13th District.

“This victory is a strong signal that what we’re doing is resonating with voters who are ready for Democrats to take back the majority in the House of Representatives,” Budzinski said.

In attendance at Blaha’s event were Champaign County Executive candidate Sanford Hess, Champaign County Auditor George Danos and Champaign Councilwoman Shauna Clayborn. 

“I think putting people first is a great approach,” Hess said of his support for Blaha. “I like what Dylan is talking about on the issues, and I feel like we need to have people who are challenging the establishment.”

Blaha ran as a grassroots, non-establishment candidate, campaigning on getting “dark” money out of politics, alongside his pro-Palestinian views.

Ahead of Tuesday’s primary, Budzinski had raised over $2.1 million, while Blaha raised just under $90,000.

After Budzinski won the primary, Blaha said he’s willing to work with her in the future, but says he’s not done with the 13th District.

“I support her against any Republican in the general,” Blaha said just after AP called the election for Budzinski. “I will definitely consider and likely plan to run against her again in 2028.”

IL-13 Republicans

In the Republican primary for the 13th Congressional District, Champaign County board member Jeff Wilson defeated Joshua Lloyd.

Wilson captured over 67% of the vote, with Champaign County voting 76% for the county board member.

Despite Wilson not residing within the 13th Congressional District — instead living in part of the 15th Congressional District in Mahomet, Illinois — federal election law kept him eligible as he simply needed to live within the state he sought to represent.

Lloyd had won the Republican nomination in 2024, where he lost to Budzinski by 16.2 percentage points. 

Statewide races

In the Senate race, where 10 Democrats sought to replace retiring Sen. Dick Durbin in what is rated a solid Democratic seat, Lt. Gov. Juliana Stratton won the party nomination with 40.1% of the statewide vote, followed by 8th Congressional District Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi with 33.2%. 

In Champaign County, Stratton led the field with 49.9% of the vote.

Don Tracy won the GOP nomination for Senate with 39.9% of the statewide vote and 44.7% in Champaign County. Jeannie Evans came in second with 22.8% statewide.

As for the Republican race to challenge Gov. JB Pritzker, Darren Bailey defeated three other candidates — including Ted Dabrowski — to set up a rematch with Pritzker in November.

Bailey won 99 of Illinois’ 102 counties, with 53.5% of the overall vote, and 55.2% of the Champaign County vote. Dabrowski came in second with 28.9% statewide.

Bailey previously ran against Pritzker in 2022, when he lost in the general election by 12 percentage points. 

Bailey tapped Cook County Republican Chairman Aaron Del Mar as his running mate for 2026, bringing a Chicago name into the ticket of a southern Illinois farmer. Bailey seeks to appeal more to Chicago and its suburbs in his second campaign.

Dabrowski had made headlines recently in the C-U area, after suing Champaign County for a misspelling of his name on the ballot, alongside posting a video where he advocated for capping the number of international students at state universities.

Champaign County

In the Champaign County executive primary, two Democrats sought to replace retiring executive Steve Summers, with Michelle Jett defeating Sanford Hess with 59.7% of the vote.

The Champaign County Board only had one contested primary race, with Chyna Figueroa-Dixon and Ryan Musgrove competing for the Democratic nomination for an uncontested seat in November. Figueroa-Dixon won the race with 70.3% of the vote.

Neither the County Executive nor the County Board’s 6th District have any Republican challengers, meaning whichever Democratic candidate wins will be elected unopposed in November.

[email protected]