With all 177 state legislative districts in Illinois up for election this year, there are 354 possible primaries. Of that total, 14.4%, or 51, are contested, slightly higher than in 2018 when 45 primaries accounted for 14.3% of that year’s 314 possible primaries.
A primary is contested when more candidates file to run than there are nominations available meaning at least one candidate must lose.
The 51 contested primaries this year include 25 Democratic primaries and 26 for Republicans. For Democrats, this is down from 28 in 2020, an 11% decrease. For Republicans, that number increased 160% from 10 in 2020 to 26 in 2022.
