The Democratic Party of Illinois is the affiliate of the Democratic Party in the U.S. state of Illinois. It is the oldest extant state party in Illinois and one of just two recognized parties in the state,along with the Republican Party. It is currently the dominant party in the state,controlling the majority of Illinois' U.S. House seats,both U.S. Senate seats,both houses of the state legislature,and the governorship.
The Government of Illinois,under Illinois' Constitution,has three branches of government:Executive,Legislative,and Judicial. The State's executive branch is split into several statewide elected offices,with the Governor as chief executive and head of state,and has numerous departments,agencies,boards and commissions. Legislative functions are granted to the General Assembly,a bicameral body consisting of the 118-member House of Representatives and the 59-member Senate. The judiciary is composed of the Supreme Court of Illinois and lower courts.
James Brian Durkin is an American politician who served as a Republican member of the Illinois House of Representatives from 1995 to 2003 and again from 2006 to 2023. He served as the Minority Leader of the Illinois House of Representatives from 2013 to 2023.
Roland Wallace Burris is an American retired Democratic politician and attorney who served as Attorney General of Illinois from 1991 to 1995. In January 2009,he was appointed a United States Senator,succeeding Barack Obama,who resigned to become president of the United States. Burris held this position until November 2010,retiring from front-line politics shortly after.
Miguel del Valle is an American politician and the former City Clerk of Chicago. He was an Illinois State Senator for two decades,representing the 2nd District of Chicago from 1987–2006. Del Valle lost his bid for mayor in Chicago's February 22,2011 municipal elections,coming in third with 53,953 votes. He served as the president of the Chicago Board of Education from June 2019 through June 2023,having been appointed to that position by Mayor Lori Lightfoot.
Jacqueline Y. Collins was born December 10,1949 in McComb,Mississippi and grew up in the Englewood neighborhood of Chicago. She is an American politician who served as a Democratic member of the Illinois Senate. She represented the 16th district from 2003 until 2023. Was elected to the Illinois Senate in 2003 and highlights her work on extending limitations for civil and criminal prosecution of sex crimes against children. Legislations allowing more Illinois senior citizens to qualify for the Homestead Exemption and a resolution in creating a commission to study and document racial and gender discrimination in hiring or contracting on state public construction projects
Daniel V. Beiser is an American politician and former Democratic member of the Illinois House of Representatives,representing the 111th District.
In December 2008,then-Democratic Governor of Illinois Rod Blagojevich and his Chief of Staff John Harris were charged with corruption by federal prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald. As a result,Blagojevich was impeached by the Illinois General Assembly and removed from office by the Illinois Senate in January 2009. The federal investigation continued after his removal from office,and he was indicted on corruption charges in April of that year. The jury found Blagojevich guilty of one charge of making false statements with a mistrial being declared on the other 23 counts due to a hung jury after 14 days of jury deliberation. On June 27,2011,after a retrial,Blagojevich was found guilty of 17 charges,not guilty on one charge and the jury deadlocked after 10 days of deliberation on the two remaining charges. On December 7,2011,Blagojevich was sentenced to 14 years in prison.
Both houses of the United States Congress have refused to seat new members based on Article I,Section 5 of the United States Constitution which states that:
"Each House shall be the judge of the elections,returns and qualifications of its own members,and a majority of each shall constitute a quorum to do business;but a smaller number may adjourn from day to day,and may be authorized to compel the attendance of absent members,in such manner,and under such penalties as each House may provide."
Jay Robert "JB" Pritzker is an American businessman,politician,philanthropist,and attorney,serving since 2019 as the 43rd governor of Illinois. Pritzker is a member of the wealthy Pritzker family that owns the Hyatt hotel chain. As a businessman,he has started several venture capital and investment startups,including the Pritzker Group,where he is managing partner.
The city of Chicago,Illinois held a nonpartisan mayoral election on Tuesday,February 22,2011. Incumbent Mayor Richard Michael Daley,a member of the Democratic Party who had been in office since 1989,did not seek a seventh term as mayor. This was the first non-special election since 1947 in which an incumbent mayor of Chicago did not seek reelection.
Kelly Cassidy is an American politician from Chicago. She is a Democrat and a member of the Illinois House of Representatives. She was appointed to represent the 14th district,on Chicago's North Side,in April 2011 following incumbent Harry Osterman's election to the Chicago City Council. She took office on May 16,2011. Most notably Kelly Cassidy was the chief sponsor of House Bill 1438,making Illinois the first state to legalize the Adult-Use of Cannabis through legislature as opposed to a ballot measure.
Christian Mitchell is the incoming Vice President for Civic Engagement at the University of Chicago. He currently serves as Deputy Governor for Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker’s administration. Prior to assuming that role,Mitchell represented the 26th District of Illinois as state representative from 2013 to 2019. He also served as the executive director of the Democratic Party of Illinois during the 2018 election cycle,becoming the first African-American to hold the position.
Elgie R. Sims Jr. is the Illinois state Senator for the 17th district. The 17th district includes the Chatham neighborhoods of Chicago along with the all or parts of Burnham,Calumet City,Lansing,Ford Heights,Lynwood,Sauk Village,Beecher,Manteno,and Grant Park.
The 2018 Illinois gubernatorial election took place on November 6,2018,to elect the governor of Illinois,concurrently with the 2018 Illinois general election and other midterm elections. Incumbent Republican Governor Bruce Rauner ran for re-election to a second term in office,but was defeated by Democratic nominee J. B. Pritzker. This was one of eight Republican-held governorships up for election in a state that Hillary Clinton won in the 2016 presidential election.
Juliana Stratton is an American lawyer and politician serving as the 48th lieutenant governor of Illinois since 2019. She previously served as a Democratic member of the Illinois House of Representatives from 2017 to 2019. She is the first African-American woman to become Illinois' lieutenant governor,and the state's fourth woman lieutenant governor overall,after Corinne Wood,Sheila Simon,and Evelyn Sanguinetti.
Omar Aquino is an American politician serving as a member of the Illinois Senate,representing the 2nd district. A Democrat,he was elected in the March 2016 Democratic primary and appointed to the seat effective July 1,2016,following the retirement of William Delgado. Sworn into office at age 29,he is the youngest-ever Latino member of the Illinois State Senate and one of the youngest state senators in Illinois history. Previously,he served as an aide to Congresswoman Tammy Duckworth.
Darren Bailey 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. Widely described by news outlets as a far-right politician,he was the Republican nominee for the 2022 Illinois gubernatorial election,which he lost to incumbent J. B. Pritzker.
Elections were held in Illinois on Tuesday,November 2,1976.
The 2022 Illinois gubernatorial election took place on November 8,2022,to elect the governor of Illinois,concurrently with the 2022 Illinois general election. Gubernatorial candidates ran on tickets with candidates for lieutenant governor. The incumbent governor and lieutenant governor,first-term Democrats J. B. Pritzker and Juliana Stratton,sought re-election together against Republican nominees Illinois State Senator Darren Bailey and his running mate Stephanie Trussell.
