2026 primary election: Gov. JB Pritzker, Darren Bailey and more file for candidacy on petition day

CHICAGO (WLS) -- Democracy is alive and well in Illinois as candidates file the required petitions to qualify for the 2026 primary election in March.

To be first meant lining up before dawn in Cook County. Monday marked petition day statewide, with the longest line in Springfield as statewide candidates, including Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker, who is seeking a third term, submitted thousands of signatures.

ABC7 Chicago is now streaming 24/7. Click here to watch

Pritzker stood next to his running mate, former Deputy Gov. Christian Mitchell, to file his petition.

"I'm going to keep fighting for the people of Illinois. I'm going to keep standing up for what they need, which is education, healthcare, good jobs," Pritzker said.

With an eye on the White House, the governor once again made no promises to serve the four full years.

"What I can commit to you is that I'm going to work very hard every single day that I'm in office for the people of Illinois, and every decision that I make is really about what's best for the people of Illinois," Pritzker said.

While petition day is usually as celebration in Illinois politics, the gubernatorial race has been overshadowed by the deadly helicopter crash involving Republican candidate Darren Bailey's son, daughter-in-law and two grandchildren. His running mate, Aaron Del Mar, filed the paperwork on Bailey's behalf.

"We are incredibly proud that we are submitting over 12,000 signatures that were circulated by 3,000 individual volunteers that went all throughout the state of Illinois to get us on the ballot," Del Mar said.

Del Mar says Bailey is waiting until after the funeral to decide if he plans to stay in the race

"Darren and I are going to have some strong conversations, but right now, we're not talking about anything," Del Mar said.

Besides the gubernatorial race, petitions were filed for retiring Sen. Dick Durbin's seat and several other Chicago-area congressional races that are up for grabs.

In the meantime, in the nation's second-largest county, candidates for the Cook County Board of Commissioners, clerk, treasurer, sheriff, Board of Review, Water Reclamation District and township committeeperson all handed in their paperwork. But the big race to watch is for Cook County Board president.

"Bottom line is, it's getting very expensive to live in Cook County. Some parts of Cook County, people are paying 11% of the total value of their home in property taxes every single year," said Ald. Brendan Reilly, a Democratic candidate for Cook County Board president. "Cook County needs to become more affordable and, frankly, safer for us to kind of move into the next 20 years of our county government."

Affordability is Reilly's message as he challenges Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle in the Democratic primary. Preckwinkle is seeking her fifth term.

"I think we have a great record, over the last 15 years, of good fiscal management, of creating a healthcare system where we deliver quality of care," Preckwinkle said. "We work together with the city and state to make our criminal justice system fair and invest in our communities that have been plagued by violence."

Candidates have until Nov. 3 to hand in petitions. Many file much more than needed in case some signatures are contested and get thrown out. The 2026 Illinois primary is March 17.