Illinois State Senate elections, 2026

2026 Illinois Senate Elections
Primary	Pending
General	November 3, 2026

2026 Elections
Choose a chamber below:

Elections for the Illinois State Senate will take place in 2026. The general election is on November 3, 2026.

The Illinois State Senate is one of 88 state legislative chambers with elections in 2026. There are 99 chambers throughout the country.

Party control

See also: Partisan composition of state senates and State government trifectas

Party	As of March 2025
	Democratic Party	40
	Republican Party	19
	Other	0
	Vacancies	0
Total	59

Candidates

Note: The following list includes official candidates only. Ballotpedia defines official candidates as people who:

• Register with a federal or state campaign finance agency before the candidate filing deadline
• Appear on candidate lists released by government election agencies

This list will be updated after the candidate filing deadline has passed and the official list of candidates becomes available. Please contact us if you notice an official candidate missing from the list or the inclusion of a candidate who withdrew.

Primary

General election

Voting information

See also: Voting in Illinois

Ballotpedia will publish the dates and deadlines related to this election as they are made available.

Competitiveness

This section will be updated with information about the competitiveness of state legislative elections in Illinois. For more information about Ballotpedia's Competitiveness Analysis of state legislative elections, please click here.

Process to become a candidate

See also: Ballot access requirements for political candidates in Illinois

See statutes: Chapter 10, Section 5, Article 7 of the Illinois Statutes

In Illinois, a candidate may run with an established political party, with a new party, as an independent candidate, or as a write-in candidate. Candidate qualification processes are detailed below.^[1]

Political party candidates and independent candidates

Established political party candidates, new party candidates, and independent candidates must file nomination papers with the Illinois State Board of Elections in order to qualify for placement on the ballot. These nomination papers must be filed during the designated filing period. The filing period for established party candidates begins 127 days before the primary election and ends 120 days before the primary election. New party and independent candidates have a separate filing period. Their filing period begins 141 days before the general election and ends 134 days before the general election.^[2][1]

Nomination papers include the following:^[1]

1. The statement of candidacy must indicate the candidate's address, the office being sought, and the candidate's political party designation (if applicable). This form also includes a statement affirming that the candidate is qualified for the office being sought. This form must be signed by the candidate and notarized.^[3]
2. The original statement of economic interests must be filed with the Illinois Secretary of State, which will then issue the receipt of the statement of economic interests for the candidate to file with the Illinois State Board of Elections. This form is not required from candidates seeking federal office. It is suggested that this form be filed at the same time as all other nomination papers, but it may be filed after the other papers as long as it is filed within the candidate filing period.^[1]
3. The loyalty oath form is optional. If a candidate chooses to sign it, he or she must affirm that he or she is not affiliated directly or indirectly with any organization that seeks to overthrow the government of the United States or the state of Illinois.^[1]
4. A petition containing the signatures of qualified electors. A candidate can begin circulating petitions 90 days before the last day of the filing period. Signature requirements for petitions vary according to the candidate's political party affiliation and the office being sought. Signature requirements are detailed in the table below.^[1][4][1]

Petition signature requirements
Office	Established party candidates	New party candidates	Independent candidates[5]
Statewide office (e.g., governor and lieutenant governor, attorney general, secretary of state, comptroller, treasurer)	5,000 (no more than 10,000) primary voters belonging to the candidate's party	1% of the number of voters who voted in the most recent general election or 25,000, whichever is less	1% of the number of voters who voted in the most recent general election or 25,000, whichever is less
United States Representative	0.5% of primary voters in the district belonging to the candidate's party	5% of the total number of district voters who voted in the last general election	5% of the total number of district voters who voted in the last general election
State senator	1,000 (no more than 3,000) district voters belonging to the candidate's party	5% of the total number of district voters who voted in the last general election	5% of the total number of district voters who voted in the last general election
State representative	500 (no more than 1,500) district voters belonging to the candidate's party	5% of the total number of district voters who voted in the last general election	5% of the total number of district voters who voted in the last general election

Any objections to nomination papers must be filed no later than five business days after the filing deadline.^[1]

Write-in candidates

Write-in votes will not be counted unless the candidate files a declaration of intent no later than 61 days before the election in which he or she is running. This form must indicate the office being sought by the candidate.^[1][6]

Qualifications

See also: State legislature candidate requirements by state

Article IV of the Illinois Constitution states: To be eligible to serve as a member of the General Assembly, a person must be a United States citizen, at least 21 years old, and for the two years preceding his election or appointment a resident of the district which he is to represent.

Salaries and per diem

See also: Comparison of state legislative salaries

State legislative salaries, 2024[7]
Salary	Per diem
$89,250/year	$166/day

When sworn in

See also: When state legislators assume office after a general election

Illinois legislators assume office the second Wednesday in January.^[8]

Illinois political history

Trifectas

A state government trifecta is a term that describes single-party government, when one political party holds the governor's office and has majorities in both chambers of the legislature in a state government.

Illinois Party Control: 1992-2025
Nineteen years of Democratic trifectas  •  Two years of Republican trifectas
Scroll left and right on the table below to view more years.

Presidential politics in Illinois

2024

See also: Presidential election, 2024

2020

See also: Presidential election, 2020

2016

See also: Presidential election, 2016

Illinois presidential election results (1900-2024)

• 17 Democratic wins
• 15 Republican wins

Redistricting following the 2020 census

The Illinois State Legislature approved new state legislative maps in a special session on August 31, 2021. Gov. J.B. Pritzker (D) signed the new maps into law on September 24, 2021.^[9] These maps were revised versions of maps enacted on June 4, 2021, that the legislature based on non-census population estimates. Following the release of census data in August, the legislature reconvened to develop and approve a revised map. These maps were later subject to a federal lawsuit that was decided on December 30, 2021, with the court upholding the maps enacted on September 24, 2021.^[10] Illinois House minority leader Tony McCombie (R) and five voters filed a lawsuit on January 28, 2025, alleging that the state House map enacted in 2021 was drawn unconstitutionally in Democrats' favor. ^[11] Learn more here.

See also

Illinois	State Legislative Elections	News and Analysis
Illinois State Executive Offices Illinois State Legislature Illinois Courts	2023 • 2022 • 2021 • 2020 2019 • 2018 • 2017 • 2016 • 2015 • 2014 Illinois elections: 2023 • 2022 • 2021 • 2020 • 2019 • 2018 • 2017 • 2016 • 2015	Party control of state government State government trifectas Partisan composition of state legislatures Partisan composition of state senates Partisan composition of state houses

External links

• Illinois State Senate

Footnotes