This year’s filing deadline for candidates running for Congress in Illinois was Dec. 4, 2023.
Forty-four candidates are running for Illinois’ 17 U.S. House districts, including 23 Democrats and 21 Republicans. That’s 2.59 candidates per district. In 2022, the first election after the number of Congressional districts in Illinois decreased from 18 to 17, 5.59 candidates filed per district.
In 2020, when the state still had 18 Congressional districts, 4.1 candidates ran. In 2018, 4.4 candidates did.
Here are some other highlights from this year’s filings:
- This is the fewest total number of candidates to run for the U.S. House since at least 2014.
- All incumbents are running for re-election this year, meaning no seats are open for the first time since 2014. In 2022, four seats were open, and one seat was open in 2020, 2018, and 2016.
- Six candidates—five Democrats and one Republican—are running in the 7th district, including incumbent Danny K. Davis (D). That’s the most candidates running for a district this year.
- Eleven primaries are contested this year—five Democratic and six Republican. That’s the fewest contested primaries since 2014, when nine were.
- Five incumbents are facing primary challengers—four Democrats and one Republican. That’s also the fewest since 2014, when three incumbents faced primary challengers.
- The 4th District is guaranteed to Democrats because no Republican candidates filed. The 15th and 16th Districts are guaranteed to Republicans because no Democrats filed.
Illinois, alongside Ohio, is one of two states holding primaries on March 19.
In Illinois, the winner of a primary election is the candidate who receives the greatest number of votes, even if they do not win an outright majority of votes cast.
