Primary Election Results: November matchups set for governor, secretary of state, MWRD board; Wilmette’s Julie Cho now rep for New Trier GOP

Tuesday was a night without many surprises as results from the Gubernatorial Primary Election set up ballots for the November General Election.

The unofficial results are provided by the Cook County Clerk’s Office and Chicago Board of Elections with more than 95 percent of precincts reporting as of 11 a.m. on Tuesday, June 29.

Headlining incumbents Gov. J.B. Pritzker, Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle and County Sheriff Tom Dart dominated primary challengers.

Pritzker cruised past challenger Beverly Miles while Republican Darren Bailey dominated a six-person field by claiming 57.5 percent of the vote. Jessie Sullivan (15.7%), Richard Irvin (15%), Gary Rabine (6.6%) and Paul Schimpf (4.3%) rounded out the top five. 

Preckwinkle (75.3%) and Dart (86.6%) bested Richard Boykin and Noland Rivera, respectively, and will both run unopposed in November.

In one of the night’s rare contentious races, incumbent County Assessor Fritz Kaegi (53.6%) fended off Kari Steele (46.4%) and also will run unopposed in November.

For county board seats that represent New Trier Township residents, incumbent Scott Britton (D-Glenview) will take on Benton Howser (R-Wilmette) in November for the 14th District (Northfield), while Josina Morita (D-Skokie) will run unopposed to replace Larry Sufferdin (retired) for the 13th (Wilmette, Winnetka, Kenilworth and Glencoe). 

With 51.55 percent of the vote, Skokie resident Samantha Steele (76,940 votes) upended Wilmette resident and incumbent Michael Cabonargi (72,308) to represent District 2 on the Cook County Board of Review.

In a three-way race among Wilmette residents, Julie Cho (52.98%) topped Charles Hutchinson (31.02%) and Jasmine Hauser (15.99%) and is now the Republican committeeperson for New Trier Township.

Cho, who unsuccessfully ran for the New Trier High School Board of Education in 2021, promoted a platform of removing politics — including certain books and gender lessons — from local schools. Hutchinson is the board president of the Wilmette Chamber of Commerce and is also challenging Robyn Gabel to represent the 18th district in the state house. Hauser, a former Wilmette District 39 School Board candidate in 2013, is the current vice chairperson of the New Trier GOP.

Dean Maragos will remain as the township’s Democratic committeeperson after victory in an unopposed race. The Winnetka resident pledges to fight for abortion rights and voting rights, environmental protections and public education.

For four-year seats on the Water Reclamation District board, Incumbent Mariyana T. Spyropolous, of Chicago, will be joined by fellow Democrats Yumeka Brown, of Matteson, and Patricia Theresa Flynn, of Crestwood, in November against Republican Cary Capparelli, of Park Ridge. A tight contest for the two-year seat was won by Elizabeth Joyce (36.8%, 139,156 votes) over Daniel “Pogo” Pogorzelski (36.4%, 137,647) and Chakena Perry (26.8%)

Tom DeVore — known for spearheading a lawsuit against Prizker’s school-mask mandate — won the Republican ticket for attorney general with 44.3 percent of the vote. He will square off with incumbent Kwame Raoul, who was unopposed in the primary, in November. 

Alexi Giannoulis (Dem, 52.8%) and Dan Brady (Rep., 76.5%) handily won their respective primaries and will vie to be Illinois’ next secretary of state following the retirement of Jesse White.

Kathy Salvi (R-Mundelien) will take on U.S. Sen. Tammy Duckworth in November after besting a seven-person primary field. 

Both running unopposed in the primary, U.S. Rep. Jan Schakowsky, a 12-term incumbent, and Republican Maxwell Rice will face off to represent Illinois 9th Congressional District (includes Wilmette, Winnetka, Northfield and Kenilworth).

Four-term incumbent Brad Schneider and Republican Joseph Severino will compete to represent Illinois 10th Congressional District, which covers Glencoe. 

For seats in the state house, local primaries were unopposed, as well. It will be incumbent Jennifer Gong-Gerschowitz (D-Glenview) against Bradley Martin for the 17th District (portions of Wilmette and Northfield), and incumbent Robyn Gabel against Charles Hutchinson, of Wilmette, for the 18th (Winnetka, Kenilworth, portions of Northfield, Wilmette and Glencoe). 

State Sen. Laura Fine (D-Glenview) will run unopposed in November for her second term representing the 9th District, which covers Wilmette, Winnetka, Kenilworth, Northfield and a portion of Glencoe. Fellow Sen. Julie Morrison (D-Deerfield), who represents a portion of Glencoe, will also run unopposed in November.

From the judicial ballot, Debra Walker (41.45%) and Raymond Mitchell (45.58%) will fill vacated seats in the county appellate court, and appointed to the circuit court were: Tracie Porter, Diana Lopez, Thomas Nowinski, Beth Ryan, Rena Marie Van Tine, Michael Weaver, Ruth Isabel Gudino, Araceli De La Cruz and Thomas Donnelly.

To read more about the judges, check out the Judicial Election Guide from Injustice Watch.

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