Race · November 3, 2026

Governor · Illinois

3 candidates on the ballot.¹

§1Candidates

Why this matters: Every candidate the state lists for this race on the November ballot, in the state's own order.

JB Pritzker

Democratic · Incumbent

Darren Bailey

Republican · Challenger

Collin Corbett

Independent · Challenger

§2Side by side

Why this matters: The same facts for every candidate, in the same order. Where we found nothing for a candidate, the cell says so — that means we didn't find it in public sources, not that it doesn't exist.

Scroll sideways on small screens. Select a name for the full page.
Fact	JB Pritzker	Darren Bailey	Collin Corbett
Party on the ballot	Democratic^1,2	Republican¹	Independent¹
Status	Incumbent	Challenger	Challenger
Money	Candidates for governor file campaign-finance reports with the state, not the FEC, so this guide doesn't include their fundraising. Search the state's reports: Candidate disclosure search — Illinois State Board of Elections.³
Police funding	Increase police funding, for example to hire more officers His campaign website says he has worked to expand funding for first responders, and lists adding hundreds of troopers to the Illinois State Police, including the largest cadet class in state history, among his accomplishments.⁴	His campaign website says he would stand with law enforcement and give officers the tools, training and support they need.⁵	Not found in the public sources we checked
State K-12 school funding	His campaign website lists investing in K-12 schools and quadrupling the minimum salary for teachers among his accomplishments.⁶	His campaign website says he would fight to make sure schools are fully funded and give parents more power to choose for their children.⁵	His campaign website says that as money is freed up in the state budget, he would fully fund schools through the state's Evidence-Based Funding formula.⁷
State clean electricity targets	His campaign website lists enacting climate measures that put Illinois on the path to 100% clean energy by 2050 among his accomplishments, and his official biography says his clean energy expansion doubled the state's renewable energy production.^8,9	Not found in the public sources we checked	Delay, loosen or repeal the targets His campaign website says he would extend the natural gas plant closure and emission reduction deadlines in Illinois's Climate and Equitable Jobs Act by five years.⁷
Child care costs	His campaign website lists lowering the cost of child care for up to 80% of Illinois families, and making what it calls the largest investment ever in early childhood education, among his accomplishments.^6,10	Not found in the public sources we checked	His campaign website says he would expand the child care workforce, raise the state's child care assistance reimbursement rates and offer employer tax credits for child care as state funds allow.⁷
Same-sex marriage	His campaign website lists expanding health care and marriage equality protections for LGBTQ+ people among his accomplishments.¹¹	Not found in the public sources we checked	His campaign website says that in 2013 he defended the Republicans in Springfield who voted for marriage equality, which cost him business clients.¹²
Property taxes	His campaign website lists cutting property taxes for military veterans, and consolidating local police and fire pension plans to save taxpayers money, among his accomplishments.¹⁰	His campaign website says no family should pay more in property taxes than on their mortgage, and that he would rein in government waste to deliver property tax relief.⁵	His campaign website says he would lower property taxes by cutting state mandates on local governments, fully funding schools and local government aid, consolidating overlapping local governments and creating a fund that pays rebates to homeowners.⁷
State government spending	His campaign website lists enacting eight balanced budgets, paying off a nearly $17 billion backlog of unpaid bills and raising the state's rainy day fund to a record $2.54 billion among his accomplishments.¹³	His campaign website says he would fight to lower taxes and cut wasteful government spending, and that as a state legislator he fought higher taxes and what it calls reckless spending, and championed tax relief.^5,14	Hold spending near current levels His campaign website says he would freeze discretionary state spending in his first year and then strengthen programs that work and fix or phase out those that do not.⁷
State sales taxes	Lower sales tax rates or stop taxing necessities such as groceries His campaign website lists eliminating the state sales tax on groceries among his accomplishments, along with supporting the sales tax exemption for agricultural equipment and keeping it in the state tax code.^10,15	Not found in the public sources we checked	His campaign website says he would end the sales tax on essentials such as groceries, diapers and over-the-counter medicine, extend the sales tax to services, and work toward a lower base rate.⁷

Issues only one candidate has addressed

By candidate, in ballot order. We found nothing public from the other candidates in this race on these issues.

JB Pritzker — 10 issues

Abortion law
His campaign website says he wrote abortion rights into state law to protect women's right to make their own health care decisions, and lists expanding the availability of abortion care, and founding Think Big America, a group working to expand abortion rights that supported successful ballot measures in seven states, among his accomplishments.^16,17,18
Cash bail and pretrial release
End or reduce cash bail, with judges deciding release based on risk
His campaign website lists empowering judges to keep violent criminals off the streets by stopping them from buying their way out of jail among his accomplishments.⁴
Marijuana laws
His campaign website lists expunging cannabis-related arrest records for 780,000 people, and directing hundreds of millions of dollars in cannabis revenue to communities harmed by violence, excessive incarceration and economic disinvestment, among his accomplishments.¹¹
National Guard troops in cities
His campaign website says he stopped President Trump's attempt to send armed troops onto the streets of Chicago.¹⁶
Books in school libraries
State limits on removals, such as keeping challenged books available while they're reviewed
His campaign website lists enacting what it calls the first ban on book bans in the nation among his accomplishments.^9,19
Tuition-free college
His official biography lists among the results of his tenure that community college tuition is now free for working-class families, and his campaign website lists nearly doubling MAP grants and increasing AIM High scholarships to make college more affordable among his accomplishments.^6,9
AR-15-style rifles
Ban the sale of these rifles
His campaign website lists banning assault weapons, ghost guns, bump stocks and high-capacity magazines among his accomplishments.^4,9
State minimum wage
His campaign website lists raising the minimum wage to $15 an hour among his accomplishments, and his official biography says he raised it to a living wage.^9,10
High-speed internet access
His campaign website lists launching Connect Illinois to bring broadband internet access to the whole state, including rural Illinois, among his accomplishments.^8,20
Rules for artificial intelligence
Set rules for specific risks and uses, such as deepfakes, hiring decisions and safety disclosures
His campaign website lists enacting what it calls the strongest AI law in the nation, which requires developers to disclose risks, and setting up an Illinois AI Cabinet to put guardrails on the industry, among his accomplishments.⁴

Darren Bailey — 1 issue

State and local role in immigration enforcement
His campaign website says that as a state legislator he fought sanctuary state policies.¹⁴

Collin Corbett — 6 issues

Campaign finance rules
His campaign website says he would reduce the power of party bosses through campaign finance reform and make campaign finances more transparent.²¹
Drawing district lines (redistricting)
His campaign website says he would end partisan gerrymandering with fair maps.²¹
Data centers and electricity costs
Require data centers to pay the full cost of the power plants and lines they need
His campaign website says he would pause all tax incentives for data centers until strict rules are in place to make sure they pay all their energy costs, limit their water use and pay into a property tax relief fund.²²
Nuclear power
His campaign website says he would expand and speed up the state's effort to build new nuclear power plants.⁷
Zoning and new housing
Give extra state or federal money to communities that allow more homes
His campaign website says he opposes statewide mandates that override local zoning, and would instead give communities that increase housing production priority for state housing and infrastructure money and incentives to speed up permits.⁷
State income tax
His campaign website says Illinois's flat income tax is necessary under the state's current leadership, and that once the state's finances allow he would work to expand the earned income and child tax credits and the personal exemption; his Get Illinois Growing Again page adds that he would institute no tax on overtime and no tax on tips in Illinois.^7,23

Issue statements are drafted by AI from the public sources cited, and only cover what each candidate has said publicly.

All 2026 races in Illinois