(The Center Square) – November’s general election for congressional districts across Illinois are coming into focus after Tuesday’s primary.
Incumbent U.S. Rep. Mike Bost, R-Murphysboro, declared victory over challenger Darren Bailey, saying primaries are tough and Bailey was going against a fellow conservative.
“And every time that he tried to attack us on the issue, I got endorsed by the people he said I didn’t support, whether it was pro life, whether it was Second Amendment, the list went on,” Bost said.
Bost set his sights on November and getting former President Donald Trump and Republicans back in control of Congress.
“To secure the border … to make sure that we send a clear message to those who are fighting around this world that we have a strong leader back in power,” Bost said.
Bost is expected to take on Brian Roberts in November. Roberts is projected to beat Preston Nelson for the Democratic primary in that district.
In other congressional districts, Joshua Loyd is the projected winner for the 13th Congressional District Republican primary. He’s expected to face off against Democratic incumbent U.S. Rep. Nikki Budzinski, D-Springfield, in November. She was unopposed in Tuesday’s primary.
For Illinois’ 17th Congressional District, it looks like a matchup between Republican Joe McGraw and incumbent Democratic U.S. Rep. Eric Sorensen. In Chicago Congressional Districts, incumbents fended off primary challengers.
Voter turnout is another story from Tuesday’s primary. In Sangamon County, just 14% turned out. Cook County showed about 17%. But even after Tuesday, it will take up to two weeks to tally all the votes with outstanding mail-in ballots remaining.
The Illinois State Board of Elections shows statewide, there were 667,000 ballots requested by mail with 277,000 returned before election day. That leaves around 390,000 mail-in ballots that could still be counted within the next two weeks.
