Robin Kelly

The 2026 midterm elections are shaping up to be a hugely consequential battle for control of both chambers of Congress and multiple governor’s mansions around the U.S.

Closer to the Chicago area, there are plenty of races that will demand attention from voters, including gubernatorial races in Illinois and Wisconsin and a tight race to determine Indiana’s next Secretary of State.

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Those races, and more, are the focus of our “Races to Watch” in this year’s election season.

For the second election in a row, the governor’s race comes down to Democratic incumbent Gov. JB Pritzker and former State Sen. Darren Bailey.

In that election, Pritzker defeated Bailey by more than 500,000 votes, and this time around Bailey is the Republican nominee again, this time with a new running mate in Aaron Del Mar.

Pritzker also has a new running mate, as Christian Mitchell is vying to become the state’s lieutenant governor after incumbent Juliana Stratton opted to run for Senate.

In one of the statewide races with no sitting incumbent, Democratic nominee Margaret Croke is running against Republican nominee Bryan Drew.

Croke, a state representative in Illinois’ 12th district, is running against Drew, an attorney from downstate Illinois who also owns businesses in the area.

Stratton won a hotly contested primary for the Democratic nomination for U.S. Senate after Sen. Dick Durbin announced he would not seek reelection.

She is currently squaring off against former Illinois GOP Chair Don Tracy in the general election.

After Rep. Robin Kelly chose not to run for reelection as she ran a campaign for U.S. Senate, Democratic Cook County Board Commissioner Donna Miller earned the party’s nomination in the 2nd district.

She is facing Bonfield-native Mike Noack, a truck driver who ran unopposed in the March primary on the Republican side of the ticket.

With Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi skipping a reelection bid to unsuccessfully run for Senate, the 8th district will also have a new member of Congress.

On the Democratic side, former Rep. Melissa Bean secured the nomination in the general election, and she is facing entrepreneur Jennifer Davis.

After incumbent Gov. Tony Evers opted not to seek reelection, Milwaukee County Executive David Crowley won a hotly contested Democratic primary to potentially replace him.

He is facing Republican Rep. Tom Tiffany, who has represented the state’s 7th Congressional district since 2020.

In one of the races that could help determine control of the U.S. House after the November election, incumbent Republican Rep. Bryan Steil is facing a tough challenge against registered nurse Mitchell Berman, who earned the Democratic Party’s nomination in the race.

Another hotly contested Wisconsin Congressional race is unfolding in the state’s third district, with incumbent Rep. Derrick Van Orden squaring off against small business owner Rebecca Cooke, who won the primary in the Democratic field earlier this year.

Incumbent Secretary of State Diego Morales was defeated in his bid to seek reelection during the state’s Republican convention earlier this year. Max Engling, who had served on the staff of U.S. Senator Jim Banks, won that nomination, and he will be opposed by Beau Bayh, the son of former Indiana Governor and Sen. Evan Bayh. Bayh is an attorney in Indianapolis and also served in the U.S. Marine Corps.

Former Indianapolis Mayor Greg Ballard is running under the Lincoln Party banner in that election, while entrepreneur and professor Lauri Shillings is running on the Libertarian ticket.