With U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin, Comptroller Susana Mendoza and other members of Congress not seeking reelection in 2026, robust fields are growing in the Democratic primaries for the open seats.

Gov. JB Pritzker is seeking a rare third term and has been on the campaign trail for more than a month. Three high-profile Democrats are seeking to replace Durbin, sparking a flurry of state-level Democrats seeking to climb the political ladder.

But on the Republican side, it’s a ghost town in primary races for statewide offices so far.

“We’ve been decimated to the point in Illinois where we don’t have a strong bench,” former Republican State Rep. Mark Batinick, now a political consultant, told Capitol News Illinois.

At this week’s Illinois State Fair political days – long viewed as the unofficial

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