SPRINGFIELD — Hundreds of contenders for public office began filing candidacy petitions with the Illinois State Board of Elections on Monday, vying to top March 17 primary ballots amid uncertainty over whether a prominent Republican governor contender will continue his candidacy following a family tragedy and a push by national Democratic leaders to redraw the state’s congressional boundaries to combat GOP-favored redistricting efforts in other states.

Staffers with the campaign of Republican governor candidate Darren Bailey filed nominating petitions on behalf of the Xenia farmer and his running mate, Aaron Del Mar, the Cook County GOP chair from Palatine, only days after Bailey’s son, daughter-in-law and two grandchildren died in a helicopter crash in rural Montana.

“If Darren deci

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