Overview and Live Results: Illinois and Ohio Primaries

This Tuesday is headlined by the statewide primaries in Illinois and Ohio.  Of particular interest is the GOP U.S. Senate primary in Ohio, but there are also a few notable U.S. House contests across the two states.

Results for key races are on this page. For full results, use the links below.

Five states are holding presidential primaries. In addition to Illinois and Ohio, voters will make their preferences known in Arizona, Florida (GOP only), and Kansas. Presumptive nominees Joe Biden and Donald Trump are expected to easily win them all. Use the links below for those results and updated delegate counts.

Also on tap are special primaries for U.S. House vacancies in California and Ohio. Finally, there are some legislative special elections. 

Polls Close (Eastern Time)

_{Your individual polling place may have different hours. Do not rely on this to determine when to vote.} 

_{*9:00 PM ET in the far western part of the state on Mountain Time.  ⁺9:00 PM ET for Navajo Nation land. ^8:00 PM ET in Panhandle areas on Central Time.}

U.S Senate

Ohio (Republican)

There are currently only five states with U.S. Senators of different parties. This is the smallest number since the direct election of Senators began in 1914. All five of the states have a seat up for election in 2024 and in all five cases it is the seat currently held by a Democrat.^{1 1}Angus King of Maine is an independent who caucuses with the Democratic Party.

Sen. Joe Manchin is retiring in West Virginia, the reddest of these states. His seat is almost certain to flip to the GOP. The Democratic incumbent is currently seen as a slight favorite in Wisconsin, while Maine isn't expected to be competitive. 

That leaves Montana and Ohio, states that are pretty solidly Republican at the statewide level. This being a presidential election year, with Donald Trump leading the ticket, Republicans will aggressively pursue these seats as they bid to retake control of the narrowly-divided U.S. Senate. 

In Ohio, Sen. Sherrod Brown is seeking a fourth term; he is unopposed for renomination. Brown is the only Democrat currently holding statewide office in Ohio.

Three Republicans are seeking their party's nomination, and the race has turned nasty in the closing days of the campaign.

Recent polling has shown a competitive race between State Sen. Matt Dolan and businessman Bernie Moreno. Secretary of State Frank LaRose led earlier in the race, but he has lagged of late and may struggle to reverse that due to a large gap in campaign resources.

Donald Trump has endorsed Moreno, who is also benefiting from an effort by Democrats to make him the nominee. The perception is that Dolan will be a tougher opponent for Brown in November.

U.S House

Illinois Districts 7 (Democratic) and 12 (Republican)

Neither of these seats is at risk in terms of party control in November. Quite the opposite: District 7 is the most Democratic in the state, while District 12 the most Republican. The toughest battle for each incumbent will be in Tuesday's primary.

District 7 - in Chicago - is represented by Democrat Danny Davis. The 82 year old Davis is the longest-serving member in the Illinois delegation. Davis narrowly survived a challenge from activist Kina Collins in 2022, winning by a 52% to 46% margin. 

Collins is back on the ballot, along with three others. The most prominent of those is Chicago City Treasurer Melissa Conyears-Ervin.

District 12 encompasses the southern portion of the state. Republican Mike Bost is seeking a 6th term. He has drawn a challenge from former State Sen. Darren Bailey, who was the GOP nominee for governor in 2022. Bost was endorsed by Donald Trump last month, but a subsequent poll showed the race competitive, with Bost leading by six points.

Ohio Districts 2 and 6 (Republican)

These two seats are safely Republican but without an incumbent running in the primary.

District 2 is in the southern part of the state, Brad Wenstrup is retiring after six terms. In 2022, he won his final term by 49%, the largest GOP margin of victory in the state. There are several competitive contenders among the eleven candidates on the ballot. As such, the winner is likely to have significantly less than a majority of the vote.

District 6, which runs along the Pennsylvania border, is currently vacant. Republican Bill Johnson resigned earlier this year. Voters here will select a nominee for November, as well as one for a June 11 special election to complete Johnson's term. The same three candidates are competing in both primaries.

Ohio District 9 and 13 (Republican)

These are competitive general election districts currently held by Democrats.

District 9 is in the northwestern part of the state, and includes Toledo. Democrat Marcy Kaptur is seeking her 22nd term. After redistricting made the district more favorable for Republicans, she was seen as endangered in 2022. However, Republican voters nominated J.R. Majewski, whose far right politics did not mesh with the broader electorate. Kaptur ultimately retained her seat by a double-digit margin.

Majewski made another run this time, but withdrew from the race earlier in the month. The nominee is likely to be State Rep. Derrik Merrin or former State. Rep. Craig Riedel. Merrin entered the race in December, after audio was released of Riedel making some uncomplimentary remarks about Donald Trump.

District 13, which is centered in Akron, is represented by freshman Democrat Emilia Sykes. She won by a 5% margin in 2022. Either former State Sen. Kevin Coughlin or Chris Banweg, a member of the Hudson City Council, is likely to be her opponent.

U.S. House Special Elections

There are two congressional special primaries Tuesday. The one for Ohio District 6 can be found in the preceding section, since it is occurring simultaneously with the regular primary in that district.

California U.S. House District 20

This seat was vacated by former Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R) at the end of last year. The top two primary for a full two year term in the next Congress took place two weeks ago. Republicans captured both spots in the general election. McCarthy's handpicked successor, Vince Fong took first place with 42%, Mike Boudreaux was second with 24%.

Tuesday's top two special primary has one important difference from the regular primary. If one candidate gets a majority, they are elected. Otherwise, the top two finishers will compete in the May 21 special general election.

For comparison, the results from the March 5 primary are below: