A Saturday get-out-the-vote rally is set for Stone Temple Baptist Church on Chicago's West Side, drawing some of Illinois's biggest political names just days before voters decide the governor's race, a U.S. Senate contest and the city's first fully elected school board. Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker, Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle, Senate candidate Juliana Stratton and Congressman Danny Davis are among those expected to attend, with Black elected officials expected to urge the community to get out and vote.
The rally comes as early voting enters its final weekend before Tuesday's midterm elections, according to Yahoo News, which reports that turnout has been pretty strong in Cook County and up nationwide, with more than 43 million Americans having already voted early in person or returned mail ballots. The Saturday event follows the pattern of the original report on the rally from ABC7 Chicago, which reported on the West Side gathering and its expected attendees.
Early Voting Numbers Outpace 2022 in Chicago and the Suburbs
Chicago recorded 126,320 in-person early-voting ballots through October 29, a 35% increase over the same point in the 2022 general election, per WTTW News. Suburban Cook County saw more than 180,000 in-person early ballots cast over the same stretch, a jump of more than 30%, the station reported. Mail ballots told a different story in the city: Chicago had received 82,691 returned mail ballots by October 29, compared with 89,905 at the same point in 2022, the same outlet noted.
Suburban figures tracked a similar early-voting surge. As of October 27, 139,000 voters had cast early ballots in the Cook suburbs, a 30.4% increase over the 106,615 recorded at the same point four years earlier, according to the Daily Herald. Suburban Cook County alone has 56 early-voting locations. Illinois residents who missed the online registration deadline can still register in person at an early-voting site or their assigned polling place on Election Day, per ABC7 Chicago.
Top-of-Ticket Races Hang in the Balance
Illinois voters will decide Nov. 3 who replaces retiring U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin and whether Pritzker wins a third term, according to the Chicago Tribune. The Senate race pits Democrat Juliana Stratton against Republican Don Tracy, the Tribune reported. Chicagoans will also elect 20 members to the city's first fully elected school board and a citywide school board president, while all 118 Illinois House seats and 39 of the 59 Illinois Senate seats are on the ballot statewide.
Cost of living is the top issue for voters heading into Tuesday, Yahoo News reported, a dynamic that has shaped the closing days of the governor's race. The outlet also cited a new Reuters and Ipsos poll finding that just 25% of Americans approve of President Donald Trump's handling of the economy. Four years ago, Republican Darren Bailey lost the Illinois governor's race by nearly 13 percentage points, according to ABC7 Chicago's coverage of this year's closing affordability push.
National Stakes and a Scheduling Dispute
Beyond Illinois, tight races across the country could change the balance of power in Congress, Yahoo News reported, with the New York Times separately describing polls showing Republican majority control of Congress as increasingly at risk. Both parties have just days left to make their closing case to voters before Tuesday.
Accounts differ on President Trump's travel plans for the final weekend. Yahoo News reported that Trump spoke in Florida on Friday night and was scheduled to go to Kansas and Iowa on Sunday as he urged people to get out and vote. The Times, however, reported that the Republican National Committee confirmed the cancellation of planned in-person rallies in Kansas on Saturday and in Iowa on Sunday for Senate candidate Ashley Hinson.
The University of Florida Election Lab's early-voter tracker, last updated Saturday morning at 9:48 a.m. Eastern Time, continues to track the national early-vote count as the midterm election approaches on Tuesday.
