Illinois

Democrats control the governor’s office and hold supermajorities in both chambers of the Legislature. Governor JB Pritzker is running for a third term. The state has gone Democratic by double digits in every presidential election since 1992.

Illinois is using that power. AG Kwame Raoul filed more than 50 lawsuits against the Trump administration in its first year. The Legislature let a $315 million voucher program die and passed the first statewide cash bail elimination in the country.

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Kwame Raoul’s Lawsuits Against the Trump Administration

AG Raoul had filed more than 50 lawsuits against the Trump administration by January 20, 2026, the one-year mark.

$6.6 billion in federal funding protected for Illinois through AG litigation

The wins are specific. Raoul temporarily blocked the suspension of SNAP funding and protected the personal data of 1.9 million Illinois SNAP recipients. He sued in October 2025 to stop the National Guard deployment in Illinois, and in December 2025 the Supreme Court found the federal government “has failed to identify a source of authority that would allow the military to execute the laws in Illinois.” He joined four other states suing over a $10 billion freeze in funding for low-income families, including child care aid, and sued with other Democratic-led states over planned cuts to public health grants.

Eighteen preliminary injunctions or temporary restraining orders remained in place as of January 2026, WTTW reported. Each one represents a federal action that a court found likely illegal.

Raoul has described the cases in terms of one principle. “At the core of every action my office has taken, we are fighting to protect the rule of law,” he said in January 2026.

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Chicago Absorbed 50,000 Migrants and $638 Million in Costs

Texas Governor Greg Abbott began sending migrants to Chicago in August 2022. At the peak, 12 to 15 buses arrived daily. Migrants slept on the floors of police stations and airports.

The city ended its 60-day shelter eviction policy and merged migrant and homeless shelters. In October 2024, Mayor Brandon Johnson said no buses had arrived from Texas since the previous December. But the federal government opened a new front: DHS announced “Operation Midway Blitz” to round up people without legal status in the Chicago area.

Pritzker opposed sending troops. He told NPR that Trump’s real goal was to “normalize” the use of the military in civilian areas and create a pretext to sway the 2026 election. In December 2025 the Supreme Court found the federal government had not identified authority to use the military to execute the laws in Illinois.

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The DOJ Challenge to Illinois’s Assault Weapons Ban

The Protect Illinois Communities Act bans the sale, transfer, and future acquisition of assault weapons, high-capacity magazines, and certain accessories. It passed in 2023. It remains in effect.

A federal district court ruled the ban unconstitutional in November 2024 and entered a permanent injunction. The state appealed to the Seventh Circuit, which stayed the district court ruling. Oral arguments were scheduled for September 2025.

The Supreme Court declined in June 2025 to hear challenges to assault weapons bans from other states, leaving those bans intact. That is not a ruling on the merits. It means the Seventh Circuit decision will likely determine whether Illinois’s ban survives.

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The End of the Invest in Kids Scholarship Program

The “Invest in Kids” tax credit scholarship program ran from 2018 to 2024. It diverted $315 million from the state’s General Revenue Fund to private school tuition. The Legislature refused to renew it. The program sunset.

$315 million diverted from public revenue to private school tuition over six years

The FY2026 budget added $307 million to K-12 through the evidence-based funding formula. That is the first time since 2020 the increase fell below $350 million. The state board of education had requested $497 million.

Over 1.3 million students still attend schools in underfunded districts. Those districts are disproportionately low-income and serve Black and Latino students.

Voucher supporters have not quit. Advisory referenda on joining a federal voucher program appeared on the March 2026 primary ballot in several counties. The Illinois Education Association urged a “NO” vote and said the question was “misleadingly worded.”

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Ending Cash Bail Under the Pretrial Fairness Act

Illinois became the first state to fully eliminate cash bail when the Pretrial Fairness Act took effect on September 18, 2023. Judges now decide detention based on risk of reoffending or flight, not whether someone can write a check.

The predictions were loud. Opponents said ending cash bail would unleash a crime wave. Illinois State Police data says the opposite happened. A Loyola University study found that only 3% of defendants released pretrial committed a new violent crime.

In January 2026, House Speaker Chris Welch said he wanted to see a report from Cook County Chief Judge Charles Beach’s office before any changes. Pritzker said in November 2025 that “everybody is open to listening to what changes might be made.”

One gap remains. Electronic monitoring data is hard to analyze because probation and pretrial services fall under the judicial branch, which is exempt from state transparency laws. Better data would strengthen the law’s defenders.

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What You Can Do in Illinois

1. Check your voter registration. Verify at elections.il.gov. The November 2026 general election includes the governor’s race and an open U.S. Senate seat. Verify your status at the Illinois State Board of Elections.

2. Know what your AG is fighting for. Raoul’s lawsuits protect specific programs. If you receive SNAP benefits, child care subsidies, or public health services, check whether your funding has been restored. The AG’s office publishes case updates.

3. Watch your school board. Voucher referenda are showing up on county ballots. Your local school board and county party committees decide whether these appear. Show up at meetings before the language is finalized.

4. Understand your pretrial rights. If you or someone you know is arrested in Illinois, cash bail no longer applies. Detention is based on risk assessment, not ability to pay. The public defender’s office can explain the process.

5. Call the governor’s office. 217-782-0244. Ask about the $190 million gap between what schools need and what the budget provides. Ask whether the state will fight the DOJ’s intervention in the assault weapons case.