“Your war and your tariffs are squeezing Illinois farmers with higher costs they cannot control and never asked for,” Gov. JB Pritzker wrote. “They should not be forced to pick up the tab for your decisions.”

Chicago’s race for mayor is on as candidates gather signatures for a spot on February’s ballot. Chicago-born Toni Brooks was one of the first to announce she’d be looking to lead the city. The U.S. Army National Guard veteran said she is the right person to rebuild Chicago, one block at a time.

Chicago’s next mayoral election is less than a year away and the list of candidates — and those considering a run — is growing ever larger. Here’s who is in so far.

New rules governing who can use electric bikes and scooters, including where and how fast they go, will go into effect next year following Gov. JB Pritzker’s signature on Wednesday.

Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul on Wednesday announced the lawsuit, arguing President Donald Trump’s executive order is unconstitutional and risks disenfranchising voters by preventing states from effectively administering their vote-by-mail programs.

Mayor Brandon Johnson’s order requires contractors to certify that they have not committed a “public integrity violation, antidiscrimination or wage theft violation” during the previous five years.

Until the Supreme Court rules, 31 cases will remain in limbo — including three that seek to terminate officers who caused the deaths of Chicagoans, record show.

Tax Increment Financing Districts “reinforced the city’s historic economic inequities instead of reducing them — and all of this happened with little transparency or accountability from city planning officials,” according to the Great Cities Institute at the University of Illinois at Chicago.

With the few months they have left as senators, Democrat Dick Durbin and Republican Bill Cassidy have embarked on a mission to save tens of millions of Social Security beneficiaries from a projected 22% cut in their benefits, starting in just six years.

The terms of two members of the board expired last month, including Vice Chair Ryan Cortazar, who has led the board since former Chair William Conlon stepped down in July 2025, and Board Member Sarah Jin.

“We cannot continue to govern by searching for loose change in the couch, or every time that there’s a budget challenge, we revert back to proclivities that have caused tremendous harm to working people in this city,” Mayor Brandon Johnson said.

Local and state officials are reassuring Illinoisans about the safety of mail-in voting, while also encouraging them to return their ballots early after a new ruling by the U.S. Supreme Court could cause “chaos” ahead of the November election.

Taxing agencies — including schools, parks, libraries and cities — sent property tax bills totaling $19.9 billion in 2025, 3.9% more than in 2024, according to a new analysis from Cook County Treasurer Maria Pappas’ research team.

Chicago DSA declined to endorse Ald. Daniel La Spata (1st Ward) because he would not tell the group he considers himself an anti-Zionist and Ald. Jeanette Taylor (20th Ward) because she supported reversing a 2023 City Council vote to phase out the tipped minimum wage and voted against spending on the migrant crisis.

President Donald Trump has been the dominant political force within the Republican Party for more than a decade, but he was barely mentioned by party leaders at Republican Day at the Illinois State Fair on Thursday.

Party leaders say Republicans need to balance campaigning on ethics problems with addressing voters’ concerns about affordability.