Politics & Elections

For Illinois Presidential Primary, 16 Candidates File To Appear On Ballot

NPR Illinois | 91.9 UIS | By Brian Mackey

Published January 3, 2020 at 5:35 PM CST

All the Democratic candidates on stage for the most recent debate filed paperwork to appear on the ballot in Illinois, as did six candidates who didn't make the debate cut.

Friday was the deadline for major party presidential candidates to try to get on the ballot for Illinois’ upcoming primary election.

Brian Mackey reports.

The State Board of Elections accepted petitions from 16 candidates during the two-day filing period.

First in line was a representative of President Donald Trump.

Kent Gray of Leland Grove got in line at 11 pm Wednesday to hold place at State Board of Elections for Trump campaign pic.twitter.com/c0BEweNo35— Bernie Schoenburg (@bschoenburg) January 2, 2020

So far the Republican has two opponents: a Wisconsin man named John Schiess , whose platform includes getting the U.S. out of the U.N.; and California businessman Rocky de la Fuente, who has mounted numerous campaigns in the past.

Meanwhile, the Democratic primary field has 13 people, including everyone on stage for the most recent debate.

Alphabetically, they are: Joe Biden, Pete Buttigieg, Amy Klobuchar, Bernie Sanders, Tom Steyer, Elizabeth Warren, and Andrew Yang.

Other candidates filing as Democrats are Michael Bennet, Mike Bloomberg, Cory Booker, John Delaney, Tulsi Gabbard, and Deval Patrick.

This, however, is not the end of the story. Next week comes an opportunity for petition challenges, where candidates can try to get their opponents knocked off the ballot.

The Illinois primary is scheduled for March 17.

The filing period that ended Friday was for “establishes parties” under Illinois law, which presently include only the Republican and Democratic parties. Independent candidates and those representing other parties will file later this year.