In recent years, Illinois’ statewide races have often been decided in the primaries. The 2026 secretary of state’s race is complicated by the fact that incumbent Alexi Giannoulias is also a frontrunner in Chicago’s 2027 mayoral election. If he wins both races, it would allow Gov. JB Pritzker to appoint a secretary of state for a full term.

What does the secretary of state do in Illinois?

The office has nothing to do with diplomacy — instead, the state secretary of state is all about keeping records, like drivers licenses and voter registration.

Who is the Democratic incumbent, Alexi Giannoulias?

A former Illinois state treasurer, Giannoulias got his start in politics as a basketball-playing buddy of Barack Obama. He played professional basketball in Greece, where he learned valuable lessons about competitiveness, teamwork and how to, as he put it, “surround yourself with players that are better than you so that you can get better.”

As a candidate, Giannoulias is leaning on his record in office, specifically his push to maintain “momentum on modernization.” He has touted the introduction of a sleeker bureaucratic process for renewing IDs that includes allowing people to make appointments online ahead of DMV visits, and the deployment of DMV kiosks.

Giannoulias spent about $6,000 on a single fundraiser in April, nearly as much as Harris raised in the second quarter of the year. He raised nearly $3.7 million in the second quarter, with more pouring in as he announced his mayoral run.

Who is his Republican challenger, Diane M. Harris?

Harris, who describes herself as an entrepreneur, unsuccessfully ran for State Senate as the Republican nominee in 2022 but landed the Republican nod for secretary of state by six percentage points. She’s said she would ensure the office followed state laws regarding license plate readers, while Giannoulias seeks to make his office’s audits of the technology more proactive.

In a Sun-Times candidate questionnaire response, Harris jabbed Giannoulias for running for mayor and secretary of state at the same time, saying: “The people deserve someone who’s committed to serving this state’s office.”

What are some of their policy differences?

Giannoulias and Harris split on age-based testing for drivers — he rolled back testing requirements for elderly drivers, while she’s in favor of tests for all age groups.

After federal immigration authorities accessed license plate reader data across the state, and a rash of law enforcement agents were accused of abusing the surveillance system, Giannoulias said he wants to set up consequences and accountability for those who violate state law related to the cameras. He also said he wants to establish pathways for accountability following searches of state data by federal immigration authorities searched state data and alleged abused by police.