Who is running for governor in Illinois and who are their running mates? Meet the candidates

The race for Illinois governor is officially on as the final candidates now set their sights on the November midterm, but who are they running with?

Here’s a look at the top candidates in the race and their running mates:

Gov. JB Pritzker and Christian Mitchell

Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker will be seeking a third term this election, but this time, he’s doing it with a new running mate — and the role could hold even greater significance this election.

With current Lieutenant Governor Juliana Stratton taking aim at a seat in the U.S. Senate in November, Pritzker, who was unopposed in the Democratic primary, is now joined on the ballot by former Deputy Governor Christian Mitchell.

Mitchell is currently vice president of civic engagement at the University of Chicago. He started his career as a community organizer on Chicago’s South Side before becoming the first Black executive director of the Democratic Party of Illinois.

“I’m not supposed to be here,” Mitchell said during a campaign event on the night of the primary election. “Don’t get me wrong, I was invited. I didn’t crash this party. But the odds of a kid who grew up like I did, and looks like I do, being on a stage like this one aren’t all that high.”

Raised by a single mother in Chicago’s western suburbs, Mitchell noted his family struggled to pay bills growing up, “but with hope, hard work, student loans, and a loving and supportive family — I was able to go to college, become a community organizer and eventually a state representative.”

Mitchell represented the 26th District in the Illinois House of Representatives from 2013 to 2019 before serving as deputy governor to Pritzker from 2019 to 2023. Mitchell led efforts to ban assault weapons, make Illinois a leader in clean energy and create jobs through infrastructure projects as deputy governor, according to his campaign bio.

“I was born and raised by a single mother who taught me the values of hard work and standing up for what’s right,” his campaign bio says. “After being elected as a State Representative, I fought for a fairer and more equitable Illinois by standing up for a woman’s right to choose, opposing right to work laws and fighting for a new education funding system to ensure every child has access to quality schools.”

In 2023, Mitchell joined the Illinois Air National Guard. His campaign bio says the decision was inspired by his grandfather’s service in the U.S. Army.

If elected as lieutenant governor, Mitchell is in a unique position to potentially make history yet again as the first Black person to serve in a specific political position — though several prerequisites must be met.

Though Pritzker has not made any formal announcements, he has raised his national profile while many rumors of his interest in a run for president have circled over the past several months.

Should Pritzker be elected to a third term in office and Mitchell become lieutenant governor, Mitchell could then become Illinois’ first Black governor in the case that Pritzker embarks on a presidential campaign.

Former State Sen. Darren Bailey and Aaron Del Mar

Darren Bailey was projected by NBC News as the winner in the contested Republican race, setting the stage for a repeat of the 2022 gubernatorial race, though this time, he also has a new running mate.

Aaron Del Mar is an entrepreneur who became the youngest-ever Councilman for the Village of Palatine at 29 years old in 2016. He oversees public safety and infrastructure and guides community organizations in the position, according to his campaign biography.

Del Mar is part of Bailey’s shift in ton heading into his second go at becoming governor.

Bailey, who bested three other Republicans vying for the nomination, said he did things differently this time, including focusing more on Chicago voters.

Del Mar was part of that plan –and he made it known during a speech at a campaign event following the results of the primary election.

“This is not a downstate campaign. This is not just a Chicago campaign. This is a campaign,” Del Mar said in a Springfield. “For neighborhoods of Chicago to the suburbs of Cook County, to the small towns, the farm towns in this state. We are all now one team, one team. We are stronger together than we have ever been apart. Because here’s the truth. The challenges that we face do not care where you live.”

Bailey, who previously called Chicago a “hellhole,” said he learned from his unsuccessful bid in 2022 and realized how much “words matter.”

“I realized that the messaging, the priorities to me in Southeastern Illinois, weren’t necessarily the same for all of Illinois,” Bailey told NBC Chicago.