The following is an analysis from the University of Illinois Springfield Center for State Policy and Research.
William Quinlan, a candidate in the 2027 Chicago mayoral race, recently filed a lawsuit challenging whether the campaigns of several of his opponents are legal under Illinois law.
The lawsuit focuses on whether Illinois Secretary of State Alexi Giannoulias, Congressman Mike Quigley, and Cook County Treasurer Maria Pappas can legally run for multiple offices at the same time. All three are seeking re-election to their current offices while also running for mayor.
The lawsuit could have broader implications in Illinois, where several current officeholders are running for other positions, seeking multiple offices at once, or widely expected to pursue another office.
Beyond those three, Comptroller Susana Mendoza is making her second run for Chicago mayor rather than seeking another term as comptroller, while Lt. Gov. Juliana Stratton is running for U.S. Senate. Gov. JB Pritzker, meanwhile, is seeking a third term amid continued speculation about a possible 2028 presidential campaign.
It’s a pretty long list, including four current statewide officeholders.
So, as part of a larger survey of Illinois voters, we asked what they think about elected officials eyeing another job. The data comes from a representative sample of registered Illinois voters surveyed online between Aug. 12 and Aug. 21, 2026. The sample mirrors Illinois voters on age, education, gender, ideology, income, partisanship, race and ethnicity, and region based on prior surveys, including exit polls.
Because most of the current examples involve Democrats, we also examined partisan differences, counting independents who lean toward a party with the party they favor. We also look at regions given several of the candidates are running for mayor of Chicago.
We first asked voters which of two statements came closer to their view: elected officials should be free to seek higher office whenever they believe they can best serve the public, even if that means not completing every term, or elected officials asking voters for another term are making a commitment to serve that full term.
Nearly two-thirds of voters (62%) chose the latter. Views varied by party, with 67% of Republicans and 59% of Democrats viewing running for another term as a commitment to serve it.
Regional differences were somewhat larger. Northern Illinois voters were the most likely to view running for another term as a commitment, at 73%, compared with 52% of voters in the City of Chicago.
| “When elected officials ask voters for another term, they make a commitment to serve that full term.” | |
| Aggregate | 62% |
| Region | |
| Northern Illinois | 73% |
| Central Illinois | 64% |
| Southern Illinois | 64% |
| City of Chicago | 52% |
| Chicago Suburbs | 63% |
| Political Party | |
| Democrats | 59% |
| Republicans | 67% |
| Independents | 54% |
We also asked whether candidates should be able to run for more than one elected office at the same time. Two-thirds of Illinois voters (66%) said they should not.
Views were similar across party lines, with 66% of Republicans and 64% of Democrats opposed. Regionally, voters in the City of Chicago were least likely to oppose candidates running for multiple offices at once, though a majority (55%) still opposed the idea.
| “Should candidates be able to run for more than one office at a time?” | ||
| Yes | No | |
| Aggregate | 25% | 66% |
| Region | ||
| Northern Illinois | 19% | 73% |
| Central Illinois | 21% | 68% |
| Southern Illinois | 25% | 68% |
| City of Chicago | 34% | 55% |
| Chicago Suburbs | 23% | 67% |
| Political Party | ||
| Democrats | 23% | 64% |
| Republicans | 29% | 66% |
| Independents | 9% | 71% |
Relatedly, nearly three-quarters of voters (72%) said elected officials who decide to run for another office before their current term ends should resign from their current position first.
Here, the partisan difference was larger. More than four in five Republicans (81%) said politicians should resign before seeking another office, compared with 65% of Democrats. That gap may partly reflect the current political context, since the most prominent Illinois candidates seeking multiple offices are Democrats.
Regional variation was comparatively small, although voters in the City of Chicago were slightly less likely than those elsewhere in the state to say an elected official should resign first.
| “If an elected official decides to run for another office before their current term ends, should they resign from their current office before doing so?” | ||
| Yes | No | |
| Aggregate | 72% | 27% |
| Region | ||
| Northern Illinois | 73% | 25% |
| Central Illinois | 72% | 28% |
| Southern Illinois | 73% | 25% |
| City of Chicago | 68% | 30% |
| Chicago Suburbs | 73% | 26% |
| Political Party | ||
| Democrats | 65% | 34% |
| Republicans | 81% | 19% |
| Independents | 75% | 24% |
Voters also say a candidate’s intention to finish the term matters. More than four in five (84%) say it matters a “great deal” or “fair amount” when deciding how to vote. Partisan differences are small: 87% of Republicans and 83% of Democrats say it matters at least a fair amount.
Regional variation is also small, with at least 83% of voters in each region saying it matters a “great deal” or “fair amount.”
| “When deciding whether to vote for a candidate, how much does it matter to you whether you think they intend to serve the full term if elected?” | ||||
| A Great Deal | A Fair Amount | Not Too Much | Not At All | |
| Aggregate | 41% | 43% | 14% | 3% |
| Region | ||||
| Northern Illinois | 36% | 47% | 14% | 3% |
| Central Illinois | 37% | 45% | 16% | 2% |
| Southern Illinois | 48% | 35% | 12% | 6% |
| City of Chicago | 38% | 46% | 15% | 2% |
| Chicago Suburbs | 41% | 43% | 13% | 3% |
| Political Party | ||||
| Democrats | 39% | 44% | 15% | 3% |
| Republicans | 45% | 42% | 11% | 3% |
| Independents | 26% | 36% | 24% | 11% |
Given speculation about a possible Pritzker presidential campaign in 2028, we also asked how long voters expect him to remain governor if re-elected. The question is about voters’ expectations, not Pritzker’s stated intentions.
A majority (56%) expect Pritzker to complete all four years of a potential third term. The partisan divide is more pronounced on this question: 64% of Democrats expect him to serve the full term, compared with 45% of Republicans.
Expectations also vary somewhat by region, ranging from 51% of voters in the City of Chicago expecting Pritzker to serve a full term to 64% in Central Illinois.
| “If re-elected, how long do you expect JB Pritzker to remain in office?” | ||
| A Full Four-Year Term | Less Than One Year | |
| Aggregate | 56% | 11% |
| Region | ||
| Northern Illinois | 59% | 13% |
| Central Illinois | 64% | 6% |
| Southern Illinois | 58% | 10% |
| City of Chicago | 51% | 6% |
| Chicago Suburbs | 54% | 14% |
| Political Party | ||
| Democrats | 64% | 6% |
| Republicans | 45% | 19% |
| Independents | 54% | 7% |
We also asked whether Illinois voters know what would happen if a governor left office before completing a term. A slight majority (53%) correctly identified the lieutenant governor as the person who would become governor. There was little partisan or regional variation in knowledge of the succession process.
| Correct Identification of Lieutenant Governor as Successor If Governor Resigns | ||
| Correct | Incorrect | |
| Aggregate | 53% | 47% |
Taken together, the results point in a consistent direction: Illinois voters tend to view an elected term as a commitment. Majorities oppose candidates running for multiple offices at once and believe officeholders seeking another position should first resign from their current one. More than four in five also say a candidate’s intention to serve a full term matters when deciding how to vote.
While there are some partisan and regional differences, a wide swath of Illinois voters appear to expect elected officials to finish the job they were elected to do.
