Biden Wins Illinois Primary As Coronavirus Delays Voting

ILLINOIS — Former Vice President Joe Biden was the projected winner of Illinois' Democratic primary, even as the coronavirus outbreak closed polling places, delayed voting in many precincts and led to an "extremely low" turnout.

The Associated Press called the race for Biden even as some Cook County polling places remained open an extra hour.

The Chicago Board of Elections said voter turnout was "extremely low" on election day, and residents who opted to vote by mail broke a World War II-era record, with 118,000 vote by mail applications.

As of Tuesday morning, Biden had a 150-delegate lead over Sanders in the race to take on President Donald Trump in the November presidential election. In Illinois, 155 delegates were at stake.

The coronavirus pandemic forced both candidates to call off recent in-person campaign rallies, including Biden's scheduled stop in Illinois last week.

The outbreak also had several Illinois counties calling for more election judges Tuesday as a "tsunami" of judges have canceled.

700 Election Judges Needed After Tsunami Of Cancellations

Even so, Gov. J.B. Pritzker said having the election was "the right thing to do." Last week, his office rejected a call for a vote-by-mail election.

But voters and election judges were reporting problems at the polls, including precincts that couldn't open for voting due to lack of cleaning supplies and missing election judges.

Election judge Rebecca Gross tweeted about this situation Tuesday morning:

In Chicago, a voter posted a photo of his polling place with a sign out front reading "Polling here cancelled." The voter tweeted at Pritzker and the Cook County clerk, writing, "Even Board of Elections wasn't aware. So, what will you be doing for the people that literally can't vote today, now?"

In Barrington, another voter posted a photo of his polling place with a sign that said, "Election judges did not show up. Please contact the county in which you live or the voting website for updates."

Though Trump didn't face a serious challenge in the Republican primary, one candidate — California businessman and perennial candidate Roque "Rocky" De La Fuente — did appear on the Illinois primary ballot.

Congress

U.S. Senate: Incumbent Democratic U.S. Sen Dick Durbin will face off against former Democrat Mark Curran, now a Republican who was unseated as Lake County Sheriff last year.

1st District: Longtime incumbent Bobby Rush, who has represented the South Side of Chicago and several suburbs for decades, won the nomination over three Democrat challengers and will face Republican Philanise White in November.

3rd District: Democrat Dan Lipinski was ousted by challenger Marie Newman. Whoever wins will face Republican Will County Commissioner Mike Fricilone in November. Fricilone defeated Catherine O'Shea and self-avowed Nazi Art Jones.

5th District: Democrat Mike Quigley survived a challenge from Brian Burns. On the Republican side, Kimball Ladien is projected to lose against Tommy Hanson in the fight to face Quigley in the November general election.

6th District: Democrat Sean Casten was unopposed, while former gubernatorial candidate Jeanne Ives is the projected winner over fellow Republican Jay Kinzler.

8th District: Incumbent Democrat Raja Krishnamoorthi defeated challengers Inam Hussain of Libertyville and William Olson of Schaumburg. No Republicans were in the race.

11th District: Incumbent Democrat Bill Foster defeated challenger Rachel Ventura, while Krishna Bansal was defeated by Rick Laib in the Republican nomination.

14th District: Incumbent Democrat Lauren Underwood was unopposed; Republican Jim Oberweis was the projected winner in a field of seven candidates.

Cook County State's Attorney

Democrat Kim Foxx faced a tough primary challenge in the wake of the Jussie Smollett scandal but appears to have defeated challengers Bill Conway, Donna More and Bob Fioretti — all of Chicago. Patrick O'Brien is the projected winner against Christopher Pfannkuche in the Republican primary.

Follow Illinois election results: