Illinois and Ohio primaries 2024: Trump-backed Senate candidate prevails in Ohio primary

538 tracked key House and Senate races, including a California special election.

November’s presidential matchup may be set, but Democrats and Republicans still need to decide who will run in hundreds of downballot races (e.g., for Senate and House) this fall. A batch of these contests were decided on Tuesday, March 19.

Tuesday was primary day in Ohio and Illinois, and in the biggest contest of the day, Republicans chose former President Donald Trump's endorsee Bernie Moreno as their candidate in Ohio’s U.S. Senate race. It was a good night for other Trump endorsees too, as Derek Merrin prevailed in the GOP primary for Ohio's 9th Congressional District, while incumbent Mike Bost is leading his challenger in Illinois's 12th District, as of early Wednesday morning. Plus, a special election in California could have immediate implications for House Republicans’ razor-thin majority.

538 reporters and contributors broke down the election results as they came in with live updates, analysis and commentary. Read our full live blog below.


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First Republican women loss of the night

ABC News is projecting a winner in one of the races I'm tracking, Ohio's 14th Congressional District, and it's the incumbent, Joyce, as was expected. He had two challengers to his right, one of which was Cross, who had said she would focus on the nation's immigration policy if elected in an interview with The Tribune Chronicle.

—Monica Potts, 538


First Ohio results

We've got our first votes from Ohio's GOP Senate primary, and it's shaping up to be a close one. With 18 percent of the expected vote reporting, Dolan leads Moreno, 39 percent to 38 percent, while LaRose trails with 23 percent.

—Jacob Rubashkin, Inside Elections


Illinois voters are most worried about crime and taxes

While we wait for Illinois results, let's check in on the issues on the minds of voters in the state. In a September Echelon Insights survey conducted for the Illinois Policy Institute, registered Illinois voters were asked what they thought were the biggest two issues facing the state. Topping the list were "crime and public safety," chosen by 47 percent of respondents, and "high taxes," chosen by 45 percent. Concerns about crime spanned the political divide, with 49 percent of Republican and Republican-leaning and 46 percent of Democratic and Democratic-leaning voters selecting it. Perhaps unsurprisingly, the same was not true about taxes: This issue was selected by 56 percent of Republican and Republican leaners, but just 37 percent of Democratic and Democratic leaners. (Among the latter group, taxes tied with "housing affordability" as the second most important issue.)

—Mary Radcliffe, 538


Polls are now closed in Illinois!

Polls have now closed across Illinois, where we'll be monitoring several U.S. House primaries, as well as a closely-watched referendum in Chicago. Rep. Mike Bost is facing a challenge from his right, while Rep. Danny Davis is facing one from his left.

—Cooper Burton, 538


Abortion may motivate Ohio Democrats

Cooper, I wonder how much the potential threat of limiting abortion access in Ohio could impact that Supreme Court race. In 2023, voters in the state passed a constitutional amendment protecting abortion access. In a sign that abortion may continue to be an issue that divides Republican-leaning voters, a November Emerson College/WJW-TV/Nexstar survey conducted just after that election asked registered Ohio voters how they voted on the abortion measure and how they plan to vote in November this year.

Twenty-six percent of those who voted to pass the abortion rights measure said they plan to vote for Donald Trump, suggesting that a fair number of Republican or Republican-leaning voters supported it. (In comparison, just 10 percent of those who voted against the measure said they planned to vote for Joe Biden.) Abortion also seemed to drive turnout among Democratic-leaning voters in last November's election: Among those that said they voted on the abortion referendum (either for or against), 41 percent said they'd vote for Biden, while only 28 percent of those who didn't vote supported Biden. (About half of both 2023 voters and nonvoters supported Trump.)

So if the issue of abortion becomes salient in the state Supreme Court race, there could be a close race coming our way in November.

—Mary Radcliffe, 538