Here are the 2024 Illinois primary results for the Peoria area

Chris Balkema appears near victory for the vacant seat in the Illinois Senate’s 53rd District.

The Associated Press has not officially called the race as of 11:10 p.m. However, Balkema’s 52% share of the vote with 65% of votes counted seems insurmountable. Jesse Faber is in second in the race with just 28% of votes.

The Grundy County Board Chair faced three other Republicans to replace retiring incumbent Tom Bennett. Balkema names improving the state’s financial standing to attract business and lowering the number of immigrants into the state as priorities.

There is no Democratic candidate for the seat. The district covers parts of 13 counties, including significant portions of McLean, Woodford and LaSalle.

Li Arellano wins the Republican primary for the 37th State Senate seat.

The Associated Press called the race at 10:04 p.m. with 82% of votes counted. Arellano was up with 51.8% of the vote.

Arellano is a business owner and former mayor of Dixon. He told WCBU earlier this month that his top priorities included ethics reform, ending Illinois’ status as a sanctuary state and creating a debt repayment plan.

He won against Tim Yager, a farmer and member of the Henry County Board, and Chris Bishop, a former teacher and member of the Dixon City Council.

The 37th district includes parts of Bureau, Henry, Knox, LaSalle, Lee, Marshall, Mercer, Peoria, Stark and Woodford counties. The seat is currently held by retiring Sen. Win Stoller.

There are no Democrats running for the seat, meaning Arellano will run unopposed in the November general election.

Two referendums that will raise taxes to support West Peoria’s emergency services have been approved by voters.

The first referendum will create a tax for ambulance services in West Peoria. It received 79% approval.

The second will raise the existing Fire Protection District tax on property from three tenths of a percent to four tenths. It received 80% approval.

Mayor James Dillon told WCBU in February that they plan to hire paid employees to run the ambulance service. The raise in the Fire Protection District tax will be used to update and restore equipment at their volunteer fire department.

Voters in Tazewell County have tabbed five new county board members, including presumptive board chairman Brett Grimm. But one seat remains undecided.

Challenger Eric Schmidgall topped a field of three District 3 incumbents with 29.7% of the vote in Tuesday’s Republican primary, with Bill Atkins placing second at 25.4%.

The third seat was too close to call, with just one vote separating incumbents Tammy Rich-Stimson and current vice-chair Mike Harris (both 22.5%).

Currently, no Democrats are slated to run in the Tazewell County general election, so Tuesday’s winners are expected to join the board in December.

In District 2, two newcomers will join recently appointed incumbent Jon Hopkins on the board. Eric Stahl topped the field with 28.6%, followed by Hopkins at 25.8%. Cathryn Stump secured the last spot with 23.3% to finish ahead of Karl Lutz (22.3%).

In District 1, incumbent Jay Hall (55%) and newcomer Ralph Milam (45%) were the only two candidates for three seats, resulting in both getting elected and leaving one vacancy on the board.

Grimm, the current county auditor, did not face any challengers in his bid for county board chair, a position being vacated with Dave Zimmerman not running for another term.

Voters in Woodford County overwhelmingly approved a referendum to raise the maximum annual property tax rate for Metamora Grade School District 1.

Unofficial results with all precincts reporting show the referendum passing by a wide margin: 70% “yes” and 30% “no.”

This measure will raise the maximum annual property tax rate for the district’s education fund from 1.52% to 2.31%.

Superintendent Ben Lee told WCBU in December that the referendum was necessary due to years of running on cash reserves and issuing bonds. He says the problem was exacerbated by state proration of payments to Illinois schools.

Two previous referendums failed. In the event this referendum failed, Lee said the school may have had to consider additional cuts to staffing and athletic programs. Long term, he said, the district may have even considered consolidation.

William Funkhouser of Morton won the GOP nomination to follow Brett Grimm as Tazewell County’s auditor.

With 80 of 82 precincts reporting as of 9 p.m., Funkhouser earned 67% of the vote in his race against current District 1 board member Kaden Nelms of Pekin.

Funkhouser, a certified public accountant and Bradley University faculty member, has said his goals as auditor are to improve professionalism and efficiency in the office.

Nelms still has two years remaining on his county board term.

Republican Joe McGraw will face freshman Democratic congressman Eric Sorensen in the 17th Congressional District in November.

McGraw, a retired judge, was the odds-on favorite over Henry County farmer Scott Crowl. McGraw far outraised Crowl, with $226,164 cash on hand at the end of February compared to the $7,343 Crowl had left in his mostly self-funded campaign account.

McGraw also secured the backing of the Republican establishment. Galesburg businessman Ray Estrada dropped his campaign bid and ultimately supported McGraw.

Sorensen is a former TV meteorologist from the Quad Cities. The Democrat has accumulated a war chest of more than $1.7 million ahead of the November general election.

The district includes parts of Peoria, the Quad Cities, Canton, Galesburg, Macomb, Rockford, and Bloomington-Normal.

The swing district now favors Democrats more after the 2021 remap added in left-leaning parts of McLean County and subtracted much of the rural part of the state that's trended increasingly Republican in recent years.

Sabato's Crystal Ball currently rates this race "Lean Democratic." So does the Cook Political Report, another well-regarded prognosticator.

Republicans hold a narrow 219-213 House majority.

Overwhelming support for a monument to celebrate three Civil War veterans from Tazewell County who received the Medal of Honor. The referendum garnered 85% of the vote, with two precincts still outstanding at 9 p.m.

Plans call for an 8-foot black granite obelisk honoring Dr. Thomas C. Murphy, William Reed and John Ayres to be erected near the Veterans’ Memorial on the at the Tazewell County Courthouse grounds.

Cost of the monument is estimated at $80,000. The referendum requires the county board to fund the monument within one year.

Voters approved a 0.4% increase of the limiting rate for Tremont Community Unit School District 702, a move aimed at generating $700,000 in revenue for educational programs and other operations.

Unofficial results show the referendum receiving 66% of yes votes, with high turnout at 32% of nearly 3,700 registered voters.

With bonds from a 2007 Tremont High School project getting paid off over the next two years, the district’s current bond rate is projected to drop nearly 0.8% by 2026. Even with the limiting rate increase, taxes are projected to decrease slightly.

Superintendent Sean Berry said the increase of the limiting rate would bolster the education fund, allowing the district to restore programs cut in lean years.

Berry said the increase provides an opportunity to replenish a fund that has shown a deficit in 14 of the last 20 years. He said the education fund accounts for 80% of the district’s budget.

The Associated Press is declaring President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump the winners of the Democratic and Republican primaries, respectively.

That's no surprise, as both candidates have already clinched enough delegates for their party's nominations. The GOP convention is June 15-19 in Milwaukee. The Democratic convention is August 19-22 in Chicago.

It is 7 p.m. in Illinois and polls are closed. Anyone who was in line by 7 p.m. can still vote.

Voter turnout is expected to be low statewide after both President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump clinched their respective nominations last week. But a series of competitive primary races in Great Peoria could have enticed people to vote.

The WCBU team will post results here as they become available.

Voting has begun statewide for the Illinois primary. Polls opened at 6 a.m. and will close at 7 p.m.

Voters in Peoria County can vote at any of the 55 polling locations, regardless of what district they live in. You can find a map of those locations here.

You can find information on polling locations in Tazewell County here and Woodford County here.

The WCBU team has been following the top races and referendum issues in Greater Peoria. Check out our 2024 Election Guide to get caught up, and follow us here for updates and results.