The Harlem School District has experienced significant enrollment declines in recent years with several buildings operating at less than 60 percent capacity, the release states.

“Allowing citizens to draw lines that are compact and contiguous is a lot better than allowing politicians to pick their own constituents and draw lines that make little or no sense to the voting public,” said Ray LaHood, a Republican who represented the Peoria area in Congress before joining President Barack Obama’s cabinet.

Nevertheless, the $25.5 million total represents a smaller down payment than Pritzker, who is eyeing a potential White House bid in 2028, had made by this point in his two previous races for governor. In those races, Pritzker ended up spending a combined $350 million to oust one-term Republican Gov. Bruce Rauner in 2018 and fend off a challenge from then-GOP state Sen. Darren Bailey in 2022.

Statewide, however, the growth in undergraduate enrollment was partially offset by declines in graduate and professional school enrollment, especially among international students.

Though the board’s vote Tuesday puts to rest the alleged violation and fine assessed by staff at the State Board of Elections, Harmon is not entirely out of the woods. The Liberty Justice Center filed a citizen-initiated complaint with the State Board of Elections last week.

Mayor Brandon Johnson’s proposed budget recommendations for 2026 include additional taxes on online sports wagering, and while final votes are not set, Chicago may become the first city in Illinois to have its own such tax. Chicago’s tax, which is one of 89 proposed revenue increases from Johnson’s Chicago Financial Future Task Force, balances the sports wagering tax to Chicago’s existing amusement tax; both will be taxed at 10.25 percent.

Giannoulias said digital IDs will be protected by the same privacy and encryption technology used for tap-to-pay and digital airline boarding passes.

“Data centers should power their profits, not drain the wallets of everyday Americans,” said Sen. Rachel Ventura, a Democrat from Illinois. Her state, she said, has already started to address the challenge by passing Senate Bill 25, also known as The Clean and Reliable Grid Affordability Act, now awaiting Gov. JB Pritzker’s signature.

“(Gov. JB) Pritzker has to recognize the unpopularity of mid-decade redistricting for purely political purposes in a state with some of the worst gerrymandering in the country. He and the Democrats in the General Assembly simply don’t have the moral high ground on this issue.”