Politicians across the Illinois ballot used the final weekend before Tuesday’s general election embarking on a closing-hours effort to turn out their political bases with rallies, church visits and door-knocking, while Gov. JB Pritzker took his case to a national Sunday television audience.

Appearing on NBC’s “Meet the Press,” the two-term Democrat looked past Tuesday’s rematch with Republican Darren Bailey, whom he vanquished by about 13 percentage points four years ago, and did nothing to dispel talk of a 2028 presidential bid.

“Because that (2028) election is so important, I’m going to work my tail off to make sure that we have a Democrat who will win and make sure that that Democrat does in fact win. And I’ve done that in every presidential election really since I was an adult and able to vote. So I’ll continue on that path,” Pritzker said.

Touting strong Democratic early and mail-in voting nationally, including in traditionally Republican states, Pritzker predicted Democrats would wrest control of both the U.S. House and Senate from Republicans. He also urged a Democratic-led Congress to hold hearings on alleged corruption in President Donald Trump’s administration, but he stopped short of calling for Trump’s impeachment.

“The energy on the ground, not just in Illinois but across the country, is very high. We’re seeing an overperformance of Latino voters, overperformance of young voters, of Black voters. This is good for Democrats,” said the wealthy governor, who has pumped millions of dollars into races nationally. Accusing Trump of attempting to rig the midterm results for the GOP, Pritzker said, “that’s why everybody’s got to get out and vote. And I do see that people really are. The early voting is just off the charts.”

But Pritzker’s enthusiastic comments came shortly before new turmoil erupted in Michigan, where Democrats are trying to hold a seat critical to their hopes of taking the Senate.

U.S. Rep. Haley Stevens, who narrowly lost the state’s Democratic Senate primary to Abdul El-Sayed, issued a late endorsement of the Trump-backed Republican in the race, former U.S. Rep. Mike Rogers, appearing with him at a predominantly Black church in Detroit on Sunday.

The Michigan contest has been marked by controversial attacks on El-Sayed, who is Muslim, and by escalating tensions between him and Stevens, a strong supporter of Israel. Stevens had previously vowed to back the Democratic ticket.

Following an afternoon event in Cicero with other members of the Democratic ticket, Pritzker contended that Democrats don’t need to hold the Michigan seat to win control of the Senate.

“There are so many options. If you look at all of the races that are close, Democrats are ahead in almost all of the close races, and so the opportunity for Democrats to take a majority in the United States Senate is pretty high,” he said. “So whether it’s 51 or 52 or 53 seats, I do think Democrats are going to take a majority.”

But Lt. Gov. Juliana Stratton, Illinois’ Democratic nominee for U.S. Senate and the state’s first Black lieutenant governor, appeared visibly frustrated by the turn of events in Michigan. She called Stevens’ endorsement of Rogers a “betrayal” and said it demonstrated the congresswoman is “only looking out for herself.”

“I’m particularly disgusted that she would use Black Michiganders as a pawn in this attempt to bring — to me — attention to herself,” Stratton said after an appearance at the People’s Church of the Harvest on Chicago’s West Side. “To give an endorsement to a Trump acolyte like Mike Rogers? She’s lost.”

“This is our opportunity. And the momentum is there. People are voting in droves, and this is an opportunity to be a check on this president. And to have someone who says, quote-unquote, ‘I’m still a proud Democrat’ — no, you’re not, because proud Democrats support other Democrats. That’s all I can say,” she said.

Stratton is running against Don Tracy, a former chairman of the Illinois Republican Party, for the seat held by retiring U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin. She also campaigned at another predominantly Black West Side church, Mt. Vernon Baptist Church.

“We have seen for ourselves that nothing is impossible for God, and not only do we believe that everything is possible, we are the vessels for bringing it to life. So now, with two days left, I have an appeal for you: I need everyone here to vote,” she said.

In a sharp contrast to a busy last campaign weekend for Democrats Stratton and Pritzker, the top of the Republican ticket was largely quiet and out of sight.

Bailey met with supporters and attended a worship service in Chicago on Saturday, campaign spokesman Travis Akin said. On Sunday, Akin said, Bailey stayed at his farm near rural Xenia, where he spent time with his grandchildren, did media interviews by phone and held last-minute talks with donors. He planned to return to Chicago for a final full day of campaigning Monday.

Tracy did no public campaigning Saturday or Sunday and instead spent Halloween with family in Jacksonville, spokesperson Kathleen Murphy said. She said the “campaign’s still going full force” with ads running and campaigning planned for Monday and Tuesday.

Yet the lack of visibility on the final weekend of the campaign by the two biggest Republican names on the ballot raised serious questions about the viability of their candidacies heading into Tuesday.

Both already faced headwinds running under a Republican banner defined by Trump at a time of economic uncertainty and higher consumer prices. They also face fallout from the president’s decisions to go to war with Iran and to impose tariffs on longtime U.S. trading partners.

In the far west suburb of Batavia, 8th Congressional District Democratic candidate Melissa Bean thanked a small group of campaign aides and supporters Sunday before they dispersed to knock on doors and hand out campaign literature.

“We’re covering everywhere. I mean, yesterday I was in St. Charles. I was in Carol Stream. I was in Elgin. The other day, I was in Des Plaines. So, it’s a big district,” said Bean, a former three-term congresswoman attempting a political comeback. “So there’s no area that you exclude. It’s just a matter of mapping it out and covering it in a fashion, as efficient manner as you can.”

Bean, a centrist Democrat, told the group that winning matters because “we have a dysfunctional Congress.” She called Republicans a “rubber stamp” for Trump, though she did not mention him by name.

“So we’re working hard to make sure we can get a new majority, and have a functional Congress that knows how to get things done like we have in the past,” she said.

In South Elgin, Bean’s Republican opponent, Jennifer Davis of Huntley, walked through a neighborhood with volunteers looking for last-minute voters.

“I mean, we’ve really been really strategic with our data and made sure that we are always targeting the households that are persuadable, that maybe don’t always come out in a midterm election,” Davis said. “The Elgin area is an important area. Schaumburg is an important area. Des Plaines is an important area. You know, I mean, every voter is important, but we’ve got pockets of areas that have more persuadable voters than others.”

In the race to succeed retiring U.S. Rep. Jesús “Chuy” García in the 4th Congressional District, Democratic nominee Patty García led a march to the polls in Archer Heights on Sunday and then joined other Democrats at a Day of the Dead event in Cicero.

García, who is the congressman’s former chief of staff but not related to him, opened her Día de los Muertos-themed Chicago Bears jacket to show a button honoring Silverio Villegas González. The 38-year-old father was shot and killed by a federal agent in Franklin Park shortly after he dropped off his two young sons at daycare, near the start of last year’s Operation Midway Blitz immigration crackdown.

“Not only did ICE kill him in broad daylight and for all of us to see, they assassinated his character after and blamed him,” García said. “Text your cousins, text the ex, whoever you need to text, and make sure they’ve all come out to vote.”

Chris Getty, the Lyons mayor running as an independent in the 4th District race, spent the weekend zeroing in on getting out the vote in the west suburban precincts of the majority-Latino district. Much of the district lies in Chicago’s heavily Latino neighborhoods, including Pilsen and Little Village.

Getty and his team campaigned near polling places and knocked on doors in Chicago, as well as in Hinsdale, Melrose Park, Lyons, Berwyn, Cicero and Brookfield, said campaign manager Kevin Thomas.

“In addition to our efforts on the ground, we’ve had teams of volunteers phone banking and connecting with residents throughout the district,” Thomas said.

Also running in the 4th District are Republican Lupe Castillo and Working Class Party candidate Ed Hershey.

In the South Side and south suburban 2nd Congressional District, Democrat Donna Miller began Sunday at Salem Baptist Church in Chicago. She is seeking to succeed U.S. Rep. Robin Kelly, who gave up the seat for an unsuccessful Senate bid.

Miller later joined a “Souls to the Polls” event at Victory Apostolic Church in Matteson and a get-out-the-vote rally at Governors State University in University Park. Miller is running against Republican Mike Noack.

____

(Tribune reporter Jake Sheridan contributed.)

____

©2026 Chicago Tribune. Visit at chicagotribune.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.