WBEZ’s Weekly News Recap, Oct. 30, 2026

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Chicagoans get to vote on their first ever fully-elected school board this fall. If you want to learn more about the races, check out our one-stop interactive voter guide. It's easy to use. Enter your address and see your voting district and all the candidates running. Discover all sorts of information like campaign finances, endorsements, and candidates' views on important issues. The guide was created by WBEZ, the Chicago Sun-Times Chalkbeat and Block Club Chicago. Visit wbez.org/schoolboard for more.

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Mother Jones was not just some distant iconic symbol.

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She did the work. This monument will stand as a lasting tribute to Mother Jones' compassion, strength, and tenacity.

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Mayoral candidates for Chicago's February election wasted no time turning in petitions.

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Mayor Brandon Johnson's proposed $17.6 billion budget already getting pushed back and questioning as well by city council members.

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If the White Sox relocate to the South Loop, the Bears could build a new domed stadium and entertainment district at the Raitt Field site in Bridgeport.

Sasha-Ann Simons (1:06)

Hey Chicago, I'm Sasha-Ann Simons and this is In the Loop.

We're breaking down the biggest stories of the week in our Weekly News Recap. As election day nears, a downstate man is charged with sending threatening letters to members of Congress from Illinois. Governor Pritzker invests millions in out-of-state candidates. Plus growing concerns around the country of election interference have prompted Northern Illinois US. Attorney Andrew Boutros to set up a hotline so voters can report possible fraud and intimidation.

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Early voting in Chicago and Cook County is up this election cycle compared to the midterms four years ago.

Alex Nitkin (1:47)

Illinois Governor JB.

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Pritzker is spinning big on this year's midterms.

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There's a growing movement across the state, especially among southern counties, to try and separate the rest of Illinois from Cook County. About a dozen counties have a separation referendum that will appear on their ballot.

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Tonight, an Illinois man is in federal custody accused of sending threatening letters to members of Congress with a mysterious white substance inside.

Sasha-Ann Simons (2:10)

Now let's dive into the Weekly News Recap. We talked with Jacoby Cochran, host of City Cast Chicago, Alex Nitkin, Government Finance and Accountability Reporter with the Illinois Answers Project, and Mitchell Armentrout, Government and Politics Reporter for the Chicago Sun-Times.

And we started by looking at some of the races on Tuesday's ballot. Here's Jacoby, who kicked things off.

Jacoby Cochran (2:30)

For me, I'm going to keep it local. I'm really interested in the school board. It's historic in nature. The first time Chicago will get to decide every member of the school board, all 20, including school board president. I'm interested to see between Hilario Dominguez, Jessica Biggs, Victor Henderson, who has stood out in voters' eyes over the last few months and who is ultimately tasked with leading this board through.

What are some significant challenges that lie ahead?

Sasha-Ann Simons (2:58)

Yeah, absolutely. What about you, Alex? What races are on your radar?

Alex Nitkin (3:03)

I would have to agree the school board. Other than that, it's hard to find any locally that seem like they're going to be close or contested. I mean, we can obviously look at the governor and US senator races, even though they are not really considered too competitive. I'm convinced JB Pritzker, the governor, and Julianna Stratton are expected to win by a lot, but the question is by how much, especially for Pritzker, if he wins maybe by more than expected, that could have implications for a potential presidential run.

Sasha-Ann Simons (3:35)

Yeah, for sure. Did any of you, by chance, take a look at the New York Times investigation? They looked into Democrats in Alaska recruiting another Dan Sullivan onto the ballot. Very interesting story.

So Dan S. Sullivan is the name of the state's Republican senator. And so there are claims that on the Democrat side, Mary Paltola had one of her aides sort of instruct folks to find as many people named Dan Sullivan as possible in Alaska to put themselves on the ballot and cause confusion for voters. Which sounds wild, right?

But it's a strategy, I think, that has a history here in Cook County, doesn't it?

Alex Nitkin (4:21)

Yeah, that's right. I mean, a lot of folks locally were chiming in talking about how it reminded them of a couple of races where former Illinois Speaker of the House, Mike Madigan, whenever he had a challenger in his district, which by the end of his tenure was overwhelmingly Latino, whenever he had, not whenever, but multiple times when he had a Latino challenger, he would sort of magically have other candidates appear also with Latino last names to sort of crowd the ballot. And then they would, those candidates would sort of ghost, they wouldn't raise any money, they would just sort of draw votes.