Businessman J.B. Pritzker (D) defeated incumbent Bruce Rauner (R), Grayson "Kash" Jackson (L), and William "Sam" McCann (Conservative) in the November 6, 2018, general election for Governor of Illinois.

Between Election Day 2014 and Election Day 2018, Pritzker contributed $171.5 million to his own campaign while Rauner contributed $67.8 million to his run. Rauner was first elected in 2014 by a margin of 4 percentage points. Of the ten preceding gubernatorial elections, a Republican candidate won seven—including Rauner's victory in 2014—and a Democratic candidate won three. In 2016, Hillary Clinton (D) carried the state by 17 percentage points.

Polls

Illinois Governor 2018

Poll	Poll sponsor	J.B. Pritzker (D)	Bruce Rauner (R)	Kash Jackson (L)	Sam McCann (C)	Undecided/Other	Margin of Error	Sample Size
Victory Research (November 1-3, 2018)	N/A	49%	33%	5%	8%	6%	+/----	1,208
Ipsos (September 27 - October 5, 2018)	Thomson Reuters/University of Virginia	50%	30%	3%	6%	12%	+/-3.6	968
Victory Research (September 27 - October 2, 2018)	N/A	47%	32%	6%	7%	8%	+/-2.8	1,208
Simon Institute (September 24-29, 2018)	N/A	49%	27%	4%	4%	17%	+/-3.7	715
Anzalone Lizst Grove Research	Forward Illinois	48%	32%	3%	4%	13%	+/-3.1	1,007

Illinois Governor 2018

Poll	Poll sponsor	J.B. Pritzker (D)	Bruce Rauner (R)	Kash Jackson (L)	Sam McCann (C)	Undecided/Other	Margin of Error	Sample Size
Research America (September 5-13, 2018)	Illinois Broadcasters Association	44%	27%	4%	6%	18%	+/-3.1	1,024
Marist College (August 12-16, 2018)	NBC News	46%	30%	6%	4%	15%	+/-4.4	734
Illinois Public Opinion, Inc. (July 12, 2018)	N/A	39%	26%	1%	10%	23%	+/-5.0	423
University of Illinois/Illinois Public Radio (July 3 - August 15, 2018)	N/A	35%	23%	0%	0%	42%	+/-3.7	717
We Ask America (June 9-11, 2018)	Capitol Fax	36%	27%	0%	0%	37%	+/-4.0	600
Ogden & Fry (March 23, 2018)	N/A	46%	28%	0%	0%	26%	+/-3.87	667

Illinois Governor 2018 (no margin of error information)
Poll	J.B. Pritzker (D)	Bruce Rauner (R)	Undecided/Other	Sample size
Victory Research (April 2018)	49%	31%	19%	1,208

Illinois Governor 2018 (Pritzker vs. Rauner hypothetical matchup)
Poll	J.B. Pritzker (D)	Bruce Rauner (R)	Undecided/Other	Margin of error	Sample size
Southern Illinois University (February 19-25, 2018)	50%	35%	15%	+/-3.0	1,001

Illinois Governor 2018 (Biss vs. Rauner hypothetical matchup)
Poll	Daniel Biss (D)	Bruce Rauner (R)	Undecided/Other	Margin of error	Sample size
Southern Illinois University (February 19-25, 2018)	48%	34%	18%	+/-3.0	1,001

Race ratings

The Cook Political Report, Inside Elections, and Sabato's Crystal Ball. Each race rating indicates if one party is perceived to have an advantage in the race and, if so, the degree of advantage. Race ratings are informed by a number of factors, including polling, candidate quality, and election result history in the race's district or state.

Race ratings: Illinois gubernatorial election, 2018

Race tracker	Race ratings
	November 5, 2018	October 30, 2018	October 23, 2018	October 16, 2018
The Cook Political Report	Likely Democratic	Likely Democratic	Likely Democratic	Likely Democratic
Inside Elections with Nathan L. Gonzales	Likely Democratic	Likely Democratic	Likely Democratic	Likely Democratic
Larry J. Sabato's Crystal Ball	Likely Democratic	Likely Democratic	Likely Democratic	Likely Democratic

Election history

2014

In the 2014 gubernatorial election, incumbent Pat Quinn (D) was defeated by Bruce Rauner (R).

Governor and Lieutenant Governor of Illinois, 2014

Party	Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Republican	Bruce Rauner/Evelyn Sanguinetti	50.3%	1,823,627
	Democratic	Pat Quinn/Paul Vallas Incumbent	46.3%	1,681,343
	Libertarian	Chad Grimm/Alex Cummings	3.4%	121,534
	Nonpartisan	Write-in votes	0%	1,186
Total Votes			3,627,690
Election results via Illinois State Board of Elections

2010

In the 2010 gubernatorial election, incumbent Pat Quinn (D) defeated Bill Brady (R).

Governor and Lt. Governor of Illinois, 2010

Party	Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Democratic	Pat Quinn & Sheila Simon Incumbent	46.8%	1,745,219
	Republican	Bill Brady & Jason Plummer	45.9%	1,713,385
	Independent	Scott Lee Cohen & Baxter Swilley	3.6%	135,705
	Green	Rich Whitney & Don Crawford	2.7%	100,756
	Libertarian	Lex Green & Ed Ruthledge	0.9%	34,681
	None	Write-in	0%	243
Total Votes			3,729,989

Demographics

Demographic data for Illinois

	Illinois	U.S.
Total population:	12,839,047	316,515,021
Land area (sq mi):	55,519	3,531,905
Gender
Female:	50.9%	50.8%
Race and ethnicity**
White:	72.3%	73.6%
Black/African American:	14.3%	12.6%
Asian:	5%	5.1%
Native American:	0.2%	0.8%
Pacific Islander:	0%	0.2%
Two or more:	2.2%	3%
Hispanic/Latino:	16.5%	17.1%
Education
High school graduation rate:	87.9%	86.7%
College graduation rate:	32.3%	29.8%
Income
Median household income:	$57,574	$53,889
Persons below poverty level:	16.8%	11.3%
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, "American Community Survey" (5-year estimates 2010-2015) for more information on the 2020 census and here for more on its impact on the redistricting process in Illinois.