Ahead of the March 20 primary election, we’re hosting a series of candidate forums. Each will take place during the live broadcast of “Chicago Tonight” at 7 p.m. on WTTW11 and will vary in length. You can also watch them streamed live on our Facebook page; and we will update this page with links to each forum once it has taken place.
We’d also like your participation in these forums. Do you have questions for any of the participating candidates? Add them to the comments section below – you may see yours on air. You can also tweet your questions using the hashtag #ChicagoTonight or comment on Facebook.
Our full schedule of candidate forums is below. Get more Chicago Tonight primary coverage here.
3rd Congressional District (Democrats)
Monday, Feb. 26 | Watch this forum
Dan Lipinski (incumbent)
Marie Newman
Cook County Assessor (Democrats)
Tuesday, March 6 | Watch this forum
*Joe Berrios (incumbent)
Frederick “Fritz” Kaegi
*Candidate has not accepted our invitation to participate.
Cook County Board President (Democrats)
Wednesday, March 7 | Watch this forum
Toni Preckwinkle (incumbent)
Bob Fioretti
Illinois Attorney General (Republicans)
Thursday, March 8 | Watch this forum
*Erika Harold
Gary Grasso
*Candidate has not accepted our invitation to participate.
Illinois Attorney General (Democrats)
Monday, March 12 | Watch this forum
Pat Quinn
Renato Mariotti
Scott Drury
Nancy Rotering
Kwame Raoul
Jesse Ruiz
Sharon Fairley
Aaron Goldstein
Gubernatorial Candidates (Republicans)
Tuesday, March 13 | Watch this forum
*Bruce Rauner (incumbent)
Jeanne Ives
*Candidate has not accepted our invitation to participate.
Gubernatorial Candidates (Democrats)
Wednesday, March 14 | Watch this forum
J.B. Pritzker
Chris Kennedy
Daniel Biss
Chicago Tonight hosted all six of the Democratic candidates for in-depth one-on-one interviews early in the campaign. All six candidates participated in a forum with Mikva Challenge and its students. But for the final forum before the election, Chicago Tonight limited its invitations to the top three candidates in an effort to give viewers a more in-depth look at the candidates who seem to be resonating with voters.
The March 14 Democratic gubernatorial forum is being underwritten, in part, by the City Club of Chicago. The audience at the forum will be composed of City Club members and their guests.
4th Congressional District (Democrats)
Thursday, March 15 | Watch this forum
Richard Gonzalez
Sol Flores
Jesus “Chuy” Garcia
Related stories:
2018 Voters’ Guide to the Cook County Primary
WTTW’s 2018 Voters’ Guide to the Cook County Primary is an online resource designed to inform voters about the candidates running for office in the March 20 election. Learn more.
Early Voting for March Primary Gets Underway, Though Ballot Issues Persist
March 5: Illinois voters can begin casting their votes in a series of heavily contested primary races, as early voting began in earnest Monday.
2018 Governor’s Race: Democratic Candidates Face High School Students
Feb. 19: During a special edition of Chicago Tonight, all six Democratic candidates for governor join us to answer questions from an audience of 50 high school students and discuss issues facing Illinois’ young people.
