As Gov. JB Pritzker’s hand-picked candidate cruised to a high-profile victory in the Democratic primary for U.S. Senate Tuesday night, another of his picks held a tight lead in the race for comptroller.
State Rep. Margaret Croke, D-Chicago, held a 24,000-vote lead with 83 percent of votes reporting as of 10 p.m. — a roughly 2.4% advantage over state Sen. Karina Villa, D-West Chicago. The Associated Press had not called the race as of 10 p.m. We’ll update this story as results are finalized.
Croke has served in the Illinois General Assembly, representing Chicago’s North Side since 2021. She is a close ally to Gov. JB Pritzker, who endorsed her candidacy in early February. Her relationship with the governor goes back to 2017 when she worked with him on his first campaign and served on his transition team.
If the results hold, she’d face Bryan Drew, a southern Illinois attorney, in the general election. He ran uncontested in the GOP primary.
Previously, Croke was the deputy director at Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity. In the Illinois House, Croke chairs the House Financial Institutions and Licensing Committee as well as the Tax Policy: Income Tax Subcommittee.
Croke said she supports a graduated income tax, which would require a constitutional amendment to implement. Though the comptroller’s office would play no formal role in passing such an amendment, and the last time it was on the ballot in 2020, voters rejected it.
On her website, Croke said she will follow outgoing Comptroller Susanna Mendoza’s lead in enforcing the Prevailing Wage Act, which requires state contractors working on public works projects to demonstrate they aren’t underpaying their workers. She will also allocate more resources to the Comptroller’s Prevailing Wage Office and work with the Department of Labor to ensure investigations are thorough and timely.
She was also endorsed by House Speaker Emanuel “Chris” Welch and the Cook County Democratic Party.
She was the top fundraiser in the primary.
Trailing her was Villa, who has served in the General Assembly since 2019 and is regarded as the most progressive of the candidates. She was the only candidate without a background in finance. Instead, she’s said her social work career gives her the insight to understand what it means to balance budgets with services people rely on.
Villa’s main focus is raising revenue for the state and suggested a state tax on digital advertising as well as trying again to pass a graduated income tax.
On her website, Villa says the comptroller’s office should “put our money where our values are” and voiced support for attracting jobs and investment in Illinois, ensuring contractors don’t have ties to Immigration Customs and Enforcement, or ICE, and for the Prevailing Wage Act, which requires state contractors working on public works projects to demonstrate they aren’t underpaying their workers.
Villa was endorsed by Senate President Don Harmon, the Chicago Teachers Union and U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders, an independent from Vermont. She also had endorsements from U.S. Rep. Delia Ramirez and outgoing U.S. Rep. Jesús “Chuy” García.
Other candidates
Lake County Treasurer Holly Kim was the only candidate without legislative experience, but she has been the treasurer for Lake County since 2018, managing the money for the 3rd largest county in Illinois with more than 700,000 residents. Kim was endorsed by outgoing comptroller Susana Mendoza but was sitting third in the race as of Tuesday evening with less than a quarter of the vote.
State Rep. Stephanie Kifowit, D-Oswego, has served in General Assembly since 2013, and she touted her work with House Democrats on the Illinois budget during the tenure of Gov. Bruce Rauner. A former Marine, Kifowit raised the least money of the candidates in the final quarter of 2025 and appeared slated to garner less than 10% of the vote.
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