The Illinois Supreme Court on Wednesday heard arguments in a case centered on whether a state law passed in 2023 violates the due process rights of Illinoisans outside Sangamon and Cook counties.

Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul’s office confirmed Monday that it had filed a petition in the 5th District Appellate Court in southern Illinois asking the court to vacate the temporary restraining order against the state's recently-passed gun ban.

A downstate judge has granted a temporary restraining order blocking enforcement of Illinois’ new ban on high-powered semi-automatic weapons for a group of plaintiffs who filed suit earlier this week in Effingham County.

A trio of gun owners and a firearms retailer in southeastern Illinois have filed the first two lawsuits in what’s expected to be a flurry of litigation against the state’s new law banning the sale and manufacture of high-powered semiautomatic weapons in Illinois.

The race for Illinois governor won’t be the only one on Tuesday’s ballot. With the redrawing of the state’s political maps, the make-up of the entire McHenry County Board and both the U.S. and Illinois houses of representatives will be determined, along several other races.

Crime and the attorney general’s role in combating it dominated last week’s virtual debate between incumbent Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul, a Chicago Democrat, and Republican challenger Thomas Devore of downstate Greenville.

Candidates for the Republican Party across local, state and federal races, were in Crystal Lake on Wednesday to meet with residents and talk about the state of Illinois, the SAFE-T Act and other issues.

Thomas DeVore, the Republican candidate for Illinois attorney general, told voters in Crystal Lake Wednesday that he views his role, now and moving forward, as protecting the state’s constitution from Democratic overreach, starting with a repeal of the SAFE-T Act.

Attorney General Kwame Raoul accused his Republican challenger Thomas DeVore of making “dangerous” remarks, while DeVore accused the Democratic incumbent of failing the state’s school students by not challenging Gov. JB Pritzker’s COVID-19 mitigations.