Municipal Caucus Overview for the 2025 Consolidated Election
With municipalities across Illinois set to elect new local officers at the 2025 Consolidated Elections, an overview of the lesser-known nomination method of municipal caucuses may be helpful for smaller municipalities. Note that the overview discussed below applies to official caucus nomination methods established by statute, and not the informal "caucus" political party nomination process that is used in some municipalities. If you are not sure which system your municipality must follow, please consult with your legal counsel.
Illinois municipalities administer either partisan elections (where candidates are nominated and elected from political parties) or nonpartisan elections (where candidates are nominated and elected on a nonpartisan basis). For cities, villages, and incorporated towns with partisan election systems and populations below 5,000 persons, candidates are nominated by established political parties at municipal caucuses unless, on or before November 15, 2024, the municipality passes an ordinance requiring established political parties to hold a primary. These municipalities will hold their caucuses on December 2, 2024, and caucus candidates must file their certificates of nomination with the municipal clerk during the filing period of December 9 – 16, 2024. 10 ILCS 5/10-1(a). Clerks must certify the names of caucus candidates by no later than January 23, 2025.
At a municipal caucus, registered voters select candidates from their political party to nominate for offices up for election in the April consolidated election. Voters can only participate and cast votes at the caucus of one political party (for example a person who participates in the caucus of political party A cannot then participate in the caucus of political party B). An established political party may only nominate one candidate for an office to be elected by the caucus method. The candidate receiving the most votes at the caucus becomes the party’s nominee, and any candidate defeated at the caucus may not run for the same office as a different political party, independent, or write-in candidate.
After being nominated at a caucus, the candidates must then individually file nomination paperwork with the local election official to appear on the consolidated election ballot. If there are two or more political parties that have nominated candidates for an office, the local election official must hold a ballot placement lottery to determine the ballot order. Candidates nominated by caucus appear on the ballot in the same order as their names appeared on the caucus sheet.
If a caucus will occur, November 22, 2024, is the last day for the municipal clerk to publish or post the notice of caucus. In municipalities with populations over 500 persons, the local election official must publish notice of caucuses in a newspaper published within their municipality. If no such newspaper exists, a local election official is required to publish notice of a caucus in a newspaper of general circulation within the county their municipality is located in. For municipalities with a population of 500 or less, the local election official must post notice of the caucus in three of the most public places within the municipality.
Post Authored by Keri-Lyn Krafthefer & Tyler Smith, Ancel Glink
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