The Democratic primary for Illinois comptroller remained too close to call Wednesday as state Rep. Margaret Croke maintained a slim lead over state Sen. Karina Villa.

With an estimated 92% of votes counted, Croke led Villa 34.6% to 32.2%, according to unofficial results from The Associated Press. Lake County Treasurer Holly Kim, who had secured an endorsement from outgoing Democratic comptroller Susana Mendoza, appears to have finished third with 24% of the estimated votes counted, followed by 9% for state Rep. Stephanie Kifowit.

While a few downstate counties had not reported complete election results as of Wednesday, the biggest chunk of outstanding ballots appeared to come from Chicago. The Chicago Board of Elections was still waiting on reported vote totals from 28 city precincts and expected to have those figures added to unofficial results by Wednesday evening, said agency spokesperson Max Bever.

Additionally, nearly 88,000 city mail-in ballots had been outstanding as of Election Day, though Bever said the board did not expect all of those ballots would be returned.

“This election is not over,” Villa said in a statement Tuesday night. “There are still too many outstanding ballots in the mail and in drop boxes before a candidate is declared a winner. We will wait until more votes from the people of Illinois are counted.”

Addressing an enthusiastic crowd Tuesday night at the Plumbers Union Local, Croke, joined by her husband and their three children, said she was confident based on the numbers that she was on track to become the Democratic nominee.

“As your next comptroller, I will work every day to make sure Illinois pays its bills on time, manages taxpayer dollars responsibly and brings transparency to the way we spend our money,” she said. “You work hard for every single dollar. The state should show you how these dollars are spent.”

The Democratic nominee will face Republican candidate Bryan Drew, an attorney from downstate Benton, in a November election that will also see contested races for secretary of state and attorney general.

Democratic incumbent Alexi Giannoulias, unchallenged in Tuesday’s primary, is expected to square off against Joliet resident Diane M. Harris for secretary of state. The precinct committeewoman and retired Commonwealth Edison employee bested Chicagoan Walter Adamczyk, 53% to 47%, in Tuesday’s GOP primary, unofficial AP results showed.

Democratic Attorney General Kwame Raoul will face a November election challenge from former Chicago Ald. Bob Fioretti.

State Treasurer Michael Frerichs, a Democrat, will seek a fourth term but has no official opposition, including by any Republicans, marking the first time in at least 90 years that a major political party did not have any candidate file to run in a primary election for statewide office, according to Frerichs’ campaign.

With Gov. JB Pritzker set for another matchup against Darren Bailey, who won Tuesday’s GOP primary for governor, that leaves the comptroller’s contest as the only unresolved statewide race heading into the November election.

Unlike the Illinois treasurer, who handles the state’s investments and oversees a college savings program, the comptroller pays the state’s bills, monitors fiscal compliance, records transactions and contracts, and issues reports that guide the governor and legislature on budget decisions. In one of its more obscure functions, the office also licenses certain private cemeteries.

Should Croke prevail, it would mark another victory for Pritzker, who backed her and Lt. Gov. Juliana Stratton’s successful bid for the Democratic nomination to fill the U.S. Senate seat held by retiring Sen. Dick Durbin. Croke secured Pritzker’s endorsement last month, having worked for him in his campaign and governmental capacities.

Earlier Tuesday, Croke appeared with Pritzker during lunch at Manny’s Cafeteria & Delicatessen. The governor wore a Croke button on his lapel.

Croke has served in the Illinois House since 2021, representing a district that covers parts of Chicago’s North and Near North sides. She entered 2026 with a commanding financial advantage over her primary opponents, ending last year with more than $833,000 in her campaign fund — more than her three Democratic rivals combined.

Despite Pritzker’s financial support of her campaign, Croke has said she has “no issue as it pertains to being independent” from the governor’s office if she is elected comptroller.

Croke has said she would want to improve the comptroller’s predictive financial modeling tools, revamp the vendor payment program to help businesses and nonprofits weather potential federal funding cuts from the administration of Republican President Donald Trump and make it easier for small municipalities — often short on staff and expertise — to submit the audits required by law.

Villa served in the Illinois House in 2019 and 2020 before being elected to the state Senate, where she’s served since 2021.

A former school social worker, she arguably has less financial experience than her three Democratic opponents, but has framed the comptroller’s role in broader terms, saying: “These political decisions of where we’re putting our dollars (are) connected,” and that “how we choose to allocate them, what order we’re paying the bills in and where we’re finding more money to bring in to be able to fund the services that are getting slashed by the federal government, it’s all connected.”

Her platform emphasized revenue: pushing corporations and the wealthy to pay more in taxes and using the comptroller’s leverage to protect safety-net hospitals that serve low-income communities.

In conceding defeat Tuesday, Kim said her “opponents poured multimillions into never-ending ads, while I spent my resources meeting and talking to voters face-to-face about how to make their lives easier, how to make this office work for them and how to put people back at the center of our politics again.

“No matter the outcome, I will give my full support to the Democratic nominee in November.”

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