President

Endorsements
Endorsement: Ease our divisions, Joe Biden for president

Editorials
Editorial: America is crying out for real leadership

What would 4 more years of Trump or a Biden administration mean for policing and criminal justice?

By Charles Keeshan and Susan Sarkauskas
Oct 30, 2020 12:17 AM - How would another four years of a Trump administration shape our criminal justice system? What would a Joe Biden presidency mean for the men and women of law enforcement, and the people they're sworn to protect? We take a dive into the two presidential candidates' track records and policy proposals on criminal justice.
Philadelphia shooting brings policing, racism back into campaign

By CLAUDIA LAUER, AAMER MADHANI and ROBERT BUMSTED
Oct 29, 2020 11:32 AM - The fatal shooting of another Black man on America's streets by police -- with subsequent unrest -- has brought the fraught issues of policing and racism in the nation back to the fore of the presidential election in its closing days.
Trump paints apocalyptic portrait of life in U.S. under Biden

By DARLENE SUPERVILLE
Oct 29, 2020 8:24 AM - The suburbs wouldn't be the suburbs anymore, the economy would sink into its worst depression ever and police departments would cease to exist. Even America's older adults would be left to figure out how to get by without heat, air conditioning or electricity.
After report on hotel loan, Trump blames Chicago 'politicians,' says he is 'smart guy'

By Lynn Sweet
Oct 28, 2020 5:16 PM - A day after The New York Times story about President Donald Trump's Chicago hotel and tower financial woes -- and how he outmaneuvered his lenders and avoided taxes -- the president struck back Wednesday in a tweet.
Biden vows not to make 'false promises' about pandemic

By WILL WEISSERT, AAMER MADHANI and ALEXANDRA JAFFE
Oct 28, 2020 2:52 PM - Joe Biden vowed Wednesday not to campaign "on the false promises of being able to end this pandemic by flipping a switch," pledging instead to prioritize science, while President Donald Trump used the race's final days keeping a whirlwind schedule aimed at focusing on anything but the coronavirus.
Anxiety 2020: Voters worry about safety at the polls

By LAURIE KELLMAN
Oct 28, 2020 7:18 AM - Americans aren't accustomed to worrying about violence or safety ahead of an election. It's a luxury afforded by years of largely peaceful voting, a recent history of fairly orderly displays of democracy. But after months filled with disease, disruption and unrest, Americans are worried that Election Day could become a flashpoint.
'We need you': Republican hunts for new voters in Trump territory

By JOSH BOAK
Oct 28, 2020 7:18 AM - President Donald Trump's campaign has a bold theory for how he will win reelection: It can tap a universe of millions of supporters who did not vote for him in 2016 but will do so this time.
Voting by mail isn't so easy on Native American reservations

By STEPHEN GROVES and PIA DESHPANDE
Oct 27, 2020 11:09 AM - With limited polling places on a reservation that's roughly 2,000 square miles (5,180 square kilometers) and officials pushing people to vote by mail amid the coronavirus pandemic, cramped post offices such as this one are a lifeline to preserving Native Americans' right to vote. But voting rights advocates fear it's not enough.
Worst place, worst time: Trump faces virus spike in Midwest

By THOMAS BEAUMONT
Oct 27, 2020 7:18 AM - The virus is getting worse in states that the Republican president needs the most, at the least opportune time. New infections are raging in Wisconsin and elsewhere in the upper Midwest. In Iowa, polls suggest Trump is in a toss-up race with Biden after carrying the state by 9.4 percentage points four years ago.
Constable: If you think this election is contentious, it's not nearly as bad as 1860

Oct 27, 2020 12:09 AM - Next Tuesday might give us the most contentious presidential election in modern memory, but it still can't match the division of the 1860 election that gave us Abraham Lincoln, and the Civil War.
Trump charges into battleground states despite rising virus

By ZEKE MILLER, ALEXANDRA JAFFE and KEVIN FREKING
Oct 26, 2020 1:28 PM - President Donald Trump embarked Monday on a final-week charge through nearly a dozen states ahead of the election, overlooking a surge of coronavirus cases in the U.S. and a fresh outbreak in his own White House. His Democratic rival, Joe Biden, is holding far fewer events in an effort to demonstrate that he's taking the worsening pandemic seriously.
Early vote total exceeds 2016; GOP chips at Democrats' advantage

By NICHOLAS RICCARDI and ANGELIKI KASTANIS
Oct 26, 2020 10:31 AM - With eight days before Election Day, more people already have cast ballots in this year's presidential election than voted early or absentee in the 2016 race as the start of in-person early voting in big states led to a surge in turnout in recent days.
Constable: Suburban teacher on ballot as third-party VP candidate

By Burt Constable
Oct 25, 2020 8:05 AM - In the 2016 presidential election, Amar Patel of Lombard rejected Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton, and voted for himself as a write-in candidate. This year, Patel is on the ballot as the vice presidential candidate of the American Solidarity Party.
Analysis: Debate is brief interlude of normalcy in 2020 race

By JULIE PACE
Oct 23, 2020 2:59 PM - The second and final presidential debate, it turns out, was actually a debate -- a brief interlude of normalcy in an otherwise highly abnormal year, and a reprieve for voters turned off by the candidates' noxious first faceoff.
AP Explains: Trump seizes on dubious Biden-Ukraine story

By ERIC TUCKER and STEPHEN BRAUN
Oct 23, 2020 11:02 AM - Looking to undermine rival Joe Biden two weeks before the election, President Donald Trump's campaign has seized on a tabloid story offering bizarre twists to a familiar line of attack: Biden's relationship with Ukraine. But the story in the New York Post raised more questions than answers, including about the authenticity of an email at the center of the story.
Debate Takeaways: Round 2 highlights policy over petulance

By BILL BARROW and ZEKE MILLER
Oct 23, 2020 10:41 AM - President Donald Trump and Democratic challenger Joe Biden met for the second and last time on a debate stage after a previously scheduled town hall debate was scrapped after the Republican incumbent became one of the millions of Americans to contract the coronavirus.
AP FACT CHECK: Falsehoods and fumbles in Trump-Biden debate

By CALVIN WOODWARD, HOPE YEN and RICARDO ALONSO-ZALDIVAR
Oct 23, 2020 6:45 AM - A look at how some of the statements on the stage in Nashville, Tennessee, compared with the facts.
Final presidential debate: Trump, Biden go after each other on coronavirus, taxes

By JONATHAN LEMIRE, BILL BARROW and STEVE PEOPLES
Oct 22, 2020 9:59 PM - President Donald Trump and Democratic challenger Joe Biden offered different visions of how to handle the surging pandemic during their final debate.
Trump posts unedited '60 Minutes' interview before it airs

By DAVID BAUDER and JILL COLVIN
Oct 22, 2020 3:23 PM - President Donald Trump posted his full, unedited interview with "60 Minutes" on Facebook before the show's scheduled Sunday broadcast.
U.S. officials link Iran to emails meant to intimidate voters

By ERIC TUCKER and FRANK BAJAK
Oct 22, 2020 12:59 PM - U.S. officials have accused Iran of being behind a flurry of threatening but fake emails sent to Democratic voters in Florida and other battleground states in a late-stage effort to sway public opinion and interfere in the presidential election.
Viewers' Guide: After chaotic debate, Trump, Biden try again

By MICHELLE L. PRICE
Oct 22, 2020 9:13 AM - After meeting last month in perhaps the most chaotic debate in modern history, President Donald Trump and his Democratic rival, Joe Biden, will take the stage tonight to give it another go.
Final debate could thrust foreign policy back into campaign

By BILL BARROW
Oct 22, 2020 7:04 AM - Both campaigns believe their competing approaches -- Trump's "America First" doctrine that he says ended an era of other nations taking advantage of the United States; Biden's pledge to reinvigorate a network of Western democracies -- can sway voters.
5 questions as Trump and Biden prepare for final debate

By STEVE PEOPLES
Oct 22, 2020 7:04 AM - President Donald Trump and his Democratic rival, Joe Biden, meet on the debate stage for the second and final time Thursday night in Tennessee. The 90-minute prime-time meeting comes just 12 days before Election Day.
AP-NORC/USAFacts poll: Many in US distrust campaign info

By DAVID KLEPPER
Oct 21, 2020 3:01 PM - In a presidential election year that has thrown the country's divisions into stark relief, Americans can agree on this: Misinformation about government and politics is a major problem.
Trump tends to his electoral map, Biden eyes Obama boost

By ZEKE MILLER, WILL WEISSERT and JONATHAN LEMIRE
Oct 21, 2020 11:20 AM - President Donald Trump is hopping from one must-win stop on the electoral map to the next in the leadup to a final presidential debate that may be his last, best chance to alter the trajectory of the 2020 campaign.

Early Voting Information

U.S. President

What would 4 more years of Trump or a Biden administration mean for policing and criminal justice?

Posted Oct 30, 2020 5:20 AM

How would another four years of a Trump administration shape our criminal justice system? What would a Joe Biden presidency mean for the men and women of law enforcement, and the people they’re sworn to protect? We take a dive into the two presidential candidates’ track records and policy proposals on criminal justice.

View race for U.S. President

U.S. Senate

Senate debate dives into racism, political corruption, lake levels and COVID-19

Updated Oct 25, 2020 7:30 PM

Illinois’ five candidates for senator in the Nov. 3 election laid out their positions on a variety of hot-button issues at a Sunday debate on NBC 5.

View race for U.S. Senate

U.S. Congress

Casten and Underwood dramatically outspent Ives and Oberweis in early October, records show

Updated Oct 26, 2020 4:41 PM

Democrats in two hot suburban congressional races spent vastly more than their Republican opponents in the first half of October, records show.

State Legislature

House 51 candidates Bos, Edly-Allen differ on proposed graduated tax

Updated Oct 29, 2020 9:55 PM

The candidates vying for the 51st House District seat differ on the graduated income tax amendment, although both oppose any tax on retirement benefits.

Cook County

Bar associations make Cook County judicial recommendations

Updated Oct 29, 2020 7:55 PM

Local bar associations offer recommendations on Cook County judicial candidates and for judges running for retention.

DuPage County

Experience an issue in DuPage County auditor race

Posted Oct 30, 2020 5:12 AM

DuPage County voters have the choice to maintain the status quo or to shake things up when it comes to electing an auditor for the next four years.

Kane County

Candidates disagree on how well Kane court clerk’s office does its work

Posted Oct 30, 2020 5:10 AM

How well is the Kane County circuit clerk’s office operating? Candidates for the office’s top job disagree.

Lake County

McHenry County

Paula Yensen: Candidate profile, McHenry County Board District 5

Updated Oct 29, 2020 2:42 PM

Incumbent Democrat Paula Yensen and incumbent Republican Michael Skala face a challenge from Democrat Lynn M. Gray and Republican Damon Hill in the race for McHenry County Board District 5, which includes most of Woodstock.

Will County

Top Jobs

bottom clear