Aurora Mayor Richard Irvin, top left, Sen. Darren Bailey (R-Xenia), top right, Jesse Sullivan of Petersburg, bottom left, and former Sen. Paul Schimpf (R-Waterloo), bottom right during Tuesday’s debates on NBC Chicago and WGN. [NBC-5 & WGN-TV]

The six Republican candidates for governor took questions on live TV Tuesday night for the first time this year to share their vision for Illinois. As the candidates pushed policy positions or defended their records, some statements require a deeper explanation of the issue and what candidates are pledging to address.

From left to right, Jesse Sullivan (R-Petersburg), Sen. Darren Bailey (R-Xenia) and Gary Rabine (R-Bull Valley) appear at a forum on WGN Tuesday. [WGN-TV] 

Illinois’ Republican candidates for governor covered a wide range of issues in a pair of fast-paced forums Tuesdays night as issues of gun violence, inflation and taxes hang over the state.

Gov. JB Pritzker sent a letter to President Joe Biden urging the federal government to consider Illinois’ population undercount in the 2020 Census when aid is distributed to states. And House Speaker Chris Welch (D-Hillside) visited the New York State Assembly in Albany Tuesday.

The Illinois Supreme Court in Springfield.

Legal contribution limits have been busted in the primary races for the 2nd Supreme Court District, setting up another expensive election cycle for a Supreme Court seat two years after voters removed a justice from the state Supreme Court following an expensive advertising campaign.

Rep. Lindsey LaPointe (D-Chicago), left, and Tina Wallace of Chicago, right. [Blue Room Stream & Tina Wallace Facebook]

Rep. Lindsey LaPointe (D-Chicago) is trying to fend off primary challenger Tina Wallace in her newly drawn 19th House District on Chicago’s Northwest Side. It’s the second consecutive election LaPointe has faced an opponent within her own party after being appointed to the seat in 2019.

Rep. Mike Zalewski (R-Riverside), bottom left, and Abdelnasser Rashid, bottom left, speak during a League of Women Voters debate Wednesday. [League of Women Voters of the La Grange Area/Facebook]

Rep. Mike Zalewski (D-Riverside), a 13-year veteran of the Illinois House and chair of the House Revenue and Finance Committee, is trying to fend off a challenge from Abdelnasser Rashid, a former aide to Chuy Garcia’s 2015 campaign for mayor of Chicago and to former Cook County Clerk David Orr.

A man pumps gas during a gas giveaway by Chicago mayoral candidate Willie Wilson. [Colin Boyle/Block Club Chicago]

The Illinois Fuel and Retail Association filed a lawsuit against the Department of Revenue Thursday over a requirement lawmakers included in this spring’s tax relief bill that gas stations must post a sign on gas pumps informing customers the gas tax is frozen.

Rep. Kam Buckner (D-Chicago) speaks at a news conference at St. Sabina Catholic Church in Chicago’s Auburn Gresham neighborhood Wednesday with Gov. JB Pritzker, Mayor Lori Lightfoot and Chicago Police Supt. David Brown. [Ben Szalinski/The Daily Line] 

Days after a teenager was detained by police while in possession of a so-called ‘ghost gun' following the murder of a 16-year-old boy at Millennium Park in Chicago, Gov. JB Pritzker signed a bill to make Illinois the first state in the Midwest to ban the sale and possession of guns that lack serial numbers.

Rep. Marty Moylan (D-Des Plaines), left, and Deputy Secretary of Transportation Becky Locker, right, speak during a House Transportation Committee meeting Wednesday. [Blue Room Stream]

Three years into the state’s 2019 Rebuild Illinois capital plan, lawmakers are expressing concerns about how fast the Illinois Department of Transportation (IDOT) is allocating money to complete projects.

Sen. Darren Bailey (R-Xenia), left, and Aurora Mayor Richard Irvin, right, appear to be the front runners in the Republican primary. [Blue Room Stream & Ben Szalinski/The Daily Line]

Most Illinois voters will become eligible on Thursday to vote early in the June 28 primary. Some races remain without a clear frontrunner six weeks before the votes will be counted as candidates ramp up spending on advertisements and continue searching for cash.