WCPT's Primary Election Night Special Coverage | March 17, 2026

On Primary Election Night in Illinois, WCPT hosts Joan Esposito, Patti Vasquez, and Richard Chew were on the air between 7:00 and 10:30 p.m. Central Tuesday with special guests, live updates from our reporters, candidate call-ins, and the important speeches as they happened. Guests included: - U.S. Rep. Mike Quigley (D-IL)- Jacob Kaplan, executive director of the Cook County Democratic Party - Max Bever, director of Public Information for the Chicago Board of Election- Lisa Hernandez, chair of the Democratic Party of Illinois and member of the Illinois House of Representatives- Jill Wine-Banks, legal analyst and pundit - Peter Giangreco, Democratic strategist, partner at The Strategy Group - Aaron Kleinman, head of research at Heartland Signal- U.S. Rep. Robin Kelly, candidate for U.S. Senate in Illinois- Chicago Alders Matt Martin and Timmy Knudsen - Illinois State Reps Kam Buckner and Rick Ryan - Precious Brady Davis, commissioner of the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Greater Chicago- Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul- Dovile Cather, Juliana Stratton campaign manager Our on-location reporters were:- Ken Mejia-Beal (frequent fill-in host and guest co-host on “Driving It Home” and “Out Chicago”) from Daniel Biss HQ- Matt Byrne (WCPT producer) from Melissa Bean HQ - Paul Chivari (WCPT producer) from Raja Krishnamoorthi HQ - Steve Lessman (WCPT sales manager) from Margaret Croke HQ- Ellen Miller (co-host of “Out Chicago,” Sundays from 11:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. on WCPT) from Juliana Stratton HQ - Dylan Olthoff (WCPT producer) from Sen. Robert Peters HQ - Whitney Randall (WCPT intern) from Robin Kelly HQSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.