We’d love to serve up for you a final list of candidates. But this process is just not that simple. True, there won’t be any new names added here. But there are a couple things to watch for in the coming weeks:

• Petition challenges: Some of these candidates are not going to just take their opponents’ word for it that they collected enough valid signatures. They’ll check them against the voter registration rolls. These challenges are due next Monday, November 9. After an electoral board hears the challenge, and possible legal appeals get filed, it could be a few more weeks before we know the final ballot.

• Candidate withdrawals: But why, oh why, you might ask, would a candidate withdraw from a race after he/she/his or her campaign workers/volunteers spent all that time collecting hundreds – and in some cases, thousands – of signatures? Well, take the case of Congressman Danny Davis. He’s filed to run both for re-election to the 7^th Congressional District seat, and for Cook County Board President. He has until next Monday, November 9^th to make a decision. That’s also the same day state Senator Rickey Hendon has to decide between running for Davis’ congressional seat or lieutenant governor.

So here we go, the almost-but-not-quite final Guide to the 2010 Primary Elections in Illinois. Disclaimer: This is by no means a complete list of all competitive races. But we had to pick a few to focus on for now. This list will likely grow as we get closer to February 2^nd.

U.S. Senate

Candidate	Party	Current Office or Job
John Arrington	R	Businessman, former Harvey alderman
Will Boyd	D	Pastor, college dean
Corey Dabney	D	College CEO, business consultant
Alexi Giannoulias	D	State Treasurer
David Hoffman	D	Former prosecutor, Chicago inspector general
Patrick Hughes	R	Attorney and real estate developer
Cheryle Jackson	D	President of the Chicago Urban League
LeAlan Jones	G	Freelance radio producer
Mark Kirk	R	Congressman
Tom Kuna	R	Small business owner
Don Lowery	R	Retired judge
Robert Marshall	D	Physician
Andy Martin	R	Internet publisher
Jacob Meister	D	Attorney
Kathleen Thomas	R	Historical researcher
Robert Zadek	R	Business owner and real estate broker

7th Congressional District

Candidate	Party	Current Office or Job
Jim Ascot	D	Real Estate
Clarence Desmond Clemons	D	Self-employed in sales
Anazette Collins	D	State Representative
Robert Dallas	D	Political advisor
Danny Davis *	D	Congressman
Sharon Dixon	D	Chicago alderman
Bob Fioretti	D	Chicago Alderman
Marshall Hatch	D	Pastor
Rickey Hendon **	D	State Senator
Kip Robbins	G	Financial analyst
Joyce Washington	D	Healthcare industry
Mark Weiman	R	Dentist
Darlena Williams-Burnett	D	State Committeeman, Deputy Cook County Recorder of Deeds

10th Congressional District

Candidate	Party	Current Office or Job
Patricia Bird	R	Business consultant
Bill Cadigan	R	Attorney, former aide to Congressman John Porter
Beth Coulson	R	State Representative
Robert Dold	R	Business owner
Arie Friedman	R
Dick Green	R	Business owner
Paul Hamann	R	Electrical engineer
Julie Hamos	D	State Representative
Richard Mayers ***	G
Elliot Richardson	D	Attorney
Dan Seals	D	Business consultant
Milton Sumption	D

Governor

Candidate	Party	Current Office or Job
Adam Andrzejewski	R	Former non-profit director
Bill Brady	R	State Senator
Kirk Dillard	R	State Senator
Dan Hynes	D	Comptroller
Richard Mayers ***	G
Andy McKenna	R	Former State GOP Chairman
Dan Proft	R	Publicist, commentator
Pat Quinn	D	Governor
Jim Ryan	R	Former Illinois Attorney General
Ed Scanlan	D	Lawyer
Bob Schillerstrom	R	DuPage County Board Chairman
Bill “Dock” Walls	D	Political activist
Rich Whitney	G	Attorney

Lieutenant Governor

Candidate	Party	Current Office or Job
Mike Boland	D	State Representative
Thomas Castillo	D	Union electrician
Scott Lee Cohen	D	Businessmen
Brad Cole	R	Mayor of Carbondale
Dennis Cook	R	School District 230 Board President
Don Crawford	G	High school guidance counselor
Rickey Hendon **	D	State Senator
Terry Link	D	State Senator
Matt Murphy	R	State Senator
Jason Plummer	R	Small business owner
Don Tracy	R	Lawyer
Art Turner	D	State Representative
Randy White	R	Hancock County Board Member

Comptroller

Candidate	Party	Current Office or Job
Jim Dodge	R	Business executive, Orland Park trustee, Metra board member
William J. Kelly	R	TV producer / personality
Raja Krishnamoorthi	D	Lawyer, former Deputy State Treasurer
Clinton Krislov	D	Attorney
David Miller	D	State Representative
Erika Schafer	G	Financial services director at non-profit
Judy Baar Topinka	R	Radio host, former state treasurer

Treasurer

Candidate	Party	Current Office or Job
Mark Doyle	D	Former Bill Clinton aide
Robin Kelly	D	Treasurer’s chief of staff
Justin Oberman	D	Former homeland security official
Dan Rutherford	R	State Senator
Scott Summers	G	Attorney

Cook County Board President

Candidate	Party	Current Office or Job
Dorothy Brown	D	Clerk of Circuit Court of Cook County
Sean Burke	G	Research and development
Danny Davis *	D	Congressman
John Garrido	R	Policeman and lawyer
Roger Keats	R	Securities Industry
Terrence O’Brien	D	President of Metropolitan Water Reclamation District
Toni Preckwinkle	D	Chicago Alderman
Todd Stroger	D	Cook County Board President
Tom Tresser	G	Community organizer, arts activist

DuPage County Board Chair

Candidate	Party	Current Office or Job
Carole Cheney	D	Attorney
Dan Cronin	R	State Senator
Gary Grasso	R	Burr Ridge Mayor and attorney, member of DuPage County Board of Health
Debra Olson	R	DuPage County Board Member
Carole Pankau	R	State Senator

* Congressman Davis has until November 9th to decide between a campaign for the 7th Congressional and Cook County Board President

** State Senator Rickey Hendon has until November 9th to decide between a campaign for the 7th Congressional and Lieutenant Governor.

*** Richard Mayers has until November 9th to decide between a campaign for the 10th Congressional District and Governor.