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Presidential
Candidates in the running to win Illinois' presidential primaries:
U.S. Sen. Hillary Clinton of New York
U.S. Sen. Barack Obama of Illinois
U.S. Sen. John McCain of Arizona
Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney
 The presidential election in 2008 will be the first since 1928 with no incumbent president or vice president running. On top of that, dozens of states, including Illinois, have pushed their primaries earlier, in an attempt to become more relevant in the race. They want their elections held before all the major players drop out.
The result is that 22 states will hold nominating contests on February 5, earning that date the nickname "Tsunami Tuesday." Among the potential prizes that day are some of the most populous states, which are rich in nomination votes but expensive to advertise in, including California, New Jersey, New York, Tennessee and, of course, Illinois.
The idea to move up Illinois' primary date came from House Speaker Michael Madigan of Chicago, chairman of the state Democratic Party, before U.S. Sen. Barack Obama announced his candidacy. Gov. Rod Blagojevich soon jumped on board, saying the move would "give Illinois voters an opportunity to send an early message in support of Obama and send him to victory."
Reported by Daniel C. Vock
For complete analysis, see Illinois Issues, January 2008. 
DEMOCRATS
Illinois delegates elected by district: 100
Other Illinois pledged delegates: 53
Unpledged Illinois delegates: 32
Total Illinois voting delegates: 185
Illinois alternates: 26
U.S. total voting delegates: 4,206
REPUBLICANS
Delegates elected by district: 57
Illinois at large delegates chosen by convention: 10
Illinois "super delegates": 3
Illinois total delegates: 70
Illinois alternates: 67
U.S. total delegates: 2,380
States holding primary elections on February 5: Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Georgia, Idaho, Illinois, Kansas (Republican only), Minnesota, Missouri, Montana (Republican only), New Jersey, New Mexico (Democrat only), New York, North Dakota,Oklahoma, Tennessee and Utah
States with primaries or caucuses before February 5:
Florida, Iowa, Michigan, Nevada, New Hampshire, South Carolina
For more information on other candidates see:
http://www.vote-smart.org/election_president.php
Illinois
Issues, December 2007
For information about how to subcribe to Illinois Issues go to:
http://illinoisissues.uis.edu/subscribe/subscribe.html
Go to Illinois Issues blog at http://illinoisissuesblog.blogspot.com/
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