Illinois Primary Election Day: Here's what you need to know

CHICAGO (CBS)-- It's Primary Election Day and more than 50 polling locations opened at 6 a.m. across Chicago. 

Polling sites close at 7 p.m., and you can vote as long as you are in line by the closing time. As of noon., more than 178,000 ballots have been cast.

Chicagoans ages 65 to 75 are leading the voter count, but overall turnout is quite low -- about 12%.

One of the biggest races to keep an eye on Tuesday is the Republican Primary for Illinois governor. Tuesday's winner will challenge JB Pritzker for his job in the fall.

GOP candidate Richard Irvin spent Monday campaigning in west suburban Cary.

He's backed by billionaire Ken Griffin, who gave  $50 million to Irvin's campaign.

Irvin, Aurora mayor, hopes his experience and willingness to reach across the aisle will also help his chances to win.

One of Irvin's opponents, Darren Bailey was riding high at a campaign stop in Des Plaines Monday after being endorsed by former President Donald Trump.

Political analyst Stephen Maynard Caliendo weighed in on this race with the CBS 2 morning team. 

He told the crowd, Illinois is ready for a conservative back in Springfield.

Republican candidate Jesse Sullivan did some last-minute campaigning in Lombard, Monday night as well. He's planning to greet voters this morning, at the Metra station in Arlington Heights.

Many are closely watching the congressional races here in Illinois.

 CBS 2's Meredith Barack is keeping an eye on some top races, specifically on the 1st and 6th district congressional races.

The 1st Congressional District Primary has a wide-open field. The district stretches along the city's South Side and proceeds southwest through Will County all the way to Braidwood and Bourbonnais.

A total of 17 candidates are vying for the democratic nomination for the 1st District, which has no incumbent for the first time in 30 years with representative Bobby Rush retiring.

Experts say the winner of the Democratic Primary in the 1st District is also virtually sure to win the general election too.

A contentious race is also under way in the 6th Congressional District, most recently redrawn as a west and southwest suburban district stretching from downers grove to Orland Park.

Democratic representative Sean Casten, of Downers Grove, was elected to the seat in 2018, defeating republican incumbent Peter Roskam to become the first democrat to lead the district in nearly half a century.

He is running against another sitting member of Congress, representative Marie Newman, whose 3rd Congressional District was remapped and radically altered during the most recent redistricting.

Newman defeated incumbent representative Dan Lipinski and went on to be elected to congress from the 3rd District in 2020.

Charles Hughes is also competing in the 6th District Democratic Primary. While not as solid a democratic seat as the 1st District, more likely than not democrats will likely keep this seat.

Now that Roe v. Wade has been overturned, it will be up to the states to decide if abortion is legal; and, if it is, under what circumstances. That adds weight to the importance of the abortion issue in Illinois' upcoming primary elections. 

CBS 2 Political Investigator Dana Kozlov showed us exactly where the candidates for governor stand here. 

One voter told CBS 2 "If you don't vote then you don't want to be heard."

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• Elections