2026 race

IL-16 — U.S. House

2 candidates on the November ballot. Incumbent: Darin LaHood.

Read the record. Not the rhetoric.

See where these candidates stand — and who's funding them.

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How we got here · 2 earlier contests
Democratic primary · Tuesday, March 17, 2026
Called by audit: web-verified
Paul NolleyWon
Republican primary · Tuesday, March 17, 2026
Called by audit: web-verified
Darin LaHoodWon100.0%
Election held
Counting
Tuesday, November 3, 2026

Results appear here once a race is called and verified. Official returns from the Illinois State Board of Elections.

Disclosed money in race
$4.9M
Candidate + outside spending. See finance breakdown below.
Incumbent

Currently in office

Challengers

Sorted by fundraising

Paul Nolley

D
ChallengerFEC H6IL16108

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Raised this cycle$639K
Cash on hand: $59K
1 defeated candidate — show

Joe Albright

DDefeated
ChallengerFEC H6IL16090

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Raised this cycle$19K
Cash on hand: $0
Local signal

Early read on IL-16 — U.S. House

A directional read on where this seat is trending, from the signals we have so far. This is an early scaffold — more inputs light up as coverage and constituent activity accrue.

Coverage tone · the matchup
Recent news coverage of the nominees heading to the general election.
Darin LaHoodleans negative
0 pos1 neutral1 neg2 articles
Paul Nolleylimited coverage
No coverage in our tracked outlets in the last 90 days.
A media signal, not a poll of the district.
Constituent stakes
No one here has staked a position on a tracked vote yet. As neighbors weigh in on /pressure campaigns, the district's lean will show up here.
Money in the race

Finance breakdown

Disclosed funding shaping this race — both the money candidates raise themselves and the outside spending dropped by independent groups. Issue-ad spending by 501(c)(4) groups is excluded; the FEC doesn't require disclosure of it. See the note below for details.

Candidate fundraising: FEC reports through October 14, 2026 · 2025–26 cycle

Total disclosed
$4.9M
Candidate fundraising + independent expenditures (FEC).
Candidate-direct (Schedule A)
$4.9M
Raised by candidate committees themselves.
Outside spending (Schedule E)
$1K
$10 for · $1K against
CandidateRaised directlyOutside forOutside againstNet in corner
Darin LaHood(R)incumbent
− CITIZENS FOR THE 16TH $1K
$4.2M—$1K$4.2M
Paul Nolley(D)
+ SIERRA CLUB INDEPENDENT ACTION $10
$639K$10—$639K
1 defeated candidate — show finances
CandidateRaised directlyOutside forOutside againstNet in corner
Joe Albright(D)defeated
$19K——$19K
Where the money comes from

In-state vs out-of-state

Share of each candidate's itemized individual contributions from donors inside IL versus the rest of the country. Excludes sub-$200 unitemized donations (no geography on file) and PAC money — see note below.

Darin LaHood(R)45% in-state · $1.7M itemized
$771K in-state$947K out-of-state
Paul Nolley(D)96% in-state · $241K itemized
$232K in-state$9K out-of-state
1 defeated candidate — show
Joe Albright(D)defeated100% in-state · $5K itemized
$5K in-state$0 out-of-state
What's counted, what isn't

Candidate-direct is each campaign's reported receipts on FEC Schedule A — individual contributions plus PAC contributions to the candidate's own committee — through the most recent filing.

Outside spending is independent expenditures on FEC Schedule E: money spent by PACs, super PACs, and party committees for or against a candidate, without legal coordination with the campaign. The committees listed under each candidate are the largest disclosed spenders on either side.

In-state vs out-of-state covers only itemized individual contributions — donations over $200, which are the only ones that carry a contributor address at the FEC. Sub-$200 unitemized donations (often a large share for grassroots campaigns) have no geography on file and are excluded, as is PAC money. So the percentages describe where a candidate's itemized individual money comes from, not where every dollar raised comes from.

Not counted: 501(c)(4) "social welfare" organizations run issue ads that frequently mention candidates by name but aren't classified as express advocacy under FEC rules — they file no Schedule E and don't appear in this breakdown. Press reporting on a race may cite figures that include this dark-money spending; ours doesn't.

Where they stand

Issue-by-issue comparison

Positions extracted from each candidate's campaign issues page by AI. Contested rows — where candidates disagree with each other — appear first.

StatementLahoodNolleyYou
Abortion
A national law should protect access to abortion in every state.
—
Agriculture
Federal farm subsidies should be reduced and redirected toward smaller producers.
—
Agriculture
Federal antitrust enforcement against meatpacking consolidation should be increased.
—
Economy
Tariffs on foreign goods should be used to protect American jobs.
—
Economy
The expanded child tax credit (refundable, paid monthly) should be made permanent.
—
Economy
The federal government should require employers to provide paid family and medical leave.
—
Education
Federal Title IX protections should explicitly include sexual orientation and gender identity.
—
Guns
Civilian ownership of AR-15-style rifles should be restricted.
—
Healthcare
The government should provide healthcare for everyone.
—
Healthcare
Medicare should be allowed to negotiate lower prescription drug prices.
—
Housing
The government should spend more building affordable housing.
—
Immigration
The U.S. should do more to enforce immigration laws and secure the border.
—
Immigration
The U.S. should allow more legal immigration each year.
—
Labor
Federal labor law should make it easier for workers to form unions (PRO Act-style reforms).
—
Labor
Federal law should preserve state right-to-work laws against union security clauses.
—
Governance & Other
Outside political spending — from PACs and super PACs — should be limited more strictly.
—
Social Security
Future workers should have to wait longer to collect full Social Security.
—
Social Security
Workers should be able to invest part of their Social Security in the stock market.
—
Social Security
Social Security benefits should be means-tested for high-income retirees.
—
Taxes
People making over $400,000 a year should pay higher taxes.
—
Trade
U.S. trade policy should reduce economic interdependence with China, especially on technology and critical minerals.
—
Trade
Congress should pursue new bilateral free-trade agreements with U.S. allies.
—
Veterans
The VA should cover more veterans and more health conditions.
—

SupportsOpposesNo public positionRinged = confirmed by the campaign

About this race page

Candidate roster is sourced from the FEC's active-candidate list for the 2026 cycle. Fundraising totals reflect committee filings through the last reporting period.

Alignment % compares the candidate's extracted policy positions against your quiz answers. Positions are pulled from the candidate's campaign issues page by AI; we save the source quote for each position so you can verify the extraction. Candidates without a campaign issues page show position data pending — we're working through the roster and re-checking stale extractions every 90 days.

News coverage is from the GDELT 2.0 global news feed, filtered to a curated list of national, political, and regional outlets.