On March 29, the Illinois House had passed HB 2009 by a vote of 75-38. It restricts who can be an independent candidate. Specifically, anyone who either lost a primary, or who won a primary but then withdrew from that primary nomination, would be barred from running as an independent candidate in November.

On April 27 the bill was sent to the Senate Executive Committee, and it is still there. Often, bills not supported by the legislative leadership are sent to this commitee, which has a tradition of killing bills.