Field of 21 Democrats and Republicans running to succeed Bobby Rush in First Congressional District

Then U.S. Rep. Harold Washington, left, after winning the 1983 mayoral election; U.S. Rep. Bobby Rush, center, after announcing in January that he will not be seeking a 16th term in the U.S. House; U.S. Rep. Oscar De Priest, right, in an undated photo. (Al Seib/Sun-Times file; Ashlee Rezin/Sun-Times-file; Library of Congress)

For a generation, Democrat Bobby Rush has represented Illinois’ First Congressional District, the latest and longest-serving holder of a House seat centered in the heart of Chicago’s historic South Side African-American community.

After nearly 30 years in Congress, Rush opted not seek a 16th term, and a field of nearly two dozen candidates quickly assembled, each hoping to join the roll call of political luminaries who’ve represented the district, a list that includes Oscar De Priest, the first African American elected to Congress from a northern state, and Harold Washington, who went on to be elected Chicago’s first Black mayor.