Illinois Democrats picked their nominees for four open House seats on Tuesday, with one former member taking a step toward returning to the chamber and another denied a comeback.
And in an election where the American Israel Public Affairs Committee’s involvement in several races was under scrutiny, the group saw mixed results. Candidates supported by outside groups reportedly tied to AIPAC prevailed in two of the four races. Cryptocurrency-backed groups and a pro-AI group were also among the big spenders heading into Tuesday’s primaries in Illinois.
Illinois’ 8th District
Former Rep. Melissa Bean inched closer toward returning to the House after winning the Democratic nomination for the open 8th District.
Bean was leading the eight-person contest to succeed Senate candidate Raja Krishnamoorthi with 32 percent of the vote when The Associated Press called the race at 10:16 p.m. Eastern. Tech entrepreneur Junaid Ahmed had 26.5 percent. (Krishnamoorthi, meanwhile, lost the Senate primary to Lt. Gov. Juliana Stratton.)
Bean served three terms in the House before losing reelection in the 2010 tea party wave. In a campaign ad, she cited her vote for the Affordable Care Act, saying that it had cost her reelection more than a decade earlier but that she wanted to return to government as Republicans “rip away health care.”
Considered the more moderate candidate in Tuesday’s primary, Bean was endorsed by Illinois Democratic Sen. Tammy Duckworth and Reps. Bill Foster and Brad Schneider. Ahmed was supported by prominent progressives, including Sens. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., and Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass.
Bean also benefited from outside spending by the group Elect Chicago Women, which reportedly has ties to AIPAC and spent $4 million on the race, according to Federal Election Commission filings. Protect Progress, a cryptocurrency-backed super PAC, spent $557,000 supporting Bean, while Think Big, which is affiliated with the pro-AI group Leading the Future, spent $1.1 million on the race. The group New Democrat Majority also spent $935,000 to boost her bid.
Ahmed drew more modest support from progressive groups. The Congressional Progressive Caucus PAC spent $25,000 on the race, while Justice Democrats PAC spent $114,000 and the leadership PAC of Rep. Pramila Jayapal, D-Wash., dropped another $25,000.
9th District
Evanston Mayor Daniel Biss won the Democratic nomination to succeed retiring Democratic Rep. Jan Schakowsky in a race that drew national attention due to spending by pro-Israel groups.
Biss was leading a 15-person field in the 9th District with 30 percent of the vote when The Associated Press called the race at 10:36 p.m. Eastern. Progressive content creator Kat Abughazaleh was in second with 26 percent, and state Sen. Laura Fine trailed with 20 percent.
Biss will be the favorite this fall in the heavily Democratic district covering Chicago’s north side and surrounding suburbs, which Kamala Harris carried by 37 points in 2024.
Biss drew support from the party’s progressive wing, including the Congressional Progressive Caucus and Warren. He was also endorsed by Schakowsky, who has held the seat since 1999.
Outside spending emerged as a focal point of the 9th District race, with the sway of AIPAC among Democratic voters coming under particular scrutiny. The group reportedly was supporting Fine through an outfit called Elect Chicago Women, which spent $5.7 million on the race. Another group, Chicago Progressive Partnership, also reportedly tied to AIPAC, spent $1.3 million in the campaign’s final stretch, to support local school board member Bushra Amiwala and oppose Abughazaleh, who is Palestinian American.
2nd District
Cook County Commissioner Donna Miller beat out nine other candidates, including former Rep. Jesse L. Jackson Jr., to win the Democratic nomination in the open 2nd District.
Miller was leading with about 41 percent of the vote when The Associated Press called the race at 9:17 p.m. Eastern. Jackson, the son of the late Civil Rights leader, was in second place with 29 percent.
The race to succeed Democratic Rep. Robin Kelly, who lost Tuesday’s high-profile Senate primary, drew an influx of outside money to the deep-blue district, which stretches from Chicago’s South Side to more rural areas south of the city. Miller benefited from spending by pro-Israel groups, while Jackson’s campaign was bolstered by super PACs affiliated with artificial intelligence companies.
7th District
Illinois state Rep. La Shawn K. Ford won the packed Democratic primary in the race to succeed retiring Democratic Rep. Danny K. Davis in the 7th District.
Ford, who had Davis’ endorsement, was leading the 13-candidate field with 24 percent of the vote when The Associated Press called the race at 10:44 p.m. Eastern. Chicago City Treasurer Melissa Conyears-Ervin was in second place with 20 percent.
Davis, 84, first elected in 1996, is among the octogenarians in Congress heeding the call for generational change within the Democratic Party.
Just as it has in other Illinois races this year, outside spending emerged as a key issue in the solid-blue 7th District, which reaches from downtown Chicago to the West Side and the suburbs.
Conyears-Ervin’s candidacy was backed by the United Democracy Project, the super PAC aligned with AIPAC. The cryptocurrency-affiliated political group Fairshake also dumped millions into the race and funded an ad attacking Ford, prompting his campaign to issue a cease-and-desist order.
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