With next year’s midterm elections setting up a possible generational shift for Illinois’ representation in Washington, candidates and their supporters are on the streets collecting the petition signatures needed to secure a place on the March primary ballots. A slew of candidates are vying for four U.S. House seats being vacated by veteran members of Congress — two of whom are retiring, while the other two are seeking to become Illinois’ next U.S. senator.
The fourth House seat officially opened up when 83-year-old U.S. Rep. Danny Davis announced in late July that he would not seek a 16th term representing a district that stretches from downtown Chicago through the West Side and into the near-west suburbs. Davis’ long-anticipated decision came after 81-year-old U.S. Rep. Jan Schakowsky’s May announcement that she wouldn’t run for another term in the seat she’s held since 1999, representing much of the north and northwest suburbs.
The wave of retirements began in late April, with 80-year-old U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin’s announcement that he wasn’t seeking a sixth term. That created a domino effect for the congressional delegation when two incumbents — U.S. Rep. Robin Kelly of Matteson and U.S. Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi of Schaumburg — declared their interest in Durbin’s seat.
All four districts are held by Democrats, meaning the Democratic primary races will be the key ones to watch. But Republicans will also be making runs for the seats, hoping to flip at least one and help the GOP hold onto its razor-thin majority in the House. The primary for both parties will be held on March 17.
Politicians still have time to throw their hats into the ring as petition signatures don’t have to be turned in until early November. But here are the top candidates — those who already hold elected office or are among the top fundraisers so far — for the House next year in Illinois.
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2nd Congressional District
Stretching from 43rd Street on Chicago’s South Side along the Indiana border south to downstate Danville, Illinois’ 2nd Congressional District has been represented by U.S. Rep. Robin Kelly since 2013. Next year, voters will decide whether to elevate a new leader or help a familiar face stage a political comeback. Here are those so far vying to replace Kelly, who told the Tribune in May that she did not plan to endorse her successor.
Cook County Commissioner Donna Miller entered the Democratic primary race for 2nd Congressional District on July 9 after earlier announcing an exploratory committee made up of south suburban mayors.
A Lynwood resident and Chicago native, Miller is in her second term as 6th District commissioner on the Cook County Board. Miller is also vice president of the Illinois Democratic Women organization, former president of the Democratic Women of the South Suburbs, and past board chair of Planned Parenthood of Illinois and its political action committee.
“My great-grandfather was a Pullman Porter; he helped build the Black middle class,” Miller said in a video announcing her candidacy. “My grandmother, mother and sister were all teachers, and my dad wore this country’s uniform his entire career. I’ve carried that legacy forward. On the Cook County Board, I’ve worked to expand health care access, lower costs and deliver better care — especially for women and communities of color.”
Miller said she’s running for Congress because “Washington is tearing up so much of our progress for working families and giving tax breaks to billionaires.”
Robert Peters, Democrat
A South Side native and community organizer, state Sen. Robert Peters of Chicago received an early endorsement from U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont after Peters announced his intent to run for the 2nd Congressional District seat. That gave him an early leg up with progressives in the district.
“I have a record and I have a personal narrative that I think really touches on where we’re at right now,” Peters recently told the Tribune. The 40-year-old was born deaf and with a speech impediment, and he was influenced by his adoptive father’s work as a civil rights lawyer.
More recently, Peters led efforts to pass the law ending bail for nonviolent crimes and measures to ensure protections for abortion rights in Illinois after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade.
A member of the legislature since 2019, Peters is a part of the Senate Democrats’ leadership team and the Legislative Black Caucus.
Jesse Jackson Jr., Democrat
Former Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr. in July created an exploratory committee on running in the 2nd Congressional District, the seat he held for almost 17 years before resigning amid a corruption probe.
Jackson has formed an exploratory committee and said in a statement that it was his “intention to secure a place on the ballot.”
The son of civil rights icon the Rev. Jesse Jackson and brother of U.S. Rep. Jonathan Jackson, Jesse Jackson Jr. resigned the 2nd District seat in 2012. He had been reelected just weeks earlier despite the revelation a month before the vote that he was under investigation by federal prosecutors and the FBI for possible misuse of campaign funds.
The following year, he pleaded guilty to one count of wire and mail fraud and was later sentenced to 30 months in prison.
He now hosts a talk show on WVON-AM.
Willie Preston, Democrat
State Sen. Willie Preston of Chicago filed paperwork in July to run for 2nd Congressional District seat.
In a statement, Preston said Washington needs “a new breed of leadership, not Twitter champions or the politics of the past dressed up in redemption.”
Preston serves as the state Senate chair of the Legislative Black Caucus.
Yumeka Brown, Democrat
A three-term village clerk of Matteson and a commissioner on the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District Board, Yumeka Brown told the Southtown she is seeking to replace Kelly because she wants to “elevate the mission in Congress to protect Medicaid, Social Security, the rights of women, and to guard against (President) Donald Trump’s planned destruction of the Affordable (Care) Act.”
Brown has been village clerk in south suburban Matteson, Kelly’s hometown, since 2017 and was elected to the MWRD post in 2022. Last year, she unsuccessfully sought an appointment from fellow Democrats to replace Cook County Clerk Karen Yarbrough on the November ballot after the longtime party stalwart died while in office.
