Ives coasts to easy win for chance to face Casten in 6th District

Republican voters chose three-time state Rep. Jeanne Ives as their candidate to square off against Democratic U.S. Rep. Sean Casten and seek to regain the 6th Congressional District seat.

Ives had 26,185 votes for roughly 71% of the total, while Gordon "Jay" Kinzler had 10,784 votes for about 29% of the total, according to unofficial vote totals with 94% of 640 precincts reporting in Cook, DuPage, Kane, Lake and McHenry counties.

Ives, 55, of Wheaton, will become the GOP nominee for Congress in a district that is being represented by a Democrat for the first time since 1972. Her apparent victory over Kinzler comes two years after she came up short in a bid to unseat then-Gov. Bruce Rauner in a Republican primary.

Kinzler, a 61-year-old surgeon of Glen Ellyn, fell short in his third election in a row. He lost a primary bid in the 6th Congressional District in 2016 and a run for state representative in the 46th District in 2018.

Ives, meanwhile, stands to advance to the Nov. 3 general election to face Casten.

Casten's campaign on Tuesday night said he looks forward to his re-election bid in the general election "as an opportunity to continue his fight for climate change, providing affordable health care, and serving his constituents."

Ives, a West Point graduate and Army veteran, framed much of her primary campaign against Casten, whom she said is focused on "things that matter to coastal elites, not to the people of the Illinois 6th District."

The wide-ranging 6th District makes an arc from Hinsdale and Naperville through Elgin to just beyond Long Grove and the Barrington area. It includes parts of Cook, DuPage, Kane, Lake and McHenry counties.