Schakowsky appears headed back to Congress

Editor's note: This story has been updated to correct punctuation errors. The vote totals are updated, too.

Following a campaign that didn't have much in the way of opposition, veteran Democratic U.S. Rep. Jan Schakowsky on Tuesday won another two-year term as the 9th district representative.

The Associated Press called the race for Schakowsky shortly after 10 p.m.

"I'm very gratified to be reelected especially since I have a lot of new constituents in the district," said Schakowsky who will begin her 13th term in January. The new 9th congressional district includes parts of Cook, Lake and McHenry counties.

With 95% of votes counted, Schakowsky, of Evanston, was leading Republican challenger Max Rice of Chicago 162,680 votes to 68,211, unofficial results show, giving Schakowsky about 71% of the vote.

Schakowsky raised and spent more than $1 million on her campaign for the seat she's held since 1999. Rice reported raising less than $10,000.

Rice didn't take the campaign seriously. At one online endorsement interview that was supposed to be between Schakowsky and Rice, Rice instead used a political provocateur in his place, who crudely insulted Schakowsky before being removed from the session. Rice later called the encounter a prank.

Daily Herald staff writer Barbara Vitello contributed to this report.