Foster defeats Evans, wins reelection to Congress

Democratic U.S. Rep. Bill Foster of Naperville has defeated Republican Jerry Evans of Warrenville to retain Illinois’ 11th Congressional District seat, The Associated Press declared.

With an estimated 84% of ballots counted, Foster was ahead 172,802 votes to 131,817 votes late Tuesday, unofficial results showed. That gave Foster about 57% of the total, and in a statement to the media he said Evans had called him to graciously concede.

But in remarks to supporters at an election night party in St. Charles, Foster said he’d happily trade his win for a guarantee of Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris winning the White House.

“I sort of feel like there's going to be a near miss from an asteroid,” he said, sounding like the scientist he was before joining Congress. “It's passing right by the Earth, and either it's going to strike the Earth and history will change, or it'll miss the earth and we'll go on in a healthy trajectory.”

Foster has served the 11th District since 2013 and previously represented the 14th District. Evans, who operates a Wheaton music school that bears his name, also ran for Congress in 2020 and 2022.

Foster said the most important issue of the election is the threat to democracy posed by politicians who say things they know aren’t true. Evans cited immigration as the top issue, but he broke from his party’s stance on the issue by saying Congress must help migrants who were brought to the U.S. illegally as children.

The 11th District encompasses portions of Cook, DuPage, Kane, Lake, McHenry, Will, DeKalb and Boone counties.

· Daily Herald staff writer Brian Hill contributed to this report.