Why do so many Democratic U.S. House members in the suburbs have primary challengers?

Reflecting what some experts see as a national trend, four of the six congressional representatives running for reelection in the North, West or Northwest suburbs next year are facing primary challenges.

U.S. Reps. Delia Ramirez in Illinois’ 3rd District, Mike Quigley in the 5th, Sean Casten in the 6th and Brad Schneider in the 10th all have been targeted by fellow Democrats ahead of the March 2026 primaries — most by multiple candidates.

The challenges embody the fight within the Democratic Party between centrists and progressives, said Melissa Mouritsen, a political science professor at the College of DuPage.

“Until one side wins, multitudes of candidates are likely to seek office,” Mouritsen said.

The recent Democratic gubernatorial victories in New Jersey and Virginia and Democratic Socialist Zohran Mamdani’s win in New York City could inspire more challenges elsewhere in the country, Mouritsen said.

“The same forces … are working in all of the states,” she said.

Who’s running

All 435 members of the U.S. House of Representatives are up for election in 2026, including the 17 from Illinois. Of those 17, eight — all Democrats — serve significant portions of the North, West or Northwest suburbs.

Two suburban incumbents aren’t seeking reelection in 2026. The 8th District’s Raja Krishnamoorthi of Schaumburg is running for U.S. Senate; the 9th District’s Jan Schakowsky of Evanston is retiring.

As for the other incumbents:

· Ramirez, a Chicagoan whose district includes parts of suburban Cook and DuPage counties, is facing a primary challenge from Chicagoan Mark J. Pasieka Sr.

· Quigley, a Chicagoan whose district includes much of suburban Cook and Lake counties, is being challenged in the primary by Matthew Conroy, Anthony M. Tamez, Jonny A. Bishop and Ellen A. Corley, all of Chicago.

· Casten, of Downers Grove, is being challenged by Joseph “Joey” Ruzevich of Chicago.

· Schneider, of Highland Park, is facing primary challenges from Morgan Coghill of Mundelein and John Minarcik of Zion. A third would-be challenger, Lake Forest’s Thomas Rudd, withdrew from the race last week.

· U.S. Reps. Bill Foster in the 11th District and Lauren Underwood in the 14th, Democrats from different parts of Naperville, don’t have primary opponents.

Not all of the challengers may make it to the primary. Formal objections were filed against Pasieka’s and Minarcik’s candidate petitions, so the Illinois State Board of Elections will decide if they’ll appear on ballots.

Just two incumbent representatives faced primary challenges in 2024 and in 2022. Mouritsen believes philosophical differences within the Democratic Party are contributing to the increase.

“There is still a lot of discontent over Palestine, and lots of disagreement about how best to fight (President Donald) Trump,” she said.

DuPage County Republican Party Chair Kevin Coyne believes the Democratic Party’s losses across the nation in 2024 factor in as well.

“2024 was a disastrous year for Democrats nationally,” Coyne said. “Not only did Trump win, the House and Senate went to the GOP, too. It’s clear many Democratic activists believe going further left is the answer.”

Reid McCollum, chair of the DuPage County Democratic organization, sees diverse viewpoints within his party as a strength. The Democratic Party is “a big tent” with room for a spectrum of beliefs, he said.

“Primaries are healthy for democracy and help give voice to groups within our coalition,” McCollum said.

Money matters

Primary congressional contests can be expensive, with competitive campaigns spending hundreds of thousands of dollars on TV ads, staff salaries, polling, flyers and more. So far, none of the challengers in the 3rd, 5th, 6th or 10th districts has exhibited that kind of fundraising.

Coghill’s campaign reported having more debts to the candidate than cash on hand as of Sept. 30, the end of the year’s third quarter, records show. Similarly, Ruzevich’s campaign reported having a $674 shortfall at the quarter’s end, while Tamez had less than $2,300 banked. The other challengers haven’t filed financial reports.

Each of the incumbent candidates reported having at least $1 million in campaign cash at the end of the period.

Kent Redfield, professor emeritus of political science at the University of Illinois Springfield, doubts any of the Democratic challengers will win next March. But for most of them, he said, winning probably isn’t the goal.

“The hope is for some level of visibility that will advance the point they hope to make,” Redfield explained.

Without money or organizational support, however, challengers won’t be able to get their messages to voters, Redfield said.

“These candidates do not have the resources … to take advantage of any visibility they may gain from being on the ballot and subject to public scrutiny,” he said.

Ruzevich called that “establishment thinking.” While acknowledging his nascent campaign isn’t nearly as well-funded as Casten’s, he said billionaire-backed former Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s loss to Mamdani in the New York City mayoral race is proof that fundraising prowess doesn’t always lead to victory.

“Foot power and word-of-mouth are much more effective in this day and age,” he said.

The lawmaker Ruzevich is vying to unseat, Casten, was a political neophyte when he first ran for Congress in 2018. Despite lacking campaign experience, Casten won a seven-way Democratic primary and then defeated six-term GOP incumbent Peter Roskam to take the seat. When asked what he thinks the challenges from Ruzevich and other newcomers say about the Democratic Party and the nation, Casten said he’s hoping for a big voter turnout in 2026 and a symbolic rebuke of what he called “the Trump administration's assaults on our democracy.”

“I look forward to continuing to earn the support of the people of the 6th District,” Casten said.

What the GOP is doing

Republican candidates filed for all eight of the seats serving the North, West and Northwest suburbs. Primary showdowns are set in all but the 10th District.

“Passions are running high in both parties,” Coyne said.

It’s been nearly a decade since Republicans last won a congressional seat in the suburbs. Lake County GOP Chair Keith Brin believes public dissatisfaction with Democratic incumbents creates opportunities for his party here.

“If we can show that we are the party that cares about working families and will focus on their needs instead of extreme political agendas, we will finally be able to start winning again in the suburbs,” he said.