Seven Democratic candidates for 8th District congressional seat face off at forum

Seven of the eight candidates in the Democratic primary for the 8th Congressional District seat currently held by U.S. Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi debated issues ranging from the economy to foreign policy at National India Hub in Schaumburg Thursday.

About 300 people were on hand to watch the forum featuring Junaid Ahmed of South Barrington, Yasmeen Bankole of Hanover Park, Melissa Bean of Barrington, Sanjyot Dunung of Des Plaines, Kevin Morrison of Mount Prospect, Dan Tully of Carol Stream and Ryan Vetticad of South Barrington.

The debate is online at youtube.com/@TheIshaansshow.

Neil Khot of Hoffman Estates was absent, citing a scheduling conflict.

Moderator Ishaan Srivastava identified the most popular question from the audience as why each candidate believed he or she was the most qualified.

Vetticad, a 24-year-old who resigned from the Department of Justice in protest of its direction under President Donald Trump last year, said he can connect with people of his generation nationwide.

“Something that I’m also focused on — and I think I’m in a unique position to be in as the youngest person in this race, the youngest person running for Congress across the country — is help flip races across this country,” he said. “I would help flip the country blue.”

Morrison, in his second term as a Cook County Board commissioner, drew particular contrast between himself and Bean, a three-term holder of the office they’re vying for.

“I have one question — where has she ‘Bean?’” he joked. “I’ve been active on local and national politics since 2009. I didn’t meet her until just a few months ago after she jumped in this race. The person who beat her in 2010 actually was speaking up more against Donald Trump than she did in the last decade. That was Joe Walsh.”

Bean countered, saying she was a wartime Congresswoman who’d served during the terms of both George W. Bush and Barack Obama, and had stood apart from fellow Democrats in her vote to properly armor the vehicles of U.S. troops in harm’s way in the Middle East.

“That was the right thing to do when I did it,” she said. “You asked why I’m the right person for the job. It’s because I’ve done it and I delivered. And I did keep the promises I made to this district — to always be listening and to always be engaged and to be indefatigable in my championship for the needs of the families of our district and across the nation.”

Bankole, a second-term Hanover Park trustee who works in U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin’s office, sought to distinguish herself from both Bean and Ahmed, who’d described himself as a community organizer.

“Community organizing is so much different than legislating and we need someone that is in Congress who understands the difference between these two things,” she said. “Former Congresswoman Bean said she’s a wartime Congresswoman. Most of her time in Congress was spent during the Obama years. The Obama years seem like the golden years compared to now. We are at real war during this Trump administration and so we need someone who is up for the task.”

Ahmed responded to Bankole’s criticism by mentioning her work for and endorsement from Durbin, who was among the Democrats who flipped on the government shutdown that sought leverage for such demands as the extension of subsidies for the Affordable Care Act. He called them parts of a failed system.

“That same person is talking about my experience,” Ahmed said. “Talking about experience, the people who are taking this fight, keep in mind this fight is not just against the MAGA Republicans. This fight is against an entire system that has failed us.”

Dunung described herself as a more strategic candidate who can help rebuild a Democratic majority in Congress.

“I know how to build bridges with people who think differently,” she said. “I know how to find shared values and find common ground. We can all agree that this administration needs to be checked. At the national level, I’ve already been involved with policy. I serve on the boards of the National Small Business Association — 66,000 members — and Truman Center for National Policy, which is about principled foreign policy.”

Tully said his unique combination of military and legal experience make him the best representative of the 8th District.

“The thread that ties everything together that we’ve discussed — whether that’s health care, the economy, immigration — it’s the law,” he said. “And to be a lawmaker, I think it’s really important to have experience practicing the law, especially when this president is using the law — either weaponizing the law, ignoring the law or acting outside of the law — with impunity.”

The 8th District includes parts of Cook, DuPage and Kane counties. The primary election is Tuesday, March 17.