Bean, Davis win in 8th Congressional District primaries
Former U.S. Rep. Melissa Bean beat out seven other candidates in Tuesday’s 8th Congressional District Democratic primary while Republican Jennifer Davis vanquished three in her primary for the chance to succeed five-term incumbent Raja Krishnamoorthi.
With an estimated 93% of ballots counted, unofficial results Tuesday night showed Bean leading the eight-candidate Democratic pack with 21,301 votes — or 31.8% of the total. Meanwhile, with the same percentage of ballots counted, Davis led a four-person Republican field with 14,307 votes for 51.5%.
“I was honored to serve as your voice in Congress before, and I’m humbled that you have placed your trust in me again as your nominee for Illinois’ 8th District in the United States Congress,” Bean said in a statement. “The voters have spoken, and tonight, we begin the work necessary to take our democracy back into our own hands.”
Also on the Democratic ballot were Junaid Ahmed of South Barrington with 17,841 votes , Dan Tully of Carol Stream with 8,481, Yasmeen Bankole of Hanover Park with 6,407, Kevin Morrison of Mount Prospect with 5,973, Neil Khot of Hoffman Estates with 4,516, Sanjyot Dunung of Des Plaines with 1,664 and Ryan Vetticad of South Barrington with 750.
The other GOP hopefuls were Mark Rice of Arlington Heights with 11,197 votes, Kevin Ake of Elk Grove Village with 1,239 and Herbert Hebein of Chicago with 1,067.
Bean and Davis announced their candidacies in mid-September, changing the dynamics of races that had seemed to be well in progress during the summer.
Bean previously held the office from her defeat of longtime Republican incumbent Phil Crane in 2004 until her own 2010 loss to Joe Walsh by 291 votes. Davis is the co-founder and former CEO of an international technology software company and author of the book “Living Exponentially.”
Cook County Board District 15 Commissioner Morrison and Hanover Park Village Trustee Bankole were the only two current holders of elected office who ran for the nomination. Both previously worked as staffers for Krishnamoorthi.
Ahmed challenged Krishnamoorthi in the 2022 Democratic primary, while Rice took on the incumbent in the 2024 general election after having been uncontested in the primary.
The 8th District includes portions of Cook, DuPage and Kane counties.