Casten, Conforti win big in 6th Congressional races

U.S. Rep. Sean Casten of Downers Grove was among the members of the Chicago-area congressional delegation who scored primary victories Tuesday.

Casten defeated challenger Joey Ruzevich of Chicago the 6th District’s Democratic Party primary, The Associated Press declared. With an estimated 95% of Democratic ballots counted, Casten was ahead 66,369 votes to 20,984, unofficial results showed.

Casten thanked voters, volunteers and his family in a statement to the media after his victory was secure. He also spoke of his vision of American values.

“We want access to affordable, high-quality health care,” he said. “We believe women should have control over their bodies. We don’t want ICE bringing chaos and violence to our community. We want to pass a livable planet on to our children and grandchildren. We believe democracy is worth protecting.”

Ruzevich came at Casten from the left, primarily attacking the lawmaker’s stance on the war in Gaza and his support from pro-Israel groups.

Ruzevich garnered attention about a week ago after he tried to spotlight a deadly missile attack on an Iranian school by releasing a video in which he satirically proposed killing the students at an all-girls high school in his Chicago neighborhood.

Casten next will face Republican Niki Conforti of Glen Ellyn, who was thrashing rival Skylar Duensing of Shorewood 26,202 votes to 5,611 late Tuesday, unofficial results showed. That gave her about 82% of the total.

This past weekend, Duensing shared an uncredited video on social media that disparaged Conforti for being interviewed by the Qatari-owned Al Jazeera news network. The 6th District, which includes parts of Cook and DuPage counties, has one of the largest Arab American populations in the U.S.

Conforti said the video is proof Duensing “is not fit to serve the community in a leadership role.”

Casten defeated Conforti in 2024 by about 8 percentage points.