Forums set for Bean, Davis Congressional race and 5 Northwest suburban state districts
The race between Democrat Melissa Bean of Barrington and Republican Jennifer Davis of Huntley in the 8th Congressional District and those for five state legislative seats also serving the Northwest suburbs will be the subject of candidate forums this month.
Organized by the League of Women Voters of the Palatine, Barrington and Schaumburg Areas, the other forums scheduled are for Illinois House districts 44, 51, 52 and 56 as well as Illinois Senate District 26.
The nonpartisan league also is launching its voter preparation tools for the Nov. 3 election at vote411.org to make both the voting process and access to information easier.
The forums for 8th Congressional District and state House districts 44 and 56 will be held on Saturday, Sept. 19 at the Schaumburg Township District Library, 130 S. Roselle Road in Schaumburg.
First up at 10 a.m. will be the 44th District forum between Democrat incumbent Fred Crespo of Hoffman Estates and Republican challenger Ralph Black of Hanover Park.
This will be followed at noon by the 56th District forum between Democrat incumbent Michelle Mussman of Schaumburg and Republican Rhys Read of Des Plaines.
The forum for the Bean-Davis race to succeed the decade-long tenure of Congressman Raja Krishnamoorthi of Schaumburg will be at 2 p.m. that day.
A forum for the 2026 rematch between Republican incumbent Martin McLaughlin of Barrington Hills and Democrat challenger Maria Peterson of North Barrington for the 52nd District state House seat will be held at 7 p.m. Tuesday, Sept. 22 at the Barrington Area Library, 505 N. Northwest Highway in Barrington.
The last two scheduled forums will be on Saturday, Sept. 26 at the Wojcik Conference Center at Harper College, 1200 Algonquin Road in Palatine.
At 10 a.m., a forum will be held for the 51st District state house race in which Democrat Jenny Levin of Palatine and Republican Lori Smith of Long Grove are contending to succeed Democrat Nabeela Syed of Inverness.
Syed’s challenge of Republican incumbent Darby Hills of Barrington Hills for the 26th District Illinois Senate seat will be the subject of a forum at 1 p.m. that day. Hills was appointed last year to fill the vacancy created by the resignation of Dan McConchie of Hawthorn Woods.
The league’s trained, nonpartisan moderators don’t live or vote in the districts whose forums they’re moderating.
epeterson@dailyherald.com