Illinois’ 8th District: Melissa Bean seeks comeback vs. newcomer Republican Jennifer Davis
Former U.S. Rep. Melissa Bean, a centrist Democrat whose 2004 upset helped begin the northwest suburbs’ shift to the left, is seeking a comeback in Illinois’ 8th Congressional District against Republican Jennifer Davis, a tech entrepreneur running for office for the first time.
The two are vying in the Nov. 3 general election to succeed Democratic U.S. Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi, who gave up the seat as part of his unsuccessful bid for the U.S. Senate this year. He has endorsed Bean.
A former three-term congresswoman, Bean said she is returning to politics to restore democracy, healthcare and the economy. Davis said she is running to cut red tape, help small businesses and support families with what she describes as commonsense solutions. Christopher Krumpac, an independent with a background in information technology, is running as a write-in candidate. A self-described moderate progressive, he supports “Medicare for All” and a ban on campaign donations from corporations and political action committees.
The largely middle-class district, drawn by Democrats in the last redistricting, roughly follows the Jane Addams Memorial Tollway from Des Plaines to the farmland beyond Elgin, then runs south along the Fox River to St. Charles and Geneva. The Cook Political Report rates the district solidly Democratic, noting it voted about 5 percentage points more Democratic than the nation as a whole in the last two presidential elections. Krishnamoorthi won reelection in 2024 with 57% of the vote.
It wasn’t always so Democratic, though previous boundaries for the 8th District were more centered around Cook County’s northwest suburbs, as well as parts of Lake and McHenry counties. During that time, Republican Phil Crane held the seat for 35 years until Bean beat him on her second try in 2004, an early sign of the Democratic shift that has since turned much of the suburbs blue.
Since reentering politics, Bean has ramped up her fundraising operation. While she loaned nearly $300,000 to her campaign fund, Bean has raised $1.7 million since July 2025, much of it spent to win the Democratic primary, federal campaign finance records show. Davis has raised $476,000 during the same time frame, though she is trying to remain competitive by loaning $1 million to her campaign, according to the campaign finance records. The campaign’s final-day fundraising won’t be reported until after the election.
Both nominees emerged from crowded March primaries. Bean, attacked from the left in a race she said got personal at times, outspent all but one of her seven opponents and won with about 22,000 votes, or 32%. Davis beat three opponents with 14,600 votes, or 51%.
Bean also got help from a controversial outside source. A super political action committee calling itself Elect Chicago Women spent $4.5 million supporting her primary run. The group was tied to the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, or AIPAC, which works to strengthen U.S.-Israel ties. AIPAC’s spending in several races angered progressive candidates competing in the Democratic primary, an anger amplified because the source of the group’s money to Bean and other congressional candidates wasn’t disclosed until after the primary.
Progressive support has never been central to Bean’s success. The 64-year-old, who still lives in the Palatine-area home where she and her husband raised two daughters, served in Congress from 2005 to 2011 and was a member of the moderate Blue Dog Coalition. She points to her votes to help pass the Affordable Care Act, the Dodd-Frank Act, which restricted banks’ high-risk investments after the housing crisis, and equal pay protection.
After narrowly losing to Republican Joe Walsh in the 2010 Tea Party wave, Bean, formerly a tech consultant, became president of the Executives’ Club of Chicago and later head of Midwest operations for JPMorgan Chase and CEO of Mesirow Wealth Advisors.
But she said she wanted to make a return to politics now because, in large part, she thinks President Donald Trump is trampling rights such as freedom of the press and encroaching on powers the Constitution reserves for Congress, including spending, tariffs and declaring war.
“I’m hearing a lot of … concerns from families,” Bean said, “some about the lack of checks and balances, the lack of Constitutional adherence, but also … how young people are feeling very hopeless, and not feeling like the American dream is as available for them as it has been for previous generations. That’s very sad, but very fixable.”
Her “Young American Empowerment Plan” calls for providing help for housing, healthcare, energy and education costs. It includes restoring funding to the U.S. Department of Education, making higher education more affordable and investing in clean energy.
She also wants to shore up Social Security’s finances, and she opposes the Trump administration’s mass deportations and supports immigration reform that includes a path to citizenship.
Raised in rural Wisconsin and now living in Huntley, Davis was 17 when she and her husband started Davisware software, which helps service companies run their business. The couple sold the venture in 2025. A mother of 10, including three adopted children, Davis, 55, has never held elected office but emphasized her experience helping small businesses.
“We have taken from our parents and stolen from our kids with an insurmountable amount of debt,” she said. “If we want to solve problems, we have to do things differently. So this to me is a bonus lap to … make a difference in our country.”
Though she’s the Republican standard-bearer in the race, Davis described herself as “a political outsider” when asked whether she aligns with Trump, who is deeply unpopular in Illinois.
“I don’t have to be aligned to anyone in the party … I’m certainly not going to agree with the president 100% of the time,” she said.
She has voiced opposition to using the Justice Department to go after political enemies and gerrymandering electoral districts, two stances Trump has embraced. While she said Gov. JB Pritzker and Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson should have accepted federal help last year during the federal immigration raids known as Operation Midway Blitz, Davis said instances of chaotic operations and shootings were “failures.”
“Any use of force should be reviewed and those responsible should be held accountable,” she said.
On immigration, Davis said illegal immigration costs taxpayers billions of dollars, and she supports deporting people who have committed crimes. But she supports a path to citizenship for people brought to the U.S. illegally as children who are working, staying out of trouble and paying taxes.
“I agree with the president on closing the border,” she said. “(But) we have to have a pathway to success (for immigrants).”
On affordability, Davis called for cutting federal spending and lowering taxes. And on Trump’s tariffs, Davis said she supported them against China — and more generally, if used strategically.
“Tariffs should be leverage,” she said, “not a permanent tax on Illinois families.”
Davis said her tech expertise could help oversee artificial intelligence and educate consumers on its benefits. She called data centers an extension of AI and said they have cut their water use through recycling.
“We need data centers,” she said. “There’s so much bad information out there about data centers … they don’t really use water now.”
Data centers could generate thousands of jobs and billions of dollars in new investment and property taxes, according to a new study by labor-affiliated Illinois think tanks. But the centers have been criticized for heavy water usage, with the Alliance for the Great Lakes warning in a report that the recent surge of centers could cause water shortages in the region.
“Government has to provide guardrails to make sure that we are doing things in our country’s best interest, and not stifling free enterprise,” she said. “AI leaders … don’t require government help.”
Bean also emphasized AI’s potential to drive economic growth and called for clear rules to protect rights and safety without hampering innovation.
The two differ sharply on abortion. Davis supports the 2022 Supreme Court ruling that overturned Roe v. Wade and returned abortion regulation to the states. Bean calls reproductive freedom “non-negotiable” and wants to write Roe’s protections into federal law.
rmccoppin@chicagotribune.com