Skokie Republican to challenge Schakowsky for U.S. House seat
A Skokie Republican will challenge longtime U.S. Rep. Jan Schakowsky for her 9th District seat.
Seth Cohen has been selected by suburban GOP leaders to oppose Schakowsky, of Evanston, in the Nov. 5 general election. No Republicans were on the ballot for the seat in the March primary and write-in candidate Michael Walters didn’t get enough votes to qualify for the general election, making Cohen’s nomination possible.
Schakowsky ran unopposed for the Democratic nomination.
A U.S. Marine veteran now serving in the Marine Corps Reserve, Cohen never before has run for public office. He is the co-founder and chief operating officer of Chicago Brigade, a nonprofit group that provides networking and employment opportunities to Chicago-area military veterans who are students.
Previously a member of the state House, Schakowsky has served the 9th District in Congress since 1999. The district includes parts of Cook, Lake and McHenry counties, and it’s been solidly blue for decades.
Schakowsky soundly defeated Republican Max Rice to win reelection in 2022. She hasn’t faced serious opposition at the ballot box since first being elected to Congress; the last time a Republican challenger had as much as 30% of the vote in a showdown with Schakowsky was 2016.
Cohen hasn’t yet filed a statement of candidacy with the Federal Election Commission or begun fundraising for the campaign, records indicate.
“My filing will be completed by the end of next week and fundraising will begin shortly,” he said in an email Friday, the same day he launched a campaign Facebook page.
As of March 31, Schakowsky had more than $800,000 in her campaign coffers, according to fec.gov.