Roskam victorious in 6th Congressional primary; Howland captures Democratic nod

Incumbent U.S. Rep. Peter Roskam of Wheaton has won the Republican nomination in the 6th Congressional District.

Roskam, who has represented the district since 2007, doubled the vote total of Gordon "Jay" Kinzler of Glen Ellyn.

With 97 percent of the vote in, Roskam had 78,710 votes and Kinzler had 35,939. All totals are considered unofficial until the votes are canvassed.

Roskam issued a written statement that said he's "deeply humbled to receive such overwhelming support from my friends and neighbors."

"Today's vote reaffirms my commitment to carry the values of the 6th District to Washington," Roskam said. "The great people of the Western suburbs have placed their trust in me to represent our common-sense conservative values in our nation's capital - it's a responsibility I do not take for granted."

Roskam, 54, sits on the House Ways and Means Committee. He says Congress needs to tackle entitlement reform and reform the tax code.

"As we turn toward November," he said, "we must work even harder to make sure we return a conservative majority to Congress to grow our economy and restore America's leadership in the world."

In November, will face the winner of Tuesday's Democratic primary - Amanda Howland of Lake Zurich.

With 597 of 618 precincts reporting, Howland had 48,259 votes. Her opponent, Robert Marshall of Burr Ridge, had 23,608 votes.

Howland, a College of Lake County trustee, says she's looking forward to facing Roskam during the general election.

"I think there are some issues that we kind of agree on," Howland said. "But I think that people are disappointed in his performance because he's been there long enough."

She said she will work to highlight the difference between her and Roskam.

The 6th District stretches from Naperville to Tower Lakes and includes parts of Cook, DuPage, Kane, Lake and McHenry counties.

During the GOP campaign, Kinzler, a 57-year-old physician and surgeon, argued that he's more conservative than Roskam.

Roskam and Kinzler both said more should be done to secure the nation's borders. But they disagreed about whether that should include building a wall along the southern border; Kinzler supports it.

Instead of building a wall, Roskam said, Congress should revise laws that are preventing border patrol agents from doing their jobs. Agents, for example, are prohibited - for environmental reasons - from pursuing anyone on protected lands.