Schakowsky wins another term in Congress

Bad publicity surrounding U.S. Rep. Jan Schakowsky's husband in the final weeks of the election didn't have much effect on voters in the 9th Congressional District.

The longtime congresswoman was re-elected to another term of office Tuesday night.

With 262 of 314 precincts reporting, Schakowsky had 107,242 votes, and her opponent, Republican Joan Lasonde, had 71,832 votes, unofficial results show.

That's roughly 60 percent of the vote for Schakowsky and 40 percent for Lasonde.

Lasonde conceded the race Tuesday night, adding that she will consider challenging Schakowsky again in two years. It's one of the closest races Schakowsky's has had in a long time, said Lasonde's campaign spokesman T.J. Brown.

"The strong showing that we had shows that Jan Schakowsky can no longer take this district for granted," he said.

Schakowsky, of Evanston, has represented the district in Congress since 1999. Known for her progressive and liberal positions, she ran a low-key campaign with no ads or mass mailings, despite having seven times more money in her campaign fund than Lasonde.

Lasonde, of Wilmette, made an impressive showing in her first run for political office. She did a lot of door-to-door work and held a few news conferences, at one point calling on Schakowsky to resign over videos about her husband's alleged involvement in inciting violence at Donald Trump rallies.

Brown speculated that "the Trump effect," may have hurt Lasonde. While Trump is popular nationally, he's not popular in Illinois or the 9th district, which includes Rogers Park, the North Shore, and parts of Park Ridge, Des Plaines, Prospect Heights, Mount Prospect and Arlington Heights.