Primaries likely in several congressional, suburban legislative races
Primary election battles are shaping up in a number of congressional and state legislative races in the suburbs as candidates began submitting their candidate petitions during the first day of filing Monday.
At least four of the seven suburban congressional races and four races for three Illinois House seats are headed to primaries, barring any successful challenges of candidates' paperwork. Primary races will be decided March 17, with the general election on Nov. 3.
Candidates have until the end of the day Monday to file petitions to run for office.
For seats in Congress, first-term Democrat Lauren Underwood of Naperville is so far unchallenged for her party's nomination in the 14th District but faces a massive field of Republicans looking to unseat her. Seven GOP candidates filed Monday to run against Underwood next year: state Sen. Jim Oberweis of Sugar Grove, state Sen. Sue Rezin of Morris, former Kendall County Republican Party Chairman Jim Marter, music school operator Jerry Evans of Warrenville, investor Ted Gradel of Naperville, veteran and former priest Anthony Catella of St. Charles and Catalina Lauf of Woodstock, a former adviser to the U.S. Department of Commerce under President Donald Trump.
Longtime 5th District Democratic incumbent Mike Quigley of Chicago is facing a primary challenge from Brian Burns, a former local government attorney who now works at a Chicago-based tech startup. Only one Republican, Tommy Hanson of Chicago, has filed to run for Quigley's seat.
In the 6th District Republican race, former state Rep. Jeanne Ives of Wheaton and urologist and former Glen Ellyn Park District President Jay Kinzler are slated to square off for their party's nomination to unseat first-term Democrat Sean Casten. Both candidates have military service backgrounds. Ives narrowly lost the GOP nomination for governor last year against Bruce Rauner, who lost in the general election. Casten, of Downers Grove, is unopposed so far.
No Republican candidate has filed yet in the 11th District race, but incumbent Democrat Bill Foster of Naperville is set to be challenged by Will County Board member Rachel Ventura of Joliet, who is championing the "Green New Deal and Medicare for All." The Harvard-educated Foster has been in office since 2013.
Democratic incumbents Brad Schneider of Deerfield (10th District) and Raja Krishnamoorthi of Schaumburg (8th District) have no challengers yet. Incumbent 5th District Democrat Jan Schakowsky of Evanston is slated to face Republican challenger Sargis Sangari, a retired Army lieutenant colonel from Skokie.
Incumbent U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin is currently unchallenged for the Democratic nomination, but Republicans Mark Curran and Tom Tarter are angling to unseat him. Curran is the former Lake County sheriff who narrowly lost his post a year ago, and Tarter is a doctor from Springfield who has never held elected office.
In suburban statehouse races, state Rep. Allen Skillicorn of East Dundee has a primary challenge from McHenry County Board member Carolyn Schofield of Crystal Lake for the GOP nod in the 66th District. The winner of that potential race will face the winner of the Democratic primary, which so far pits McHenry County Board member Suzanne Ness of Crystal Lake against Carpentersville Trustee Jim Malone.
Two Democrats are vying to unseat 54th District Republican state Rep. Tom Morrison of Palatine. Democrats Maggie Trevor of Rolling Meadows and Ryan Huffman of Palatine will square off for their party's nod. Trevor is a former university professor who now runs her own research firm. She lost to Morrison by just 43 votes in 2018. Huffman is a data analyst and one-time Obama-era White House new media intern.
Incumbent state Rep. Diane Pappas of Itasca is on tap to go unchallenged through the 45th District Democratic primary but then would face the winner of a GOP primary pitting Al Manzo against Michael Camerer. Camerer is a chiropractor and Bartlett trustee. Manzo is from Addison and does not have a campaign website.
In addition to the legislative races, seven Cook County Democrats also filed petitions to fill the vacancy of 1st District Illinois Supreme Court Justice Charles Freeman, the state's first black Supreme Court justice. The candidates are P. Scott Neville Jr., Daniel Epstein, Shelly Harris, Margaret Stanton McBride, Cynthia Cobbs, Clint Krislov and Jesse Reyes. Neville was chosen by Freeman to serve the remainder of Freeman's term in 2018.