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Lots of interest in suburban congressional seats so far - but how many candidates actually will file?

More than 40 potential candidates have lined up for eight congressional races in the North, West and Northwest suburbs - but whether that many actually are serious about running will become clearer when nominating petitions are filed this week.

The petition submission period for the June 28 primary starts Monday and ends March 14.

The suburban congressional district that's drawn the most attention so far is the 11th, which is represented by veteran Democrat Bill Foster of Naperville. While Foster likely is the only Democrat running, six Republicans have been actively campaigning for their party's nomination, and three others filed preliminary paperwork with the Federal Election Commission but haven't launched campaign social media accounts or websites.

The active GOP candidates are Mark Carroll of North Aurora, Jerry Evans of Warrenville, Andrea Heeg of Geneva, Catalina Lauf of Woodstock, Cassandra Tanner Miller of Elgin and Juan Ramos of Naperville. The three others are Krishna Bansal of Naperville, Grace Greene of St. Charles and Dean Seppelfrick of Aurora.

Redrawn for this election, the 11th encompasses parts of Cook, DuPage, Kane, Lake, McHenry, Will, DeKalb and Boone counties.

The Republican primary race for the 14th Congressional District seat should be hot, too.

While two-term Democratic incumbent Lauren Underwood of Naperville is set to run unopposed in her party's primary, five Republicans are hoping to unseat her: Scott Gryder of Oswego, Mike Koolidge of Rochelle, Jack Lombardi of Manhattan, James Marter of Oswego and Susan Starrett of North Aurora.

The 14th District encompasses parts of Kane, Will, DeKalb, Kendall, LaSalle, Bureau and Putnam counties.

In the 6th District, which includes parts of Cook and DuPage counties, there should be contested races in both primaries.

Two-term Democratic incumbent Sean Casten of Downers Grove is facing a primary challenge from U.S. Rep. Marie Newman of La Grange, a first-termer who now represents the 3rd District. Newman's home is just outside the 6th District in the 3rd.

Six candidates have said they'll seek the GOP nomination in the 6th: Niki Conforti of Glen Ellyn, Rob Cruz of Oak Lawn, Gary Grasso of Burr Ridge, Scott Kaspar of Orland Park, Keith Pekau of Orland Park and Catherine A. O'Shea of Oak Lawn.

There also could be primary battles on both sides of the aisle in the 8th District, which includes parts of Cook, DuPage and Kane counties.

Democratic U.S. Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi of Schaumburg is facing potential primary challenges from Mohammed Faheem of Plainfield and Junaid Ahmed of South Barrington. Additionally, three Republicans have announced campaigns or filed paperwork with the FEC: Peter Kopsaftis of South Barrington, Karen Kolodziej of Itasca and Chad Koppie of Gilberts.

With Newman running in the 6th District, the 3rd District seat will be open for the taking. Chicagoans Juan Enrique Aguirre, Iymen Hamman Chehade, Delia Ramirez and Gilbert Villegas are after the Democratic nomination. Justin Burau of Winfield is the only GOP candidate who's announced in the 3rd so far.

The new 3rd District includes parts of Cook, DuPage and Kane counties.

Elsewhere in the suburbs, the 5th, 9th and 10th district seats also will be on the ballot. But if early interest is any indication, the races won't be crowded.

Chicagoan Mike Quigley represents the 5th District in parts of Cook and Lake counties, Jan Schakowsky of Evanston serves the 9th in parts of Cook, Lake and McHenry counties, and Brad Schneider of Deerfield serves the 10th in parts of Cook, Lake and McHenry counties. All are Democrats.

Potential primary challengers have surfaced for Quigley and Schneider, while Schakowsky seems headed for a solo primary run. Republicans have filed in those races, too.

The general election is Nov. 8.

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