Currently, Illinois has 2 Democratic U.S. Senators and Congress is split 13-5 in favor of the Democratic party as well. There were a number of key Congressional primary elections this year that are highlighted below.
Battling for the GOP nomination for U.S. Senate, former Lake County Sheriff Mark Curran won a five-way Republican primary Tuesday night. Curran will now face U.S. Senator Dick Durbin in the general election. Durbin has been the Senate Democratic Whip since 2005, the second-highest position in the Democratic leadership in the U.S. Senate. In 2014, Durbin defeated Republican Jim Oberweis by a margin of over 10%.
In the Congressional primary, Democrat Bobby Rush held off three opponents to win his primary for the 1st congressional district. Rush will face Philansie White who ran unopposed on the Republican ticket.
Democratic challenger Marie Newman defeated Congressman Dan Lipinski in one of the few races that saw the incumbent not come out on top. The race was always projected to be close as Lipinski defeated Newman in 2018 by only two percentage points.
Democratic Congressman Mike Quigley defeated challenger Brian Burns by a large margin on Tuesday in the states 5th congressional district. On the Republican ticket, Tommy Hanson easily defeated his opponent and will battle Quigley in November.
Former Republican Gubernatorial candidate Jeanne Ives won her primary over Gordon Kinzler. Ives, who narrowly lost to incumbent Governor Bruce Rauner in the 2018 Gubernatorial primary, will face freshmen Democratic Congressman Sean Casten in what will likely be a heavily contested general election.
In what is shaping up to me a hotly contested general election rematch, Betsy Dirksen Londrigan defeated her primary opponent and will once again square off against Rodney Davis in November. In 2018, Davis defeated Dirksen Londrigan by less than 1%.
Republican State Senator Jim Oberweis defeated fellow State Senator Sue Rezin and a handful of other candidates to win the Republican primary in the 14th district. Oberweis, who ran unsuccessfully against U.S. Senator Dick Durbin in 2014, will now face freshman Democratic Congresswoman Lauren Underwood in a district that for years had been a Republican safe district. The race is considered a tier one race.
Republican Mary Miller and Democrat Erika Weaver will face off in the general election after both first time candidates won their four-way primaries on Tuesday night. They are running in the 15th district currently represented by the retiring Congressman John Shimkus.
