20 Potential Primaries Complicate Democratic Plans
Booking photo of Rep. Matt Hanson (D-Montgomery), who was arrested for DUI in October. He faces a primary challenge to keep his seat. (Photo: Shaw Media)
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Pending challenges or withdrawals, 20 House seats will have Democratic primaries in 2024, potentially complicating House Democratic efforts to keep, or add to, a 78-seat majority.
Some, like Rep. Lilian Jimenez (D-Chicago), Rep. Kimberly Neely DuBuclet (D-Chicago), Rep. Sonya Harper (D-Chicago), and Rep. Kevin Olickal (D-Chicago) have primary challengers in a district with no or nominal Republican challengers.
Some, like Rep. Abdelnasser Rashid (D-Bridgeview), Rep. Angie Guerrero-Cuellar (D-Chicago), Rep. Edgar Martinez (D-Chicago), Rep. Theresa Mah (D-Chicago), Rep. Cyril Nichols (D-Chicago), and Rep. Bob Morgan (D-Deerfield) are facing organized challengers that could provide serious threats to their ability to win the Democratic nomination next year.
Freshman Rep. Matt Hanson (D-Montgomery), who has kept a low profile in his first term in Springfield, faces a challenge from 22-year-old Arad Boxenbaum of Geneva. Hanson beat Boxenbaum 67-33% in 2022 before ousting former Rep. Keith Wheeler in a gerrymandered new district last fall.
A complicating factor for Hanson is a recent DUI charge that could be embarrassing as part of a challenger’s campaign.
“Hanson doesn’t have a lot of built in good will,” said a suburban Democratic operative. “He’s ripe for the picking in a primary, especially by a progressive candidate.”
No Republican filed in Hanson’s 83rd District.
Two other crowded primaries could hamper Democratic efforts to retain one seat and pick up another.
In the 76th District, which stretches from LaSalle-Peru to DeKalb and is being vacated by Rep. Lance Yednock (D-Ottawa), three Democrats are seeking the nomination. Yednock aide Amy Murri Briel and DeKalb Mayor Cohen Barnes are considered moderates while DeKalb Alderwoman Carolyn Morris Zasada is positioned as a progressive. The nominee is likely to face moderate Republican Liz Bishop in a GOP effort to retake the seat. Democrats are favored to retain in the district President Biden won by eight points in 2020.
In the 79th District, which stretches from the Kankakee area to south suburban Richton Park, Democrats hope to bounce Rep. Jackie Haas (R-Bourbonnais), but Democrats have five candidates battling it out in a primary for the seat.
Democrats recruited retiring Kankakee Schools Superintendent Genevra Walters for the seat, but former Pat Quinn aide Billy Morgan of Monee is organizing a strong campaign. Kankakee County Board member Larry Kerkstra is running in the union direction. The question may be how beaten down the Democratic candidates are when they get to Haas in the fall.
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