Incumbent Democrats Fight for Redrawn 6th District
Congressman Sean Casten (D-Downers Grove) and Congresswoman Marie Newman (D-LaGrange) are battling for the 6th Congressional District nomination. The suburban Cook and DuPage County district is likely to see a battle in the November election, too.
The 6th Congressional District primary is a race for a battleground seat, where two Democratic incumbents have been forced to face off due to redistricting. Rep. Sean Casten, the district’s two-term incumbent, is facing Rep. Marie Newman, who currently represents the 3rd district but was drawn out of her seat during redistricting after the 2020 census.
What to know about the 3rd Congressional District
The district includes Orland Park, Tinley Park, Palos Heights, Oak Lawn, Burr Ridge, Western Springs, Westmont, Downers Grove, Lisle, Lombard, and part of Elmhurst. Biden won the district by 11 points in 2020, and Governor JB Pritzker won it by 5 points in 2018.
Who’s Running?
Congressman Sean Casten (D-Downers Grove), who has held the seat since 2018 when he beat six-term incumbent Peter Roskam and flipped it for Democrats. Prior to his election, Casten co-founded and led Recycled Energy Development, which focused on recycling wasted energy and converting energy facilities to cleaner, more economic uses. He has also served as president and CEO of Turbosteam Corporation. About 23% of his existing district is in this new district.
Congresswoman Marie Newman (D-LaGrange), who was first elected in 2020 when she defeated incumbent Dan Lipinski in the 3rd district primary. Before running for Congress, she was a partner at an advertising agency and ran a consulting business. About 40% of her last district is in the updated 6th district. She was drawn into the neighboring and heavily Latino 4th district and instead chose to run in the 6th.
The race has pitted two democrats who agree on a large number of issues against each other. Casten has been critical of Newman for not disclosing the details of a settlement between herself and a man who said she offered him a job in exchange for not running against her in the 2020 primary. Meanwhile, Newman has called out Casten for not being transparent about an FEC complaint that alleged his campaign worked with a Super PAC during the 2018 primary. It even included a television commercial featuring Newman’s dog doing it’s business on camera. Attacks have quieted in recent weeks after the death of Casten’s 17-year-old daughter, Gwen.
Casten is slightly ahead in public polls and had around $2 million cash on hand as of March 31, while Newman had about $553,000.
Issues
Climate change is a top issue for both of these candidates, though Casten’s background working in clean energy gives him an edge. He is also a member of the House Select Committee on the Climate Crisis. So far in his time in Congress he has introduced the End Oil and Gas Tax Subsidies Act, sponsored the America’s Clean Future Fund Act, and supported the Green New Deal. The League of Conservation Voters and Clean Energy for America have endorsed Casten. The Sustainable Energy and Environment Coalition have endorsed both Casten and Newman.
Both have also focused on abortion, though Newman has firsthand experience with the issue. She had an abortion when she was 19-years-old and earlier this month told the story to ELLE magazine, saying “it was not a shameful act.” She also said,“it is very clear that if we don’t have quality access to abortion health care, women will die.” She has criticized Casten for voting for anti-choice republicans including George H.W. Bush and Bob Dole. Casten argues that his voting record has been 100% pro-choice and says he believes women “have a fundamental right to make their own decisions.” Planned Parenthood and the National Abortion Rights Action League have endorsed both candidates, while EMILY’s List has endorsed Newman.
Newman has a trans daughter, and is a strong advocate for LGBTQ+ rights. She has also long worked on anti-bullying issues, mostly because her daughter was severely bullied in school. Newman and another mother at the school wrote a book establishing a framework for school districts to address bullying that was eventually adopted by Glen Ellyn Schools and later became the statewide framework to address bullying.
On economic development, affordable healthcare, immigration, and other issues, the candidates are fairly similar. They are both progressive, though they each try to make themselves seem more progressive than the other. It will be interesting to see which of these two democrats, who currently work as colleagues and when they aren’t running against each other support the other, will prevail on June 28.