Under the Radar Primary Races
Congressman Danny Davis (D-Chicago) faces a crowded primary to win his 15th term in Congress.
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Some potentially high profile primary campaigns are flying under the radar. Here are a few:
7th Congressional District- Congressman Danny Davis (D-Chicago) vs. Melissa Conyears-Ervin vs. Kina Collins, et. al.
Conyears-Ervin, the former State Representative and current Chicago City Treasurer, long teased a run against Davis, who is more than a year older than President Joe Biden (he’ll turn 83 in September). Supporters hoped a strong early showing would force Davis into retirement in a heavily Democratic district stretching from the far southside to the Chicago Loop and west to Oak Park, Maywood, and Westchester.
The 7th Congressional District, highlighted.
Instead, Conyears-Ervin was caught up in a scandal involving fired employees and using her position to ask a bank to give a loan to her husband’s landlord.
A top tier race against an entrenched lawmaker like Davis should be at the top of the political conversation in the state, but the race has slipped below the radar. None of the Democratic candidates have bought any broadcast TV and there has been little breakthrough in the public discourse.
11th Congressional District- Congressman Bill Foster (D-Naperville) vs. Qasim Rashid
Foster faces a challenge from his left in the Pakistani-born Rashid, an attorney who ran for the legislature and Congress in Virginia in 2018 and 2020.
Rashid’s campaign has been pretty heavily based on social media and Foster has been trying to avoid engaging the challenger. It’s essentially the only issue in the race.
The Republican primary has been even less interesting.
36th House District- Rick Ryan vs. Sonia Khalil
Ryan is the choice of outgoing Rep. Kelly Burke (D-Evergreen Park) and Khalil is attempting to run as a progressive alternative to the more moderate Ryan. Plenty of money has flowed into the race, but it has been overshadowed by the Nichols and Flowers races just to their north.
76th House District- Cohen Barnes vs. Amy Murri Briel vs. Carolyn Zasada
Barnes, the Mayor of DeKalb, is running in the moderate lane to replace Rep. Lance Yednock (D-Ottawa). Murri Briel works in Yednock’s district office and Zasada sits on the DeKalb City Council. Barnes appears to be the favorite in the race.
The Republican race between Liz Bishop and has been less interesting.
79th House District- Billy Morgan vs. Genevra Walters, et. al.
Morgan, a former aide to Governor Pat Quinn has presented the strongest campaign thus far. Walters, the Kankakee schools Superintendent, has stayed relatively quiet. Walters is still Kankakee Superintendent through the school year and may be limping to the primary. The winner gets Rep. Jackie Haas (R-Bourbonnais).
37th Senate- Li Arellano vs. Chris Bishop vs. Tim Yager
The race to replace outgoing Sen. Win Stoller (R-East Peoria) has slid safely under the radar. All three candidates have been mostly funding their own campaigns and are hitting mailboxes, but Yager has invested the most in the race thus far.
53rd Senate- Chris Balkema vs. Jesse Faber vs. Mike Kirkton vs. Susan Wynn Bence
Balkema, the Grundy County Board Chairman, has recently started attacking Faber, a farmer and high school agriculture teacher, for previous DUI arrests. Faber has begun to bring in more money and hit the district with mail. He also has the coveted Illinois Farm Bureau endorsement. Kirkton’s campaign has had a hard time getting off the ground and Wynn Bence has not raised or spent enough money to open a campaign committee.