Chicago-Area Democratic Congressional Candidate Leads in Funding, New FEC Report Shows

WASHINGTON — Chicago-area Democrats — all incumbents — running for Congress in several potential-swing districts are well ahead of the Republican competition, suggesting the new Federal Election Commission shown in the report.

House districts, primarily based in Chicago, are so strongly Democratic that incumbents and Democratic candidates rarely face viable Republican opposition.

Illinois has 17 congressional districts, and Democrats are drawing new boundaries in Springfield.

The largest local elections, to varying degrees, will be held in districts with more Republican voters under the new map.

All of these districts are in the Chicago suburbs, and the incumbent Democrats in those districts — Sean Casten, Raja Krishnamoorty, Brad Schneider, Bill Foster, and Lauren Underwood — all used the new map. I have a constituency where I have never run for office. Previous.

Suburban Congressional Democrats have the money to appear on TV

With a new constituency with huge campaign-financing advantages and unaware voters, Casten, Krishnamoorthi, Schneider, Foster, and Underwood are running TV ads in the expensive Chicago broadcast market.

The new FEC report includes income and expenses through Sept. 30, including spending for candidates facing the June 28 primary. Early voting for the November 8 election has already begun.

Here are the latest:

3rd district – Ramirez vs Blau:

Rep. Delia Ramirez of Chicago is running against Winfield’s Republican Justin Blau for a free seat that looks safe for Democrats at this point.

Ramirez:

Procurement — $883,714

Used — $747,174

September 30 Cash on hand — $136,539

Browse:

Procurement — $26,803

Used — $24,299

September 30th, cash on hand — $2,504

District 6 — Kasten vs Pekau:

Downers Grove Rep. Sean Casten (D-Illinois) faces off against Republican Orland Park Mayor Keith Pekau. The Democrats designed the new 6th District as a Democratic district, but it contains a Republican turf. Both Casten and Pekau faced major opponents, so funding had to cover major and general campaigns.

Kasten:

Procurement — $4,727,828

Used — $4,283,792

September 30th cash on hand — $790,173

Pekau:

Procurement — $1,096,024

Used — $893,807

September 30 Cash on hand — $202,216

District 8 — Krishnamooti vs. Dargis:

Rep. Raja Krishnamoorty (D-Illinois) of Schaumburg is once again the champion fundraiser for the delegation and one of the largest House Democrats in the nation. Sources say Krishnamoorty is partly building a huge war chest to put himself in a strong position should the Senate seat open.

Krishnamooti:

Procurement — $7,938,427

Used — $4,732,880

September 30 Cash on hand — $11,633,394

Dargis:

Primary and General Raise — $494,859

Primary and General Expenses — $367,283

September 30th cash on hand — $127,575

District 10 — Schneider vs. Severino:

Rep. Brad Schneider (D-Illinois) of Highland Park has more Republicans in his newly drawn constituency. He faces Republican Joseph Severino of Lake Forest, who has not amassed enough resources to launch much of his campaign. Neither man faced a major opponent.

Schneider:

Procurement — $3,377,052

Used — $3,706,455

September 30 Cash on Hand — $1,544,359

Severino:

Procurement — $12,675

Used — $7,787

September 30th cash on hand — $4,794

11th district – Foster vs Rauch:

Rep. Bill Foster (D-Ill.) of Naperville is facing off against Republican Catalina Rauch of Woodstock, who has a bit more national profile — she spoke at the 2020 Republican convention. She has also run for Congress before. All that helped her become the strongest Republican fundraiser in the Chicago area. She entered the final week of the election with a small war chest compared to her cash reserves.

Foster:

Procurement — $3,295,276

Used — $2,867,086

September 30 Cash on hand — $4,164,390

Rauch:

Procurement — $2,185,453

Used — $1,998,103

September 30th cash on hand — $187,350

14 wards – Underwood vs Glider:

The Democrats significantly redesigned districts for Rep. Lauren Underwood of the Illinois Democratic Party to increase Democratic voters. That’s because the Naperville resident just barely won his 2020. Suburban Democrats. She will face Oswego’s Scott Glider.

Under the tree:

Procurement — $6,223,009

Used — $3,835,365

September 30 Cash on hand — $2,925,541

glider:

Procurement — $504,130

Used — $304,658

Cash as of September 30 — $199,472

2 downstate seats available

Contested congressional districts in Illinois lie outside the Chicago area. Funds from external groups (referred to as independent spending because the spending is not controlled by the campaign) are also being poured into these downstate contests.

in the District 13 — Free seats — Springfield Democrat Nikki Buzynski faces off against Decatur Republican Regan Deering.

Buzynski:

Procurement — $3,242,409

Used — $2,105,752

September 30th cash on hand — $1,036,656

Deering:

Procurement — $1,856,618

Used — $1,314,248

September 30 Cash on hand — $542,369

in the District 17 — Another vacant seat — Republican Esther Joy King of East Moline is running against Democrat Eric Sorenson of Moline.

Sorenson:

Procurement — $2,102,189

Used — $1,807,792

September 30 Cash on Hand — $294,396

king:

Procurement — $4,469,476

Used — $3,081,803

September 30th cash on hand — $1,389,964