Joey Ruzevich: Illinois 6th Congressional District 2026 IL Democratic Primary

CHICAGO —Joseph “Joey” Ruzevich is challenging incumbent Sean Casten for the Democratic nomination to represent the Illinois 6th Congressional District in the Illinois Gubernatorial Primary on March 17.

IL-06 includes all or sections of the suburban Cook County communities of Alsip, Chicago Ridge, Palos Heights, Worth, Crestwood, Oak Forest, Oak Lawn, Tinley Park, Orland Park, Orland Hills, Palos Hills, Palos Heights, Hickory Hills, Justice, and extends into the Chicago neighborhoods of Clearing, Beverly and Mount Greenwood; and in DuPage, Downers Grove, Oak Brook, Oak Brook Terrace, Lisle, Wheaton, Glen Ellyn, Lombard, Elmhurst Darien, Hinsdale and Willow Springs.

You can find Ruzevich's answers to the Patch candidate questionnaire below:

Previous or current elected office

None

Party Affiliation

Democrat

Family

Single. 1 of 5 children, only boy. Grandson of a Croatian immigrant and first-generation Irish and Polish immigrants.

Education

Bachelors in Computer Science & Mathematics from Loyola University - New Orleans

Website

www.joey4congress.com

The single most pressing issue facing our district or state is ___________, and this is what I intend to do about it.

When knocking on doors, the most common thing I hear is that people are barely scraping by and costs continue to rise. We have seen the price of groceries, healthcare, electricity, housing, and pretty much everything essential to live in America double and triple over the last 5 years. People are frustrated that Congress refuses to use its power to break up monopolies, close corporate tax loopholes, pass a War Powers resolution to prevent another disastrous & inflationary war in the Middle East, or take any action to ease the pain of families across the country. We need representatives that actually represent the will of the people and will push past the special interest groups to pass legislation that benefits the people.

What are the critical differences between you and the other candidates seeking this post?

There are 3 major differences between me and Rep. Sean Casten.

1) I am not bought and paid for by special interest groups. That's the biggest difference. Rep. Casten has accepted over $1.5 million from the AIPAC lobby and is not willing to stand up loudly against Israel dragging the US into a war with Iran. Rep. Casten also sits on the Financial Services Committee, which is supposed to regulate Wall St. and Private Equity. However, he accepted $500k in corporate PAC donations including a maximum donation from a PAC representing the Private Equity firm BlackRock. Rep. Casten also sits on the Energy Commission and broke the law when he invested $300k into his dad's energy company and failed to disclose it for over a year. I do not believe our voices are being represented in Congress. When elected, I will answer only to my constituents.

2) I am the right man for this moment in time. I am a software engineer with experience in Machine Learning research who knows exactly the kind of safety regulation we need to protect our children, privacy, jobs, electricity, fresh water, and humanity. Artificial Intelligence is here. We need someone in office who understands this technology and isn't funded by Big Tech, to regulate it effectively. Most people don't know how bad things are right now or how much worse they will get in a very short timeline. We need to act quickly.

A recent news story reported that 200,000 human neurons were grown on a microchip and taught to play a videogame on its own. If that's not horrifying enough, they report that the chip uses less electricity and computes data faster than the GPUs currently in data centers. This is a crime against humanity.

I do not want to prevent innovation, we must always continue to advance scientifically, socially and spiritually. However, we must not allow our basic respect for human consciousness to be degraded to this point. We cannot allow human brain cells to process data for the improvement of Large Language Models. These are the basic scientific guardrails we need to implement immediately.

3) I am a movement candidate. I am not only running to be your Congressman, I am running to reform the Democratic Party. We must once again become the party of the working people, the party of organized labor. We must become a party that delivers tangible benefits to the average American instead of only giving excuses for why we can't deliver.

I still believe we can build a better version of America if we elect grassroots candidates. I will also help other New Guard Democrats get elected, and we will build a coalition in Congress that must be contended with if any legislation is to pass. I want to remove the grip that billionaires, corporations & foreign lobbies have had on us for so long and finally return the power of the United States Congress to the American people.

If you support tax cuts, what spending should be eliminated to offset those cuts? Please be specific.

I support closing the tax loopholes that billionaires exploit to pay a lower effective tax rate than most teachers in America, such as the carried interest loophole and borrowing against assets instead of taking a salary. We also need to ensure Social Security remains solvent. To achieve this, we must pass Bernie Sanders' proposed legislation that taxes the most speculative, highly leveraged, financially risky trades on Wall St a fraction of a penny per transaction. This would secure Social Security for another 70 years and allow an increase in benefits. We should not cut social safety nets, especially those proven to keep people out of poverty and sustain a decent life.

Do you believe an inequity exists between funding for wealthy and poor schools? If so, what would you do to address the disparity?

There is a clear disparity in how schools are funded, which the federal government can balance. This is only possible if we stop wasting all of our money on war—$1 trillion in Iraq/Afghanistan and now a full-scale war with Iran. We need representatives who are going to redirect funding away from the Pentagon, which hasn't passed an audit in 8 years, and towards schools, childcare and special needs programs. We have the money to build a better society; we are just wasting it on war.

What would you do to help constituents struggling with the ever-increasing cost of living, housing and healthcare?

Universal health care is long overdue in this country. We cannot continue to allow insurance companies to deny necessary medical care for higher profits. This will greatly ease the financial burden of healthcare on millions of families across the country.

Additionally, we must ban Private Equity firms from buying entire neighborhoods of single-family homes. We must also redirect funds away from war and towards a massive housing project to incentivize contractors to build millions of starter homes and affordable apartment units instead of only luxury housing. Congress can also enforce the anti-trust laws that are available right now to break up monopolies and oligarchies that exist in almost every market in America.

We have 4 major meat packers, 3 major media companies, 6 major tech companies, 5 major auto manufacturers, and a handful of food conglomerates. This is why prices continue to rise. During the pandemic, there were CEOs on public earnings calls bragging about record profits during high inflation times. This was blatant price gouging and Congress should have stopped it. We cannot allow the concentration of corporate power to further squeeze the middle class.

Do you support redistricting in a non-census year?

I do not support initiating redistricting, however, if Republican states like Texas engage in this election interference then Democratic states should absolutely do the same. You don't punch first but you always defend yourself.

Do you support the full release of the Epstein files with the victims' names redacted? What should Congress do to pressure the DOJ into following the law with the full release of the Epstein files?

Absolutely. Rep Casten and the Democrats had the opportunity to release the Epstein files during Biden's presidency and doing so might have prevented Donald Trump from regaining power. However, the Democrats wanted to protect their members involved in this morally horrific scandal. Rep. Casten even recently protected sexual abusers in Congress with his "YEA" vote to block the release of all sexual harassment & abuse claims made against members of Congress. We need leaders that refuse to protect pedophiles & sexual abusers. When Democrats regain power, we must fully investigate why this cover-up happened, who was responsible and prosecute them to the fullest extent of the law. Everyone in the Epstein Class must be removed from power.

Where do you agree and disagree with President Donald Trump on policy?

President Trump has a habit of taking decent policy ideas and implementing them in the most disastrous way possible. The best example of this is tariffs. It is obvious that the US doesn't manufacture anything anymore and it's a great idea to incentivize Made in America production via tariffs. However, the emotional & political way Trump implemented tariffs, with absolutely no parallel domestic policy to spur manufacturing growth has led to the worst of all worlds: manufacturing jobs continue to disappear while Americans pay higher prices for the same imported products.

What else would you like voters to know about yourself and your positions?

The entire country is signaling a need for change — NYC, New Jersey, Texas—candidates no one thought would have a chance are beating the odds and winning. There is real momentum, and we need to capture it in Chicago & the suburbs. I grew up in this district watching the American dream slip away, but I know we can bring it back. We can elect someone who knows the people of this district and will do everything in his power to improve our lives.

I will always be available to the constituents of this district. I will hold constant Town Halls and community events. I will maintain an open-door policy at my offices and have dedicated staff members to constantly respond to emails & phone calls from voters. I want to ensure that the people of this district feel like they have a direct line to their Congressman rather than him actively avoiding communication.