CHICAGO, IL — Voters will take to the polls Nov. 3 to select — for the first time in almost a decade — an all-new representative for Illinois' 8th Congressional District in the United States House of Representatives.
Raja Krishnamoorthi, who held the role since he first assumed office on Jan. 3, 2017, isn't seeking reelection. Instead, he is running in the U.S. Senate race for the seat held by Sen. Dick Durbin, who is not seeking reelection after more than 40 years in Washington.
In the March 17 primary election, eight Democrats and four Republicans vied to become their party's nominee for the race. The nominations went to Democrat Melissa Bean and Republican Jennifer Davis.
Bean represented the 8th district from 2005 to 2011, serving on the financial services and small business committees. While in Congress, she helped pass Obamacare, defended reproductive rights and helped pass the Recovery Act.
Bean's top campaign issues include restoring the American Dream by strengthening the middle class and expanding opportunities, supporting comprehensive immigration reform while opposing Trump's mass deportation, fighting for affordable healthcare, and restoring American values, according to her campaign website.
Bean founded SRI, a consulting firm, in 1995. In 2019, the Chicago-based Mesirow Wealth Advisors hired Bean as its CEO and president.
A mom of 10, political newcomer Davis is running to bring commonsense business practices and family-first values to Washington. Her values are rooted in hard work, faith and family, she wrote on her campaign site.
Davis and her husband, Dan, co-founded the software company Davisware, which began in Roselle and Dundee and grew to more than 200 employees. It sold to a cloud-based business management company, ECI Software Solutions, in 2025.
Davis said her goals, if elected, are to revitalize small businesses, reform education, implement stronger borders and a fairer immigration system, protect national security, enhance community safety and preserve the American Dream.
As of the 2020 redistricting, District 8 still represents a part of northern Cook County, but it also includes parts of northern DuPage County, northeast Kane County and a part of the Chicago neighborhood of O'Hare.
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