Dold Recaptures U.S. House Seat from Schneider

With the way most of Illinois’ congressional districts are drawn, few elections are close affairs. One emerged this year as a “race to watch” on the national stage. Democratic U.S. Rep. Brad Schneider faced former GOP Rep. Bob Dold in a rematch of the 2012 election, in which Schneider prevailed after Democrat-led redistricting.

This time, Schneider lost. Dold secured 52 percent of the vote, according to unofficial totals late Tuesday. Schneider, of Deerfield, conceded at 9:35 p.m., thanking his family for their support.

“To my team, some of you have just joined us, some of you have been with us from the very beginning ... I simply could not imagine having taken this journey with anybody else,” he said. “To the more than 30,000 people who invested in this campaign, thank you.”

Schneider spent more than $4.2 million, and Dold spent more than $3.1 million in pursuit of this U.S. House seat, according to OpenSecrets.org.

Schneider recapped his key issues and why he was running, why he was “fighting for the middle class.”

“Tonight we fell short of our goal ... and we fought incredibly hard the entire way,” he said. “I will rest easy in knowing we did everything we could.”

Dold, of Kenilworth, took the stage at his victory party in Libertyville at Austin’s Saloon just before 10 p.m.

“Ladies and gentlemen, i could not be more excited to represent you again in the United States Congress and to be your voice,” Dold said, going on to thank Schneider for his service and his family for their sacrifice during the campaign. Dold then thanked his wife, Danielle, his three children, and his mom, dad and siblings.