IL-06—UPDATE, 7:51 p.m.—Incumbent Democrat Sean Casten continues to hold a comfortable lead over GOP challenger Niki Conforti.
DuPage County is still processing ballots.
With 28 percent of votes counted, Casten leads with 59.2 percent to Conforti's 40.9 percent, Associated Press reports.
Election results:
Polls closed at 7 p.m., and election officials began tallying ballots. Check back throughout the evening for updates as vote totals are released.
Voters in Illinois' 6th Congressional District headed to the polls Tuesday to decide whether to reelect Democratic U.S. Rep. Sean Casten or send Republican challenger Niki Conforti to Washington to represent portions of suburban Cook and Dupage Counties, and Chicago Southwest Side neighborhoods.
Casten, of Downers Grove, has represented the district since 2019, when toppled six-term Republican incumbent Peter Roskam in the old 6th District before the remapping. Before he was elected in 2018, Casten said he spent 20 years in the private sector starting and running companies dedicated to profitably reducing greenhouse gas emissions.
The Downers Grove Democrat said, "These are not normal times" in his Patch candidate questionnaire. In his travels around the district, he said the dominant issue has been rising angst about the state of the country.
"Sometimes it's a nervousness about inflation chewing up all their spare income," Casten said. "Sometimes it's the fear that an armed ICE officer can't be trusted to protect their rights. Sometimes it's the fatalism that comes when you believe that the laws you live by don't seem to constrain the rich and the well-connected."
On immigration, Casten said he doesn't support the current administration's "reckless immigration enforcement in Chicagoland, Minnesota, or anywhere else."
He said U.S. energy policy often puts the interests of producers over the interests of consumers and thinks data centers should pay their fair share for all the grid upgrades that utilities have to provide—and are on the hook if they shut down their operations before those costs are fully recovered.
As for artificial intelligence, he doesn't consider artificial intelligence, or AI, to be universally bad, but calls constraining how AI technology is put to work "a moral choice."
He doesn't think the United States should have invaded Iran.
"The Trump Administration has yet to provide Congress with consistent reasoning on the imminent threat posed by Iran."
Republican challenger Conforti, of Glen Ellyn, is eying flipping the IL-06 seat back to the GOP column. She said she was compelled to run to preserve the sanctity of our liberties and freedoms, and push back on the progressive left.
Conforti is an energy consultant. Before that, she worked in healthcare on the administration side of large health systems. She's also owned a staffing agency which she said gives her special insight into the challenges facing small business owners.
She said "kitchen table" issues—those that directly affect a family's household budget and daily life—to be the most pressing issues in her district. Likewise, she blames high gas and diesel prices, skyrocketing grocery costs, and utilities on current failed Democrat policies.
"When Biden took office in January 2021 and signed a myriad of executive orders shortly after taking his oath, this country took a sharp turn to the left," Conforti said. "I knew instinctively that we were on a path that was concerning to me. It was then I decided to stand up to protect the greatness of this country and run for office."
Conforti opposes abortion except in cases of rape, incest or to save the life of the mother. She told Shaw Local she doesn't believe any conduct of the current Trump Administration needs to be investigated, DOGE didn't go far enough in its recommendations, and more investigations are needed into government fraud.
Conforti criticized Casten following his vote last July against an amendment that would have stripped $3.3 billion in military assistance to Israel and questioned his ties to special interest groups.
"At a time when families across Illinois's 6th District are struggling to keep up with rising grocery bills, housing costs, healthcare expenses, and energy prices, Sean Casten once again chose to prioritize sending billions of taxpayer dollars overseas instead of addressing the challenges facing the people he was elected to represent," Conforti said in a written statement.
As the top Republican vote-getter in the 2024 election for all 14 Illinois challenger congressional races against seated Democrats. If elected, Conforti said she would use the power she will use the power of her vote to protect family and faith-based values and promote peace.
"My opponent and I could not be more different. The voters will have a real choice at the polls," Conforti said. "My opponent is for big government, high taxes, open borders—and I am not. I support small government, free markets, lower taxes and a secure border."
Election results are unofficial until certified by election authorities. This story will be updated as additional vote totals become available.
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