Incumbent Democrat Casten To Face GOP Conforti In IL 6th Congressional District Rematch

UPDATED, 9:27 p.m.—It will be a rematch between Democrat Sean Casten and Republican Niki Conforti, who were both declared winners of their respective primaries in Illinois’s 6th Congressional District.

With 78 percent of the vote counted, Casten garnered 51,311 votes (76.4%) over challenger Joey Ruzevich, who came in with 15,860 (23.6%).

Casten issued a statement thanking his volunteers who made phone calls, knocked on doors, walked in parades, and helped get out the vote.

“Thank you to each and every voter who has placed their trust in me to serve our community in Congress …,” Casten said. “And, thank you to my wife, Kara, and daughter, Audrey, for their endless love and support.”

Casten said that as long as he was fortunate to have the job of congressman, he would use his public voice to remind constituents of his continued advocacy for affordable and high quality health care. He also reaffirmed his support for women to have control over their bodies.

“We don’t want ICE bringing chaos and violence to our community,” the congressman said. “We want to pass a livable planet on to our children and grandchildren. We believe democracy is worth protecting.”

Over the last year, Casten said too many Americans have felt pan caused by the White House, citing skyrocketing grocery and utility costs go up due to tariffs and “unnecessary, unconstitutional wars.”

“We’ve seen loved ones and neighbors denied due process and arrested for no reason other than the color of their skin. We saw billionaires handed a tax break while SNAP and Medicaid were cut

“Donald Trump is an out-of-control warmonger who is focused on enriching himself and his friends at the expense of the American people,” Casten added. “In the next election, Americans will have an opportunity to put a check on his recklessness. Those are the stakes in November.”

Conforti wins GOP nod

Niki Conforti has been projected winner of the 6th District Republican primary against Skylar Duensing, according to the Associated Press.

With 59 percent of Republican ballots counted, Conforti handily racked up 19,485 (82.1%) votes to Duensing's 4,259 (17.9%).

AP has also projected incumbent Sean Casten the winner of Illinois’s 6th Congressional District Democratic primary against challenger Joey Ruzevich.

With just 49 percent of the vote counted, Casten garnered 30,998 (73.4%) over Ruzevich’s 11,253 (26%).

It will be a rematch for Casten and Conforti in the November midterm.

Democratic Primary

U.S. Rep. Sean Casten looked to retain his U.S. House seat in the Illinois 6th Congressional District as he sought the Democratic nomination. Casten has been dogged by pro-Palestinian protesters, who have shut down some of his town halls in LaGrange and Downers Grove over the congressman’s support for military funding for Israel and its attacks on Gaza following the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas raid. The Gaza airstrikes are believed to have killed over 70,000 Palestinian civilians, many of them women and children.

Casten defended his voting record on military aid to Israel at a town hall last summer in Evergreen Park.

“I voted against packages when it wasn’t tied with material for Gaza,” Casten said. “I voted against some extensions and to not provide 2000-pound bombs with blasts covering four football fields. That’s not a surgical precision mark.”

The Downers Grove Democrat sits on many congressional subcommittees, including Capital Markets, Financial Institutions, National Security, Illicit Finance, and International Financial Institutions, as well as the Task Force on Monetary Policy, Treasury Market Resilience, and Economic Prosperity. Casten sits on the Joint Economic Committee, and is the vice chair of the Sustainable Energy and Environment Coalition.

Casten’s Democratic challenger, Joseph “Joey” Ruzevich, a computer software engineer from Chicago’s Beverly neighborhood, was banking on voters’ disenchantment with the Democratic Party establishment. Lacking the financial resources of the incumbent, he relied on shoe leather and social media to get the word out about his campaign, holding affordability workshops, coffee meet-and-greets, and canvassing door to door.

“When knocking on doors, the most common thing I hear is that people are barely scraping by and costs continue to rise,” Ruzevich said in his Patch candidate survey. “We have seen the price of groceries, healthcare, electricity, housing, and pretty much everything essential to live in America has doubled and tripled over the last five years.”

With the polls closed, here's where vote tallies stood in the Democratic primary:

• Sean Casten: 30,998 (73.4%)*winner
• Joseph "Joey" Ruzevich: 11253 (26.6%)

45% of votes counted

Republican Primary

Over on the Republican side, Niki Conforti, an energy consultant from Glen Ellyn, and Skylar Duensing, who calls himself a “young American patriot,” were vying for the GOP nod to appear on the midterm ballot in November.

The campaign marked Conforti’s third run for the seat. She is an energy consultant, and before that she worked in healthcare on the administration side of large health systems. She has also owned a staffing business and says she understands the challenges facing small businesses.

Conforti said witnessing the adverse effects on the community due to the influx of the liberal agenda is why she’s running for Congress. Being concerned compelled her to take a stand, preserve the sanctity of our liberties and freedoms, and push back on the progressive left, according to her campaign bio.

At 25, Skylar Duensing is the minimum age required to serve in the U.S. House of Representatives. He graduated from Joliet Catholic Academy and has studied political science at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and Liberty University.

Duensing is the president and founder of The United States Patriot Society, as well as pastor and founder of Guardians Of Divinity Ministries. He’s also started Turning Point USA (TPUSA) chapters of slain conservative activist Charlie Kirk’s organization at colleges and universities around the nation, including at the University of Wisconsin in Madison.

With the polls closed, here's where vote tallies stood in the Republican primary:

• Niki Conforti: 10,287 (80.6%)
• Skylar Duensing: 2,457 (19.4%)

32% of votes counted

All vote totals are unofficial until all ballots have been counted and certified.