Bill Foster

Bill Foster, the Naperville Democrat representing Illinois’ 11th Congressional District, appears to be heading back to Washington.

He appears to have easily won reelection over Republican challenger Jeff Walter, an Elburn Republican.

With 37% of votes counted, the Associated Press called the race for Foster at 8:38 p.m. on Tuesday.

Foster had votes 72,663, or 67.6%, compared to 34,755, or 32.4%, for Walter.

Foster, a Naperville Democrat, has represented the 11th District since 2013 and represented the 14th District from 2008 to 2011.

A physicist who worked at Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory, he is the only Ph.D. physicist in Congress. He also co-founded Electronic Theatre Controls, a theater lighting company, with his brother.

Foster is the top Democrat on the House Financial Services subcommittee on financial institutions and, on the House Science Committee, backs sustained federal funding for scientific research, according to his congressional website.

Walter, an Elburn Republican, has been the village’s president since 2017 after serving as a village trustee from 2009 to 2017. He is a retired IT consultant.

Cost-of-living relief, accountability and oversight of the federal government, and border security and immigration enforcement were Walter’s top three priorities, he said during the primary.

Originally from the northwest suburbs, Emily K. Coleman is Shaw Media's editor for newsletters and engagement. She previously served as the Northwest Herald's editor and spent about seven years as a reporter with Shaw Media, first covering Dixon for Sauk Valley Media and then various communities within McHenry County from 2012 to 2016.