Bradley Schneider

Brad Schneider, the Highland Park Democrat representing Illinois’ 10th Congressional District, appears to be heading back to Washington.

With over half of the votes counted, the Associated Press reports Schneider with 69% of the vote against his opponent Carl Lambrecht, a Highland Park Republican. The AP called the race just after 10 p.m. Tuesday.

The district includes a large chunk of Lake County and extends into northwestern McHenry County.

Schneider appears to be leading by a landslide in Lake County, leading at nearly 69% with all precincts reported.

The race is much tighter in McHenry County, with Schneider leading with nearly 55% of the vote. Less than 20% of the precincts in the county have been reported as of 10 p.m. Tuesday.

Schneider was first elected to Congress in 2012, lost in 2014 and won the 10th District seat back in 2016. He serves on the House Ways and Means and Foreign Affairs committees, chairs the moderate New Democrat Coalition and spent nearly three decades as a business adviser.

Schneider has pushed to repeal the cap on the federal deduction for state and local taxes and co-founded the bipartisan Abraham Accords Caucus, according to his congressional website.

Schneider beat Morgan Coghill in the primary with 78.8% of the vote.

According to the Federal Election Commission, Schneider raised over $3.6 million for this midterm campaign with an ending cash balance of over $1.7 million.

Lambrecht, 93, is an optical engineer who owns a Highland Park optical instrument manufacturer. He ran for the Illinois House in 2024, losing to state Rep. Bob Morgan in the 58th District.

Lambrecht had no opponents in the primary. He has been largely absent from the public, with no campaign website or campaign social media pages found online. He still hasn’t filed a formal statement of candidacy with the FEC for this year.

But write-in votes remain unclear as they are not tallied on election night. James Jay Mote, Alexandria Keating-Sofiakis, John Minarcik and Thomas Rudd ran as write-in candidates.

Two write-ins with problematic pasts were not on the ballot due to failing to get enough signatures. Minarcik, a Democrat from Zion, was kicked off the ballot for reportedly only getting three signatures. His Facebook page is loaded with diatribes against Jews, including calls for their extinction. It also features antisemitic and anti-Israel memes and cartoons.

Rudd, the former Lake County coroner, withdrew from the ballot for lacking the necessary number of signatures. In 2018, he pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor election law violation and was temporarily prohibited from running for office again.

Write-in Keating-Sofiakis tried to stand out from the pack by speaking out on Schneider’s stance on Israel. In the past, Schneider called himself a Zionist who believes in the Jewish people’s right to a state in their historical homeland. He has also been critical of Israel’s policies on settlements and settler violence.

Keating-Sofiakis identifies herself as being in the Green Party – a left-leaning, grassroots political party focused on environmentalism and social justice.

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.

Michelle is a reporter for the Northwest Herald that covers Crystal Lake, Cary, Lakewood, Prairie Grove, Fox River Grove and McHenry County College