Robin Kelly

Cook County Commissioner Donna Miller has jumped out to an early lead in the race to represent Illinois’ 2nd Congressional District early Tuesday evening.

Miller had won 41.7% of the counted votes with nearly half of precincts reporting results.

And behind her in the race to succeed outgoing U.S. Rep. Robin Kelly was a name familiar to the district’s voters: former Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr, with 30% of the initial votes counted.

Metropolitan Water Reclamation District Commissioner Yumeka Brown had 11.8%, ahead of one of the race’s top fundraisers, state Sen. Robert Peters, with 8.6%. As of early Tuesday night, no winner had been declared in the 10-candidate field.

Energy at Miller’s watch party in Chicago Heights was building as early returns showed Miller in a slight lead. Campaign staff set the scene with pink and blue balloons, bar and charcuterie platters before turning their focus to incoming results. Staff and backers were glued to their phones watching incoming results.

The primary winner is all but guaranteed the seat in the heavily Democratic district that stretches along the lakefront on the South Side and includes suburbs like Harvey, Dolton and Pontiac. Kelly, who has held the seat for 13 years since winning a special election following Jackson’s 2012 resignation, is running for U.S. Senate instead of seeking reelection.

Though all in the field promise to forcefully fight President Donald Trump and would likely make similar votes, the leading candidates differ sharply in style and priorities.

Jackson, who held the seat for 17 years before stepping down amid an investigation into campaign finance fraud that landed him in prison, argued he deserves a second chance after completing his sentence. He urged voters to instead weigh his experience, promising “no learning curve” if he wins once again.

The former congressman says he would push for a constitutional amendment enshrining a right to health care and focus on landing a long-considered south suburban airport near Peotone if elected.

Miller made the airport a similar priority while staking out several more moderate positions than other top contenders in the left-leaning field. A health care consultant who served as board chair for Planned Parenthood of Illinois, Miller promised to bring health expertise to Washington, D.C., while pushing for maternal health programs and a return at the federal level to evidence-based medicine.

Peters pitched himself as the most progressive candidate in the contest while citing his close connections to Chicago organizers and endorsements from the likes of Sens. Bernie Sanders of Vermont and Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts. He argued that health care companies should be broken up with anti-monopoly laws and taxes on America’s wealthiest people should be raised.

Brown touted progressive bona fides of her own while zeroing in on environmental justice as a key agenda item. She said she will make infrastructure investments a top focus if elected, citing experience responding to flooding as Water Reclamation District commissioner.

State Sen. Willie Preston described himself as a “butt-kicker” ready to take on Trump, a label he has proved by regularly criticizing opponents during town halls. He pointed to his own experience being stabbed to call for more investment in South Side and south suburban medical trauma centers and mental health care.

The race was in part shaped by over $7 million in spending by outside groups, an amount on par with other competitive Chicago primaries this year, but far above past races.

Around $4.5 million was spent in support of Miller. Most of that money came from Affordable Chicago Now, a dark-money super PAC.

Opposing candidates argued the group is a shell organization controlled by the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, or AIPAC, a group that backs Democrats and Republicans who support pro-Israel policies. AIPAC representatives declined to comment on the alleged connection.

Two more super PACs that oppose restrictive regulations for cryptocurrency and artificial intelligence spent $1.4 million to support Jackson and over $800,000 to oppose Peters.

Miller raised nearly $1 million in direct contributions through a late February filing deadline, while Peters raised $1.1 million. Jackson raised $206,000, Preston raised $138,000 and Brown raised $107,000.

The death of the Rev. Jesse Jackson also cast a shadow over the race. Since the death of the civil rights leader who called the district home, few opponents have targeted his son — the best-known figure in the field — with direct attacks.

Jackson has been thrust into a national spotlight as every politician in the city and even three former U.S. presidents attended memorial services honoring his father.