Illinois — 8th District

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If early primary results hold, Democrat Melissa Bean and Republican Jennifer Davis will duke it out in November to succeed five-term incumbent Raja Krishnamoorthi in representing Illinois’ 8th Congressional District.

With an estimated 67% of ballots counted, unofficial results Tuesday night showed Bean to be leading the eight-candidate Democratic pack with 15,481 votes — or 32.2% of the total. Meanwhile, with an estimated 54% of ballots counted, Davis led a four-person Republican field with 9,971 votes for 50.8%.

Also on the Democratic ballot were Junaid Ahmed of South Barrington with 12,596 votes , Dan Tully of Carol Stream with 5,772, Kevin Morrison of Mount Prospect with 4,815, Yasmeen Bankole of Hanover Park with 4,268, Neil Khot of Hoffman Estates with 3,416, Sanjyot Dunung of Des Plaines with 1,210 and Ryan Vetticad of South Barrington with 539.

The other GOP hopefuls were Mark Rice of Arlington Heights with 8,483 votes, Kevin Ake of Elk Grove Village with 907 and Herbert Hebein of Chicago with 819.

Bean and Davis announced their candidacies in mid-September, changing the dynamics of races that had seemed to be well in progress during the summer.

Bean previously held the office from her defeat of longtime Republican incumbent Phil Crane in 2004 until her own 2010 loss to Joe Walsh by 291 votes. Davis is the co-founder and former CEO of an international technology software company and author of the book “Living Exponentially.”

Cook County Board District 15 Commissioner Morrison and Hanover Park Village Trustee Bankole were the only two current holders of elected office who ran for the nomination. Both previously worked as staffers for Krishnamoorthi.

Ahmed had challenged Krishnamoorthi in the 2022 Democratic primary, while Rice took on the incumbent in the 2024 general election after having been uncontested in the primary.

The greater interest in this year’s primaries for both parties was largely sparked by last May’s announcement that Krishnamoorthi would be running for the retiring Dick Durbin’s U.S. Senate seat instead.

The 8th District includes portions of Cook, DuPage and Kane counties.

Check back for updates.

https://www.dailyherald.com/20260317/us-congress-politics/bean-davis-ahead-in-8th-congressional-district-primaries/