April 28, 2024
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And then there were four: A look at the races for the 6th and 11th district congressional seats

By Russell Lissau - Daily Herald Media Group
U.S. Rep. Sean Casten, D-Downers Grove, addresses political topics during the LaGrange town hall held Saturday Jan 21, 2023.

U.S. Rep. Sean Casten, D-Downers Grove, addresses political topics during a LaGrange town hall (Erica Benson for Shaw Local News Network)

The Republicans taking on Democratic U.S. Rep. Bill Foster of Naperville in Illinois’ 11th District and Democratic U.S. Rep. Sean Casten of Downers Grove in the 6th District are no strangers to the election process, but neither has advanced beyond a primary contest before.

Foster’s Republican opponent in the Nov. 5 general election is Jerry Evans, a music school owner from Warrenville who won a three-way primary March 19. Evans ran in 2022, too, placing second in a six-person GOP primary.

Foster, who defeated Naperville resident Qasim Rashid in the Democratic primary, said he expects the upcoming campaign to focus on reproductive freedom, gun control, health care and climate change.

“Those will be the issues nationally and those will be the issues in the 11th,” Foster said.

In the 6th District, Casten will face Republican Niki Conforti, an energy consultant from Glen Ellyn.

Casten cruised to victory in a three-way primary last week. Conforti ran unopposed in the Republican primary.

Conforti unsuccessfully ran for the GOP nomination in the 6th District in 2022, placing third out of six candidates.

Casten recalled meeting Conforti at town hall events in 2022 and he criticized her campaign skills as lacking “depth and sophistication.” Noting that Conforti has pledged to reduce funding for the FBI and has taken up the conservative parental rights cause regarding schools, Casten said he “will greatly look forward to debating her.”

“I like my odds,” Casten said, adding that climate change, women’s rights and civil rights will continue to be among his priorities.

Conforti agreed that her views and Casten’s are very different.

“The voters will have a clear choice between keeping the status quo with the influx of illegals, high crime and rising costs – or change,” Conforti said in an email.

The 6th District includes parts of Cook and DuPage counties.

https://www.dailyherald.com/20240323/us-congress-politics/and-then-there-were-four-a-look-at-the-races-for-the-6th-and-11th-district-congressional-seats/

DuPage County