U.S. Rep. Sean Casten of Downers Grove was among the members of the Chicago-area delegation who appeared headed to primary victories Tuesday.

With an estimated 45% of Democratic ballots counted in the 6th District, Casten was ahead of Chicagoan Joey Ruzevich 28,590-10,165, unofficial results showed. That gave Casten about 74% of the total.

Ruzevich came at Casten from the left, primarily attacking the lawmaker’s stance on the war in Gaza and his support from pro-Israel groups.

Ruzevich garnered attention about a week ago after he tried to spotlight a deadly missile attack on an Iranian school by releasing a video in which he satirically proposed killing the students at an all-girls high school in his Chicago neighborhood.

If trends hold, Casten will face Republican Niki Conforti of Glen Ellyn in November. Conforti had a huge lead over first-time candidate Skylar Duensing of Shorewood with about 32% of the votes counted.

Conforti was ahead 10,287 votes to 2,457, unofficial results showed, which gave her about 81% of the total.

This past weekend, Duensing shared an uncredited video on social media that disparaged Conforti for being interviewed by the Qatari-owned Al Jazeera news network. The 6th District, which includes parts of Cook and DuPage counties, has one of the largest Arab American populations in the U.S.

Conforti said the video is proof Duensing “is not fit to serve the community in a leadership role.”

Casten defeated Conforti in 2024 by about 8 percentage points.

https://www.dailyherald.com/20260317/us-congress-politics/casten-conforti-off-to-big-leads-in-6th-congressional-races/