Suburban voters turn out in key Congressional primary battles

Tuesday’s election presents a rare opportunity in Illinois politics, allowing voters to reshape the state’s Congressional delegation.

Those voters will be electing candidates for five open Congressional seats, meaning the state is getting ready to usher in a new generation of leaders.

Needless to say, that was on suburban voters’ minds as they voted early on Monday.

Suburban Cook County has had more early voters and mail-in ballots returned than by this point in 2022, with approximately 54,000 more votes cast so far.

Voters at the Robert Crown Community Center, an early voting site in suburban Evanston, told NBC Chicago their Congressional race and the current political climate brought them to the polls.

There is a crowded field in the race to replace retiring U.S. Rep. Jan Schakowsky in the 9th District, one of the most closely watched in the nation.

“I feel like there are a lot of issues that I really care about and that I feel aren’t being represented in Congress and the U.S. Government,” said Abigail Buell, a voter from Evanston who is also a student at Northwestern University.

Claudia Steinke, a voter from Skokie, explained what she’s looking for in her future representative.

“How are they working with the community? How are they supporting the community? Where are their funds coming from? Who do they support? Do they support a free Palestine? Are they willing to say that out loud?” she explained.

More than 6,100 people cast ballots at the Evanston early voting site over the last two weeks.

The 9th District is one of four hotly contested Congressional races in Chicago and its suburbs. There are five open seats total, including that of Rep. Jesús “Chuy” García, with only one candidate in the Democratic and Republican primaries.

Across suburban Cook County and the collar counties, about 113,000 more early votes and mail-in ballots were returned than by this point four years ago.

“The old timers are leaving, and the new progressives in the Democratic Party are trying to take over,” said Thom Serafin, a political strategist.

As for why so many candidates have thrown their hats in the ring, here’s Serafin’s take:

“We’ve had a lackluster Illinois Congressional delegation for the last 15 years. It’s hard to say that because a lot of those guys are my friends, but they haven’t done anything that was done in the 80s, 70s and 60s,” Serafin said.

Incumbents typically have the advantage in elections, so the politicians who are elected this week could be in these seats for decades.