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  "path": "/elections/2026/03/17/us-house-illinois-7th-congressional-district-primary-results",
  "publishedAt": "2026-03-17T10:30:00.000Z",
  "site": "https://chicago.suntimes.com",
  "tags": [
    "Illinois’s 7th Congressional District",
    "U.S. Rep. Danny Davis",
    "Rep. La Shawn Ford",
    "pleaded guilty in 2014",
    "Melissa Conyears-Ervin",
    "$30,000 fine to the Chicago Board of Ethics",
    "Kina Collins",
    "Richard Boykin",
    "Anthony Driver",
    "first president",
    "Jason Friedman",
    "River North real estate firm",
    "Thomas Fisher",
    "David Ehrlich",
    "Rory Hoskins",
    "Anabel Mendoza",
    "Reed Showalter",
    "Felix Tello",
    "Patricia “P Rae” Easley",
    "Voter Guide >",
    "Ballot look-up tool >",
    "Candidate profiles >",
    "Polling place look-up >",
    "U.S. Senate >",
    "U.S. House >",
    "2nd District",
    "7th District >](https://chicago.suntimes.com /elections/2026/03/17/us-house-illinois-7th-congressional-district-primary-results) | [8th District >",
    "8th District > | [9th District >",
    "Governor (GOP) >",
    "Illinois Comptroller >",
    "Illinois General Assembly >",
    "Cook County President >",
    "Cook County Board of Review >",
    "Cook County Assessor >"
  ],
  "textContent": "It’s the dawn of a new political era in Illinois’s 7th Congressional District, as voters look to replace retiring U.S. Rep. Danny Davis after nearly three decades in office.\n\nThirteen Democratic candidates are vying for the seat Davis has held since 1997.\n\nTwo of the candidates have already tried and failed to unseat him, and another wasn’t yet born when the 84-year-old U.S. representative first took office.\n\nAll thirteen candidates, representing a diverse district that includes part of Englewood, the Loop, Austin and several suburbs, hope to offer a fresh counter to President Donald Trump’s agenda in Washington.\n\nDavis wants a fellow West Sider, state Rep. La Shawn Ford, to take over the job. Davis endorsed Ford when announcing his retirement last summer.\n\nFord has served in the Illinois General Assembly since 2007. He unsuccessfully ran for Chicago mayor back in 2019.\n\nHe currently chairs the House appropriations committee for higher education, and has notably advocated for supervised drug-use sites to reduce fatal overdoses, and for state regulation of hemp-derived THC products.\n\nFord has faced federal bank fraud charges but they were dropped before he pleaded guilty in 2014 to a lesser misdemeanor for failing to pay about $3,700 in income taxes.\n\nAnother prominent name in the race who also carries a bit of political baggage is two-term Chicago City Treasurer Melissa Conyears-Ervin. She ran to unseat Davis two years ago and finished as a distant runner-up.\n\nPrior to that Conyears-Ervin was an executive at Allstate, and championed child-care initiatives during a term in the Illinois House.\n\nLast year, she agreed to pay a $30,000 fine to the Chicago Board of Ethics to settle two charges related to allegations from former employees that she’d abused her power as treasurer.\n\nCommunity organizer Kina Collins is another repeat candidate. The 34-year-old finished third behind Davis and Conyears-Ervin in the 2024 primary. But in 2022 she finished in second, just about six percentage points shy of Davis.\n\nAnother candidate is former Cook County Commissioner Richard Boykin, who has close ties to the Davis camp, serving as chief of staff for the first decade of the congressman’s tenure.\n\nSince losing his commissioner seat in 2018, Boykin has worked in private practice as an attorney and made unsuccessful bids for county board president and circuit court clerk.\n\nLabor leader Anthony Driver is making his first run for publicly elected office. He currently serves as executive director of the influential Service Employees International Union Illinois State Council.\n\nBefore that, he was the first president of the Community Commission for Public Safety and Accountability, where he remains a commissioner.\n\nJason Friedman doesn’t have experience in public office but is leaning on his legal and real estate expertise. He’s an owner and former president of Friedman Properties, a massive River North real estate firm with deep ties to several mayoral administrations.\n\nLike Friedman, University of Chicago Medical Center emergency physician Thomas Fisher has also brought some big money into the race. He has raised more than $626,000 on a platform centered on improving health care access.\n\nThe remaining six candidates are adjunct lecturer David Ehrlich, Forest Park mayor Rory Hoskins, immigrant rights organizer Anabel Mendoza, human resources worker Jazmin Robinson, former U.S. Department of Justice lawyer Reed Showalter and technology engineer Felix Tello.\n\nWhoever wins the Democratic primary is heavily favored to replace Davis in the deep blue district. Still, they will face either Patricia “P Rae” Easley or Chad Koppie, the two candidates vying for the Republican nomination, in November.\n\n**Voter resources**\nVoter Guide > \nBallot look-up tool >\nCandidate profiles > \nPolling place look-up > \n\n**Races we’re watching**\nU.S. Senate >\nU.S. House > | 2nd District > | 7th District >](https://chicago.suntimes.com /elections/2026/03/17/us-house-illinois-7th-congressional-district-primary-results) | 8th District > | [9th District > \nGovernor (GOP) > | Illinois Comptroller > | Illinois General Assembly >\nCook County President > | Cook County Board of Review > | Cook County Assessor >\n",
  "title": "Voters to decide on Democrat to replace Rep. Danny Davis after decades-long 7th Congressional District reign",
  "updatedAt": "2026-03-17T10:31:25.868Z"
}