Illinois' 17th Congressional District election, 2024

	2026 → ← 2022
Illinois' 17th Congressional District
	Democratic primary; Republican primary; General election
Election details
	Filing deadline: December 4, 2023
	Primary: March 19, 2024; General: November 5, 2024
How to vote
	Poll times: 6 a.m. to 7 p.m.; Voting in Illinois
Race ratings
	Cook Political Report: Likely Democratic; DDHQ and The Hill: Likely Democratic; Inside Elections: Likely Democratic; Sabato's Crystal Ball: Likely Democratic
Ballotpedia analysis
	U.S. Senate battlegrounds; U.S. House battlegrounds; Federal and state primary competitiveness; Ballotpedia's Election Analysis Hub, 2024
See also
	Illinois' 17th Congressional District; 1st • 2nd • 3rd • 4th • 5th • 6th • 7th • 8th • 9th • 10th • 11th • 12th • 13th • 14th • 15th • 16th • 17th; Illinois elections, 2024; U.S. Congress elections, 2024; U.S. Senate elections, 2024; U.S. House elections, 2024; Alabama U.S. House racesAlaska U.S. House racesArizona U.S. House racesArkansas U.S. House racesCalifornia U.S. House racesColorado U.S. House racesConnecticut U.S. House racesDelaware U.S. House racesFlorida U.S. House racesGeorgia U.S. House racesHawaii U.S. House racesIdaho U.S. House racesIllinois U.S. House racesIndiana U.S. House racesIowa U.S. House racesKansas U.S. House racesKentucky U.S. House racesLouisiana U.S. House racesMaine U.S. House racesMaryland U.S. House racesMassachusetts U.S. House racesMichigan U.S. House racesMinnesota U.S. House racesMississippi U.S. House racesMissouri U.S. House racesMontana U.S. House racesNebraska U.S. House racesNevada U.S. House racesNew Hampshire U.S. House racesNew Jersey U.S. House racesNew Mexico U.S. House racesNew York U.S. House racesNorth Carolina U.S. House racesNorth Dakota U.S. House racesOhio U.S. House racesOklahoma U.S. House racesOregon U.S. House racesPennsylvania U.S. House racesRhode Island U.S. House racesSouth Carolina U.S. House racesSouth Dakota U.S. House racesTennessee U.S. House racesTexas U.S. House racesUtah U.S. House racesVermont U.S. House racesVirginia U.S. House racesWashington U.S. House racesWest Virginia U.S. House racesWisconsin U.S. House racesWyoming U.S. House racesSubmit

Illinois 2024 elections

U.S. House • State Senate • State House • Special state legislative • Supreme court • Appellate courts • State ballot measures • Local ballot measures • School boards • Municipal • All other local • How to run for office

Incumbent Eric Sorensen (D) defeated Joseph G. McGraw (R) in the general election in Illinois' 17th Congressional District on November 5, 2024. Click here for detailed results.

Sorensen was first elected in 2022, defeating Esther Joy King (R) 52.0%–48.0%.

Sorensen was a meteorologist before he was elected in 2022. Sorensen said he was running to continue his work "protecting our neighbors and our communities, values I learned from my family at an early age."^[1]

McGraw was a retired judge who served on the felony division of the Illinois Seventeenth Judicial Circuit Court. McGraw said he was running "to take on corruption in Washington and return our district to a safe, free, and economically prosperous community."^[2]

Before the election, one major election forecaster rated the general election Lean Democratic and three rated it Likely Democratic. Both the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC) and the National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC) targeted the district.

Based on post-general election reports filed with the Federal Election Commission, Sorensen raised $5.03 million and spent $4.86 million, and McGraw raised $1.51 million and spent $1.46 million. To review all the campaign finance figures in full detail, click here.

The outcome of this race affected the partisan balance of the U.S. House of Representatives in the 119th Congress. All 435 House districts were up for election.

At the time of the election, Republicans held a 220-212 majority with three vacancies.^[3] As a result of the election, Republicans retained control of the U.S. House, winning 220 seats to Democrats' 215.^[4] To read more about the 2024 U.S. House elections, click here.

In the 2022 election in this district, the Democratic candidate won 52.0%-48.0%. Daily Kos calculated what the results of the 2020 presidential election in this district would have been following redistricting. Joe Biden (D) would have defeated Donald Trump (R) 52.7%-44.9%.^[5]

Illinois' 17th Congressional District was one of 37 congressional districts with a Democratic incumbent or an open seat that the National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC) targeted in 2024. To read about NRCC targeting initiatives, click here. For a complete list of NRCC targeted districts, click here.

For more information about the primaries in this election, click on the links below:

Candidates and election results

General election

General election for U.S. House Illinois District 17

Incumbent Eric Sorensen defeated Joseph G. McGraw in the general election for U.S. House Illinois District 17 on November 5, 2024.

	Candidate	%	Votes
✔	Eric Sorensen (D)	54.4	170,261
	Joseph G. McGraw (R)	45.6	142,567

	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 312,828
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

Democratic primary election

Democratic primary for U.S. House Illinois District 17

Incumbent Eric Sorensen advanced from the Democratic primary for U.S. House Illinois District 17 on March 19, 2024.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Eric Sorensen	100.0	28,533

	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 28,533
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

Republican primary election

Republican primary for U.S. House Illinois District 17

Joseph G. McGraw defeated Scott Crowl in the Republican primary for U.S. House Illinois District 17 on March 19, 2024.

	Candidate	%	Votes
✔	Joseph G. McGraw	67.6	20,223
	Scott Crowl	32.4	9,696

	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 29,919
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

Withdrawn or disqualified candidates

Ray Estrada (R)

Voting information

See also: Voting in Illinois

Election information in Illinois: Nov. 5, 2024, election.

What was the voter registration deadline?

In-person: Nov. 5, 2024
By mail: Postmarked by Oct. 8, 2024
Online: Oct. 20, 2024

Was absentee/mail-in voting available to all voters?

Yes

What was the absentee/mail-in ballot request deadline?

In-person: Nov. 4, 2024
By mail: Received by Oct. 31, 2024
Online: Oct. 31, 2024

What was the absentee/mail-in ballot return deadline?

In-person: Nov. 5, 2024
By mail: Postmarked by Nov. 5, 2024

Was early voting available to all voters?

Yes

What were the early voting start and end dates?

Sep. 26, 2024 to Nov. 4, 2024

Were all voters required to present ID at the polls? If so, was a photo or non-photo ID required?

N/A

When were polls open on Election Day?

6:00 a.m. - 7:00 p.m. (CST)

Candidate comparison

Candidate profiles

This section includes candidate profiles that may be created in one of two ways: either the candidate completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey, or Ballotpedia staff may compile a profile based on campaign websites, advertisements, and public statements after identifying the candidate as noteworthy. For more on how we select candidates to include, click here.

Eric Sorensen

Party: Democratic Party

Incumbent: Yes

Political Office:

U.S. House Illinois District 17 (Assumed office: 2023)

Biography: Sorensen obtained a bachelor's degree from Northern Illinois University. Before entering elected politics, Sorensen worked as a meteorologist.

Key Messages

The following key messages were curated by Ballotpedia staff. For more on how we identify key messages, click here.

Sorensen said he was running to continue the work he had started as a meteorologist: "I spent 22 years keeping you safe by telling the truth, informing, and educating our communities daily...being a meteorologist has always been about protecting our neighbors and our communities."

Sorensen said he had a record of service to the district including as a meteorologist and a member of Congress as well as through volunteer work. Sorensen said he had founded a project that arranged for meteorologists to speak at schools to educate students on severe weather and was involved in multiple projects connecting LGBTQ individuals to healthcare.

Sorensen said his policy priorities included lowering the cost of living, preserving access to abortion, and bringing good-paying jobs to the district.

Show sources

Sources: Eric Sorensen 2024 campaign website, "Home page," accessed June 21, 2024; Eric Sorensen 2024 campaign website, "Issues," accessed June 21, 2024; Eric Sorensen 2024 campaign website, "Home page," accessed June 21, 2024; Biographical Directory of the United States Congress, "SORENSEN, Eric," accessed June 21, 2024

This information was current as of the candidate's run for U.S. House Illinois District 17 in 2024.

Joseph G. McGraw

Party: Republican Party

Incumbent: No

Political Office:

Illinois Seventeenth Judicial Circuit (2002–2023)

Biography: McGraw obtained a bachelor's degree from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign and a law degree from the Northern Illinois University College of Law. McGraw worked for 20 years as a presiding judge in the criminal division of the Illinois state courts.

Key Messages

The following key messages were curated by Ballotpedia staff. For more on how we identify key messages, click here.

McGraw said he was running "to fight to save America for the next generation...to take on corruption in Washington, and return our district to a safe, free, and economically prosperous community."

McGraw said he had learned the value of hard work from his parents, who were both veterans, and from working forging horseshoes at the family business. McGraw said he had always held himself to a strict code of ethics.

McGraw said his experience as a judge and attorney gave him experience with fighting crime, saying he had "dedicated his life to upholding the law because he knows that soft-on-crime policies only create more victims."

Show sources

Sources: Joseph G. McGraw campaign website, "About Joe," accessed June 21, 2024; Illinois 17th Judicial Circuit Court, "Hon. Joseph G. McGraw," accessed June 21, 2024

This information was current as of the candidate's run for U.S. House Illinois District 17 in 2024.

Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey responses

Ballotpedia asks all federal, state, and local candidates to complete a survey and share what motivates them on political and personal levels. Candidates are asked three required questions for this survey, but they may answer additional optional questions as well.

No candidate in this race completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey.

Campaign advertisements

This section includes a selection of up to three campaign advertisements per candidate released in this race, as well as links to candidates' YouTube, Vimeo, and/or Facebook video pages. If you are aware of other links that should be included, please email us.

Eric Sorensen

Ballotpedia did not come across any campaign ads for Eric Sorensen while conducting research on this election. If you are aware of any ads that should be included, please email us.

Joseph G. McGraw

Ballotpedia did not come across any campaign ads for Joseph G. McGraw while conducting research on this election. If you are aware of any ads that should be included, please email us.

Election competitiveness

Polls

See also: Ballotpedia's approach to covering polls

We provide results for polls that are included in polling aggregation from FiveThirtyEight and RealClearPolitics, when available. No polls were available for this election. To notify us of polls published in this election, please email us.

Race ratings

See also: Race rating definitions and methods

Ballotpedia provides race ratings from four outlets: The Cook Political Report, Inside Elections, Sabato's Crystal Ball, and DDHQ/The Hill. Each race rating indicates if one party is perceived to have an advantage in the race and, if so, the degree of advantage:

Safe and Solid ratings indicate that one party has a clear edge and the race is not competitive.
Likely ratings indicate that one party has a clear edge, but an upset is possible.
Lean ratings indicate that one party has a small edge, but the race is competitive.^[6]
Toss-up ratings indicate that neither party has an advantage.

Race ratings are informed by a number of factors, including polling, candidate quality, and election result history in the race's district or state.^[7]^[8]^[9]

Race ratings: Illinois' 17th Congressional District election, 2024
Race tracker	Race ratings
	November 5, 2024	October 29, 2024	October 22, 2024	October 15, 2024
The Cook Political Report with Amy Walter	Likely Democratic	Likely Democratic	Likely Democratic	Likely Democratic
Decision Desk HQ and The Hill	Likely Democratic	Likely Democratic	Likely Democratic	Likely Democratic
Inside Elections with Nathan L. Gonzales	Likely Democratic	Likely Democratic	Likely Democratic	Likely Democratic
Larry J. Sabato's Crystal Ball	Likely Democratic	Lean Democratic	Lean Democratic	Lean Democratic
Note: Ballotpedia reviews external race ratings every week throughout the election season and posts weekly updates even if the media outlets have not revised their ratings during that week.

Endorsements

See also: Ballotpedia: Our approach to covering endorsements

Click the links below to see official endorsement lists published on candidate campaign websites for any candidates that make that information available. If you are aware of a website that should be included, please email us.

Joe McGraw

Election spending

Campaign finance

Name	Party	Receipts*	Disbursements**	Cash on hand	Date
Eric Sorensen	Democratic Party	$5,046,501	$4,974,635	$112,794	As of December 31, 2024
Scott Crowl	Republican Party	$135,837	$129,306	$6,531	As of October 4, 2024
Joseph G. McGraw	Republican Party	$1,510,549	$1,508,956	$1,593	As of December 31, 2024
Source: Federal Elections Commission, "Campaign finance data," 2024. This product uses the openFEC API but is not endorsed or certified by the Federal Election Commission (FEC). * According to the FEC, "Receipts are anything of value (money, goods, services or property) received by a political committee." ** According to the FEC, a disbursement "is a purchase, payment, distribution, loan, advance, deposit or gift of money or anything of value to influence a federal election," plus other kinds of payments not made to influence a federal election.

Satellite spending

See also: Satellite spending

Satellite spending describes political spending not controlled by candidates or their campaigns; that is, any political expenditures made by groups or individuals that are not directly affiliated with a candidate. This includes spending by political party committees, super PACs, trade associations, and 501(c)(4) nonprofit groups.^[10]^[11]

If available, satellite spending reports by the Federal Election Commission (FEC) and OpenSecrets.org are linked below. FEC links include totals from monthly, quarterly, and semi-annual reports. OpenSecrets.org compiles data from those reports as well as 24- and 48-hour reports from the FEC.^[12]

Details about satellite spending of significant amounts and/or reported by media are included below those links. The amounts listed may not represent the total satellite spending in the election. To notify us of additional satellite spending, email us.

By candidate	By election
Eric Sorensen Joe McGraw	OpenSecrets Federal Election Commission

District analysis

Click the tabs below to view information about voter composition, past elections, and demographics in both the district and the state.

District map - A map of the district in place for the election.
Competitiveness - Information about the competitiveness of 2024 U.S. House elections in the state.
Presidential elections - Information about presidential elections in the district and the state.
State party control - The partisan makeup of the state's congressional delegation and state government.

District map

Competitiveness
Presidential elections

State party control

Below was the map in use at the time of the election. Click the map below to enlarge it.

See also: Primary election competitiveness in state and federal government, 2024

This section contains data on U.S. House primary election competitiveness in Illinois.

Illinois U.S. House competitiveness, 2014-2024
Year	Districts/ offices	Seats	Open seats	Candidates	Possible primaries	Contested Democratic primaries	Contested Republican primaries	% of contested primaries	Incumbents in contested primaries	% of incumbents in contested primaries
2024	17	17	0	46	34	5	6	32.4%	5	29.4%
2022	17	17	4	95	34	8	11	55.9%	7	46.7%
2020	18	18	1	73	36	13	8	58.3%	10	58.8%
2018	18	18	1	79	36	12	8	55.6%	7	41.2%
2016	18	18	1	49	36	8	6	38.9%	7	41.2%
2014	18	18	0	50	36	4	5	25.0%	3	16.7%

Post-filing deadline analysis

The following analysis covers all U.S. House districts up for election in Illinois in 2024. Information below was calculated on 2/16/2024, and may differ from information shown in the table above due to candidate replacements and withdrawals after that time. </noinclude>

Forty-nine candidates filed to run for Illinois' 17 U.S. House districts, including 24 Democrats and 25 Republicans. That's 2.59 candidates per district. In 2022, the first election after the number of Congressional districts in Illinois decreased from 18 to 17, 5.59 candidates filed per district.

In 2020, when the state still had 18 Congressional districts, 4.1 candidates ran. In 2018, 4.4 candidates did.

The number of total candidates who ran for the U.S. House in 2024 was the fewest since at least 2014.

All incumbents ran for re-election this year, meaning no seats were open for the first time since 2014. In 2022, four seats were open, and one seat was open in 2020, 2028, and 2016.

Six candidates—five Democrats and one Republican—ran in the 7th district, including incumbent Danny K. Davis (D). That was the most candidates who ran for a single district in 2024.

Eleven primaries were contested in 2024—five Democratic and six Republican. That was the fewest contested primaries since 2014, when nine were.

Five incumbents faced primary challengers—four Democrats and one Republican. That was also the fewest since 2014, when three incumbents faced primary challengers.

The 4th District was guaranteed to Democrats because no Republican candidates filed. The 15th and Illinois' 16th Congressional District were guaranteed to Republicans because no Democrats filed.

Partisan Voter Index

See also: The Cook Political Report's Partisan Voter Index

Heading into the 2024 elections, based on results from the 2020 and 2016 presidential elections, the Cook Partisan Voter Index for this district was D+2. This meant that in those two presidential elections, this district's results were 2 percentage points more Democratic than the national average. This made Illinois' 17th the 198th most Democratic district nationally.^[13]

2020 presidential election results

The table below shows what the vote in the 2020 presidential election would have been in this district. The presidential election data was compiled by Daily Kos.

2020 presidential results in Illinois' 17th based on 2024 district lines
Joe Biden	Donald Trump
52.7%	44.9%

Inside Elections Baselines

See also: Inside Elections

Inside Elections' Baseline is a figure that analyzes all federal and statewide election results from the district over the past four election cycles. The results are combined in an index estimating the strength of a typical Democratic or Republican candidate in the congressional district.^[14] The table below displays the Baseline data for this district.

Inside Elections Baseline for 2024
Democratic Baseline	Republican Baseline	Difference
50.8	45.3	R+5.5

Presidential voting history

See also: Presidential election in Illinois, 2020

Illinois presidential election results (1900-2020)

16 Democratic wins
15 Republican wins

Year	1900	1904	1908	1912	1916	1920	1924	1928	1932	1936	1940	1944	1948	1952	1956	1960	1964	1968	1972	1976	1980	1984	1988	1992	1996	2000	2004	2008	2012	2016	2020
Winning Party	R	R	R	D	R	R	R	R	D	D	D	D	D	R	R	D	D	R	R	R	R	R	R	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D

See also: Party control of Illinois state government

Congressional delegation

The table below displays the partisan composition of Illinois' congressional delegation as of May 2024.

Congressional Partisan Breakdown from Illinois
Party	U.S. Senate	U.S. House	Total
Democratic	2	14	16
Republican	0	3	3
Independent	0	0	0
Vacancies	0	0	0
Total	2	17	19

State executive

The table below displays the officeholders in Illinois' top four state executive offices as of May 2024.

State executive officials in Illinois, May 2024
Office	Officeholder
Governor	J.B. Pritzker
Lieutenant Governor	Juliana Stratton
Secretary of State	Alexi Giannoulias
Attorney General	Kwame Raoul

State legislature

Illinois State Senate

Party		As of February 2024
	Democratic Party	40
	Republican Party	19
	Other	0
	Vacancies	0
Total		59

Illinois House of Representatives

Party		As of February 2024
	Democratic Party	78
	Republican Party	40
	Other	0
	Vacancies	0
Total		118

Trifecta control

The table below shows the state's trifecta status from 1992 until the 2024 election.

Illinois Party Control: 1992-2024
Eighteen years of Democratic trifectas • Two years of Republican trifectas
Scroll left and right on the table below to view more years.

Year	92	93	94	95	96	97	98	99	00	01	02	03	04	05	06	07	08	09	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	23	24
Governor	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	R	R	R	R	D	D	D	D	D	D
Senate	D	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D
House	D	D	D	R	R	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D

Election context

Ballot access requirements

The table below details filing requirements for U.S. House candidates in Illinois in the 2024 election cycle. For additional information on candidate ballot access requirements in Illinois, click here.

Filing requirements for U.S. House candidates, 2024
State	Office	Party	Signatures required	Filing fee	Filing deadline	Source
Illinois	U.S. House	Democratic	685^[15]	N/A	12/4/2023	Source
Illinois	U.S. House	Republican	536^[16]	N/A	12/4/2023	Source
Illinois	U.S. House	Unaffiliated	12,188^[17]	N/A	6/24/2024	Source

District election history

The section below details election results for this office in elections dating back to 2018.