Illinois' 2nd Congressional District

Illinois' 2nd Congressional District

Incumbent

Robin Kelly

Assumed office: April 11, 2013

Illinois' 2nd Congressional District in the United States House of Representatives is represented by Robin Kelly (D).

As of the 2020 Census, Illinois representatives represented an average of 754,279 residents. After the 2010 Census, each member represented 714,688 residents.

Elections

2024

See also: Illinois' 2nd Congressional District election, 2024

Illinois' 2nd Congressional District election, 2024 (March 19 Democratic primary)

Illinois' 2nd Congressional District election, 2024 (March 19 Republican primary)

General election

General election for U.S. House Illinois District 2

Incumbent Robin Kelly defeated Ashley Ramos and Mike Vick in the general election for U.S. House Illinois District 2 on November 5, 2024.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Robin Kelly (D)	67.5	195,777
		Ashley Ramos (R)	32.4	94,004
		Mike Vick (Independent) (Write-in)	0.0	33
		Other/Write-in votes	0.0	29

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	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 289,843
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Democratic primary election

Democratic primary for U.S. House Illinois District 2

Incumbent Robin Kelly advanced from the Democratic primary for U.S. House Illinois District 2 on March 19, 2024.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Robin Kelly	100.0	56,732

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	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 56,732
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Withdrawn or disqualified candidates

• John Curry (D)

Republican primary election

Republican primary for U.S. House Illinois District 2

Ashley Ramos advanced from the Republican primary for U.S. House Illinois District 2 on March 19, 2024.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Ashley Ramos	100.0	20,527

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	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 20,527
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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2022

See also: Illinois' 2nd Congressional District election, 2022

General election

General election for U.S. House Illinois District 2

Incumbent Robin Kelly defeated Thomas Lynch in the general election for U.S. House Illinois District 2 on November 8, 2022.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Robin Kelly (D)	65.0	127,650
		Thomas Lynch (R)	35.0	68,761

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	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 196,411
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Democratic primary election

Democratic primary for U.S. House Illinois District 2

Incumbent Robin Kelly advanced from the Democratic primary for U.S. House Illinois District 2 on June 28, 2022.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Robin Kelly	100.0	56,606

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	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 56,606
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Withdrawn or disqualified candidates

• Toni Brown (D)

Republican primary election

Republican primary for U.S. House Illinois District 2

Thomas Lynch defeated Shane Cultra and Ashley Ramos in the Republican primary for U.S. House Illinois District 2 on June 28, 2022.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Thomas Lynch	37.2	10,289
		Shane Cultra	35.7	9,869
		Ashley Ramos	27.2	7,524

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	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 27,682
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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2020

See also: Illinois' 2nd Congressional District election, 2020

General election

General election for U.S. House Illinois District 2

Incumbent Robin Kelly defeated Theresa Raborn in the general election for U.S. House Illinois District 2 on November 3, 2020.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Robin Kelly (D)	78.8	234,896
		Theresa Raborn (R)	21.2	63,142

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	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 298,038
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Democratic primary election

Democratic primary for U.S. House Illinois District 2

Incumbent Robin Kelly defeated Marcus Lewis in the Democratic primary for U.S. House Illinois District 2 on March 17, 2020.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Robin Kelly	84.8	94,767
		Marcus Lewis	15.2	16,942

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	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 111,709
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Withdrawn or disqualified candidates

• John Morrow (D)

Republican primary election

Republican primary for U.S. House Illinois District 2

Theresa Raborn advanced from the Republican primary for U.S. House Illinois District 2 on March 17, 2020.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Theresa Raborn	100.0	12,181

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	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 12,181
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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2018

See also: Illinois' 2nd Congressional District election, 2018

General election

General election for U.S. House Illinois District 2

Incumbent Robin Kelly defeated David Merkle in the general election for U.S. House Illinois District 2 on November 6, 2018.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Robin Kelly (D)	80.7	183,816
		David Merkle (R)	19.3	43,875

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	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 227,691 (100.00% precincts reporting)
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Democratic primary election

Democratic primary for U.S. House Illinois District 2

Incumbent Robin Kelly defeated Marcus Lewis in the Democratic primary for U.S. House Illinois District 2 on March 20, 2018.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Robin Kelly	82.1	80,659
		Marcus Lewis	17.9	17,640

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	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified.	Total votes: 98,299
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Republican primary election

Republican primary for U.S. House Illinois District 2

David Merkle defeated Patrick Harmon and John Morrow in the Republican primary for U.S. House Illinois District 2 on March 20, 2018.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		David Merkle	36.6	4,963
	Submit photo	Patrick Harmon	35.5	4,810
		John Morrow	27.9	3,790

---

	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified.	Total votes: 13,563
= 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.
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2016

See also: Illinois' 2nd Congressional District election, 2016

Heading into the election, Ballotpedia rated this race as safely Democratic. Incumbent Robin Kelly (D) defeated John Morrow (R), the only Republican to file, in the general election on November 8, 2016. Kelly defeated Marcus Lewis, Dorian Myrickes and Charles Rayburn in the Democratic primary on March 15, 2016.

U.S. House, Illinois District 2 General Election, 2016

Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Democratic	Robin Kelly Incumbent	79.8%	235,051
	Republican	John Morrow	20.2%	59,471
Total Votes				294,522
Source: Illinois State Board of Elections

U.S. House, Illinois District 2 Democratic Primary, 2016

Candidate	Vote %	Votes
Robin Kelly Incumbent	73.9%	115,752
Marcus Lewis	16.1%	25,280
Charles Rayburn	6.1%	9,559
Dorian Myrickes	3.8%	6,002
Total Votes		156,593
Source: Illinois State Board of Elections

2014

See also: Illinois' 2nd Congressional District elections, 2014

The 2nd Congressional District of Illinois held an election for the U.S. House of Representatives on November 4, 2014. Incumbent Robin Kelly (D) defeated challenger Eric Wallace (R) in the general election.

U.S. House, Illinois District 2 General Election, 2014

Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Democratic	Robin Kelly Incumbent	78.5%	160,337
	Republican	Eric Wallace	21.4%	43,799
	Independent	Marcus Lewis (Write-in)	0.1%	130
Total Votes				204,266
Source: Illinois State Board of Elections Official Results

General election candidates

• Eric Wallace
• Robin Kelly - Incumbent

March 18, 2014, primary results

Republican Primary

• Eric Wallacea

Democratic Primary

• Robin Kelly - Incumbenta

Removed from ballot

• Marcus Lewis
• Charles Rayburn

2013

See also: Illinois' 2nd Congressional District special election, 2013

The 2nd Congressional District of Illinois held a special election to fill the vacancy left by the resignation of Representative Jesse Jackson Jr. (D). Robin Kelly won the race.

U.S. House, Illinois District 2 Special Election, 2013
Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Democratic	Robin Kelly	70.7%	58,834
	Republican	Paul McKinley	22.1%	18,387
	Independent	Elizabeth Pahlke	3%	2,525
	Green	LeAlan M. Jones	1.8%	1,531
	Independent	Marcus Lewis	1.6%	1,359
	Independent	Curtis Llong Bey	0.7%	548
	Write-in	Steve Piekarczyk	0%	9
Total Votes				83,193
Source: Results via Illinois State Board of Elections

2012

See also: Illinois' 2nd Congressional District elections, 2012

The 2nd Congressional District of Illinois held an election for the U.S. House of Representatives on November 6, 2012. Incumbent Jesse Jackson Jr. won re-election in the district.

U.S. House, Illinois District 2 General Election, 2012

Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Democratic	Jesse Jackson Jr. Incumbent	63.3%	188,303
	Republican	Brian Woodworth	23.2%	69,115
	Independent	Marcus Lewis	13.5%	40,006
Total Votes				297,424
Source: Illinois Board of Elections "2012 General Election Official Vote Totals"

2010
On November 2, 2010, Jesse L. Jackson, Jr. won re-election to the United States House. He defeated Isaac C. Hayes (R) and Anthony W. Williams (Green) in the general election.

U.S. House, Illinois District 2 General Election, 2010
Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Democratic	Jesse L. Jackson, Jr. incumbent	80.5%	150,666
	Republican	Isaac C. Hayes	13.8%	25,883
	Green	Anthony W. Williams	5.6%	10,564
Total Votes				187,113

2008
On November 4, 2008, Jesse L. Jackson, Jr. won re-election to the United States House. He defeated Anthony W. Williams (R) and Nathan Peoples (Green) in the general election.

U.S. House, Illinois District 2 General Election, 2008
Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Democratic	Jesse L. Jackson, Jr. incumbent	89.4%	251,052
	Republican	Anthony W. Williams	10.6%	29,721
	Green	Nathan Peoples	0%	3
Total Votes				280,776

2006
On November 7, 2006, Jesse L. Jackson, Jr. won re-election to the United States House. He defeated Robert Belin (R) and Anthony W. Williams (Libertarian) in the general election.

U.S. House, Illinois District 2 General Election, 2006
Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Democratic	Jesse L. Jackson, Jr. incumbent	84.8%	146,347
	Republican	Robert Belin	11.8%	20,395
	Libertarian	Anthony W. Williams	3.3%	5,748
Total Votes				172,490

2004
On November 2, 2004, Jesse L. Jackson, Jr. won re-election to the United States House. He defeated Stephanie Sailor (Libertarian) in the general election.

U.S. House, Illinois District 2 General Election, 2004
Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Democratic	Jesse L. Jackson, Jr. incumbent	88.5%	207,535
	Libertarian	Stephanie Sailor	11.5%	26,990
Total Votes				234,525

2002
On November 5, 2002, Jesse L. Jackson, Jr. won re-election to the United States House. He defeated Doug Nelson (R) in the general election.

U.S. House, Illinois District 2 General Election, 2002
Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Democratic	Jesse L. Jackson, Jr. incumbent	82.3%	151,443
	Republican	Doug Nelson	17.7%	32,567
Total Votes				184,010

2000
On November 7, 2000, Jesse L. Jackson, Jr. won re-election to the United States House. He defeated Robert Gordon III (R) in the general election.

U.S. House, Illinois District 2 General Election, 2000
Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Democratic	Jesse L. Jackson, Jr. incumbent	89.8%	175,995
	Republican	Robert Gordon III	10.2%	19,906
Total Votes				195,901

Redistricting

2020-2021

See also: Redistricting in Illinois after the 2020 census

Illinois enacted a congressional map on November 24, 2021, after Gov. J.B. Pritzker (D) signed the proposal into law. The Illinois State Senate voted 41-18 in favor of the map on October 28, 2021, followed by the Illinois House of Representatives voting 71-43 in favor on October 29, 2021.

How does redistricting in Illinois work? The Illinois General Assembly is responsible for drawing both congressional and state legislative district lines. Both chambers of the state legislature must approve a redistricting plan. The governor may veto the lines drawn by the state legislature.

In the event that both chambers of the state legislature do not approve a legislative redistricting plan, a backup commission must draw the lines. The majority and minority leaders of each chamber must appoint two members each to the commission (one legislator and one general citizen). Of the eight commission members, no more than four may belong to the same political party. In the event that these eight members cannot approve a plan, the Illinois Supreme Court must select two individuals (from different political parties) as potential tiebreakers. The secretary of state must then appoint one of these individuals to the backup commission to break the tie.

The Illinois Constitution requires that state legislative districts be "contiguous and reasonably compact." There are no such requirements in place for the state's congressional districts.

State law also mandates the establishment of state legislative districts "that allow racial or language minority communities to elect--or influence the election of--the candidates of their choice, even if no comparable district would be required by the federal Voting Rights Act."

Illinois District 2
until January 2, 2023

Click a district to compare boundaries.

Illinois District 2
starting January 3, 2023

Click a district to compare boundaries.

2010-2011

This is the 2nd Congressional District of Illinois after the 2001 redistricting process.

See also: Redistricting in Illinois after the 2010 census

In 2011, the Illinois State Legislature re-drew the congressional districts based on updated population information from the 2010 census.

District analysis

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

See also: FiveThirtyEight's elasticity scores

2026

Heading into the 2026 elections, based on results from the 2024 and 2020 presidential elections, the Cook Partisan Voter Index for this district is D+18. This meant that in those two presidential elections, this district's results were 18 percentage points more Republican than the national average. This made Illinois' 2nd the 74th most Republican district nationally.

2024

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+19. This meant that in those two presidential elections, this district's results were 19 percentage points more Democratic than the national average. This made Illinois' 2nd the 72nd most Democratic district nationally.

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) 69.3%-29.3%.

2022

Heading into the 2022 elections, based on results from the 2020 and 2016 presidential elections, the Cook Partisan Voter Index for this district was D+19. This meant that in those two presidential elections, this district's results were 19 percentage points more Democratic than the national average. This made Illinois' 2nd the 71st most Democratic district nationally.

Daily Kos calculated what the results of the 2020 presidential election in this district would have been following redistricting. Joe Biden (D) would have received 69.3% of the vote in this district and Donald Trump (R) would have received 29.3%.

2018

Heading into the 2018 elections, based on results from the 2016 and 2012 presidential elections, the Cook Partisan Voter Index for this district was D+29. This meant that in those two presidential elections, this district's results were 29 percentage points more Democratic than the national average. This made Illinois' 2nd Congressional District the 27th most Democratic nationally.

FiveThirtyEight's September 2018 elasticity score for states and congressional districts measured "how sensitive it is to changes in the national political environment." This district's elasticity score was 0.96. This means that for every 1 point the national political mood moved toward a party, the district was expected to move 0.96 points toward that party.

See also

• Redistricting in Illinois
• Illinois' 2nd Congressional District election, 2024
• Illinois' 2nd Congressional District election, 2022
• Illinois' 2nd Congressional District election, 2020
• Illinois' 2nd Congressional District election, 2018

External links

• GovTrack District 2

Footnotes

[show]

Illinois' current delegation to the United States Congress

Senators

Tammy Duckworth (D)

Dick Durbin (D)

Representatives

District 1

Jonathan Jackson (D)

District 2

Robin Kelly (D)

District 3

Delia Ramirez (D)

District 4

Jesus Garcia (D)

District 5

Mike Quigley (D)

District 6

Sean Casten (D)

District 7

Danny Davis (D)

District 8

Raja Krishnamoorthi (D)

District 9

Jan Schakowsky (D)

District 10

Brad Schneider (D)

District 11

Bill Foster (D)

District 12

Mike Bost (R)

District 13

Nikki Budzinski (D)

District 14

Lauren Underwood (D)

District 15

Mary Miller (R)

District 16

Darin LaHood (R)

District 17

Eric Sorensen (D)

Democratic Party (16)

Republican Party (3)