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Illinois' 6th Congressional District election, 2020

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Illinois' 6th Congressional District
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Democratic primary
Republican primary
General election
Election details
Filing deadline: December 2, 2019
Primary: March 17, 2020
General: November 3, 2020
Pre-election incumbent:
Sean Casten (Democrat)
How to vote
Poll times: 6 a.m. to 7 p.m.
Voting in Illinois
Race ratings
Cook Political Report: Solid Democratic
Inside Elections: Solid Democratic
Sabato's Crystal Ball: Safe Democratic
Ballotpedia analysis
U.S. Senate battlegrounds
U.S. House battlegrounds
Federal and state primary competitiveness
Ballotpedia's Election Analysis Hub, 2020
See also
Illinois' 6th Congressional District
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Illinois elections, 2020
U.S. Congress elections, 2020
U.S. Senate elections, 2020
U.S. House elections, 2020

Voters in Illinois elected one member to the 6th Congressional District in the general election on November 3, 2020.

Incumbent Sean Casten defeated Jeanne M. Ives and Bill Redpath in the general election for U.S. House Illinois District 6 on November 3, 2020.

Watch the Candidate Conversation for this race!

Candidate filing deadline Primary election General election
December 2, 2019
March 17, 2020
November 3, 2020


Casten was first elected in 2018 after defeating incumbent Peter Roskam (R), flipping the partisan control of the district. Casten received 54 percent of the vote to Roskam's 46 percent.

In 2020, Casten ran unopposed in the Democratic primary. In the Republican primary, Ives defeated Gordon Kinzler to win the nomination, receiving 71 percent of the vote to Kinzler's 29 percent.

Illinois' 6th Congressional District includes parts of Cook, DuPage, Kane, McHenry and Lake counties.[1]

This race was one of 89 congressional races that were decided by 10 percent or less in 2020.


Republican Party For more information about the Republican primary, click here.
Democratic Party For more information about the Democratic primary, click here.

Post-election analysis

The table below compares the vote totals in the 2020 presidential election and 2020 U.S. House election for this district. The presidential election data was compiled by Daily Kos.

Presidential and congressional election results, Illinois' 6th Congressional District, 2020
Race Presidential U.S. House
Democratic candidate Democratic Party 55.3 52.8
Republican candidate Republican Party 42.6 45.4
Difference 12.7 7.4

Election procedure changes in 2020

See also: Changes to election dates, procedures, and administration in response to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, 2020

Ballotpedia provided comprehensive coverage of how election dates and procedures changed in 2020. While the majority of changes occurred as a result of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, some changes occurred for other reasons.

Illinois modified its absentee/mail-in voting and candidate filing procedures for the November 3, 2020, general election as follows:

  • Absentee/mail-in voting: Mail-in ballot applications were sent to all registered voters in the general election who cast ballots in the 2018 general election, the 2019 consolidated election, or the 2020 primary election.
  • Candidate filing procedures: The following changes were made to the filing procedures for unaffiliated and new-party candidates: petition signature requirements were reduced to 10 percent of their original numbers; candidates were authorized to collect petition signatures electronically; and the filing deadline was extended to July 20, 2020.

For a full timeline about election modifications made in response to the COVID-19 outbreak, click here.

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Candidates and election results

General election

General election for U.S. House Illinois District 6

Incumbent Sean Casten defeated Jeanne M. Ives and Bill Redpath in the general election for U.S. House Illinois District 6 on November 3, 2020.

Candidate
%
Votes
✔
Image of Sean Casten
Sean Casten (D)
 
52.8
 
213,777
Image of Jeanne M. Ives
Jeanne M. Ives (R)
 
45.4
 
183,891
Image of Bill Redpath
Bill Redpath (L) Candidate Connection
 
1.7
 
7,079

Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source

Total votes: 404,747
Candidate Connection = 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.

Watch the Candidate Conversation for this race!

Democratic primary election

Democratic primary for U.S. House Illinois District 6

Incumbent Sean Casten advanced from the Democratic primary for U.S. House Illinois District 6 on March 17, 2020.

Candidate
%
Votes
✔
Image of Sean Casten
Sean Casten
 
100.0
 
82,909

Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source

Total votes: 82,909
Candidate Connection = 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

Republican primary election

Republican primary for U.S. House Illinois District 6

Jeanne M. Ives defeated Gordon Kinzler and Richard Mayers in the Republican primary for U.S. House Illinois District 6 on March 17, 2020.

Candidate
%
Votes
✔
Image of Jeanne M. Ives
Jeanne M. Ives
 
70.8
 
29,144
Image of Gordon Kinzler
Gordon Kinzler
 
29.2
 
12,017
Silhouette Placeholder Image.png
Submit photo
Richard Mayers (Write-in)
 
0.0
 
1

There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source

Total votes: 41,162
Candidate Connection = 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

Republican Party For more information about the Republican primary, click here.
Democratic Party For more information about the Democratic primary, click here.<be>

Candidate Conversations

Moderated by journalist and political commentator Greta Van Susteren, Candidate Conversations is a virtual debate format that allows voters to easily get to know their candidates through a short video Q&A. Click below to watch the conversation for this race.

District analysis

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

The 2017 Cook Partisan Voter Index for this district was R+2, meaning that in the previous two presidential elections, this district's results were 2 percentage points more Republican than the national average. This made Illinois' 6th Congressional District the 222nd most Republican nationally.[2]

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 1.02. This means that for every 1 point the national political mood moved toward a party, the district was expected to move 1.02 points toward that party.[3]

Pivot Counties

See also: Pivot Counties by state

Eleven of 102 Illinois counties—10.8 percent—are Pivot Counties. These are counties that voted for Barack Obama (D) in 2008 and 2012 and for Donald Trump (R) in 2016. Altogether, the nation had 206 Pivot Counties, with most being concentrated in upper midwestern and northeastern states.

Counties won by Trump in 2016 and Obama in 2012 and 2008
County Trump margin of victory in 2016 Obama margin of victory in 2012 Obama margin of victory in 2008
Alexander County, Illinois 8.30% 13.65% 12.62%
Carroll County, Illinois 26.69% 1.49% 4.81%
Fulton County, Illinois 14.93% 11.04% 21.33%
Henderson County, Illinois 28.43% 12.25% 17.67%
Henry County, Illinois 20.99% 3.08% 7.74%
Jo Daviess County, Illinois 14.64% 1.16% 10.49%
Knox County, Illinois 2.91% 17.37% 19.89%
Mercer County, Illinois 20.36% 7.39% 11.91%
Putnam County, Illinois 19.92% 1.82% 15.64%
Warren County, Illinois 16.50% 5.47% 8.08%
Whiteside County, Illinois 6.18% 17.02% 17.56%

In the 2016 presidential election, Hillary Clinton (D) won Illinois with 55.8 percent of the vote. Donald Trump (R) received 38.8 percent. In presidential elections between 1900 and 2016, Illinois voted Republican 50 percent of the time and Democratic 50 percent of the time. Illinois voted Democratic in all five elections from 2000 to 2016.

Presidential results by legislative district

The following table details results of the 2012 and 2016 presidential elections by state House districts in Illinois. Click [show] to expand the table. The "Obama," "Romney," "Clinton," and "Trump" columns describe the percent of the vote each presidential candidate received in the district. The "2012 Margin" and "2016 Margin" columns describe the margin of victory between the two presidential candidates in those years. The "Party Control" column notes which party held that seat heading into the 2018 general election. Data on the results of the 2012 and 2016 presidential elections broken down by state legislative districts was compiled by Daily Kos.[4][5]

In 2012, Barack Obama (D) won 75 out of 118 state House districts in Illinois with an average margin of victory of 39.2 points. In 2016, Hillary Clinton (D) won 76 out of 118 state House districts in Illinois with an average margin of victory of 42.1 points. Clinton won 13 districts controlled by Republicans heading into the 2018 elections.
In 2012, Mitt Romney (R) won 43 out of 118 state House districts in Illinois with an average margin of victory of 15 points. In 2016, Donald Trump (R) won 42 out of 118 state House districts in Illinois with an average margin of victory of 22.1 points. Trump won four districts controlled by Democrats heading into the 2018 elections.

District analysis

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

The 2017 Cook Partisan Voter Index for this district was R+2, meaning that in the previous two presidential elections, this district's results were 2 percentage points more Republican than the national average. This made Illinois' 6th Congressional District the 222nd most Republican nationally.[6]

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 1.02. This means that for every 1 point the national political mood moved toward a party, the district was expected to move 1.02 points toward that party.[7]

Campaign finance

This section contains campaign finance figures from the Federal Election Commission covering all candidate fundraising and spending in this election.[8] It does not include information on fundraising before the current campaign cycle or on spending by satellite groups. The numbers in this section are updated as candidates file new campaign finance reports. Candidates for Congress are required to file financial reports on a quarterly basis, as well as two weeks before any primary, runoff, or general election in which they will be on the ballot and upon the termination of any campaign committees.[9] The chart below contains data from financial reports submitted to the Federal Election Commission.

Name Party Receipts* Disbursements** Cash on hand Date
Sean Casten Democratic Party $5,706,348 $5,437,739 $346,138 As of December 31, 2020
Jeanne M. Ives Republican Party $3,266,600 $3,244,293 $22,307 As of December 31, 2020
Bill Redpath Libertarian Party $12,362 $12,362 $0 As of November 24, 2020

Source: Federal Elections Commission, "Campaign finance data," 2020. 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.

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.[10]
  • 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.[11][12][13]

Race ratings: Illinois' 6th Congressional District election, 2020
Race trackerRace ratings
November 3, 2020October 27, 2020October 20, 2020October 13, 2020
The Cook Political ReportSolid DemocraticSolid DemocraticSolid DemocraticSolid Democratic
Inside Elections with Nathan L. GonzalesSolid DemocraticSolid DemocraticSolid DemocraticSolid Democratic
Larry J. Sabato's Crystal BallSafe DemocraticSafe DemocraticSafe DemocraticSafe Democratic
Note: Ballotpedia updates external race ratings every week throughout the election season.

Candidate ballot access

The table below details filing requirements for 6th Congressional District candidates in Illinois in the 2020 election cycle. For additional information on candidate ballot access requirements in Illinois, click here.

Filing requirements, 2020
State Office Party Signatures required Signature formula Filing fee Filing fee formula Filing deadline Source
Illinois 6th Congressional District Democratic 876 0.5% of qualified party primary voters in the district N/A N/A 12/2/2019 Source
Illinois 6th Congressional District Republican 1,010 0.5% of qualified party primary voters in the district N/A N/A 12/2/2019 Source
Illinois 6th Congressional District Unaffiliated Pending 10% of original requirement (by court order) N/A N/A 7/20/2020 Source

District election history

2018

See also: Illinois' 6th Congressional District election, 2018

General election

General election for U.S. House Illinois District 6

Sean Casten defeated incumbent Peter J. Roskam in the general election for U.S. House Illinois District 6 on November 6, 2018.

Candidate
%
Votes
✔
Image of Sean Casten
Sean Casten (D)
 
53.6
 
169,001
Image of Peter J. Roskam
Peter J. Roskam (R)
 
46.4
 
146,445

Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source

Total votes: 315,446
(100.00% precincts reporting)
Candidate Connection = 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 6

The following candidates ran in the Democratic primary for U.S. House Illinois District 6 on March 20, 2018.

Candidate
%
Votes
✔
Image of Sean Casten
Sean Casten
 
29.5
 
19,774
Image of Kelly Mazeski
Kelly Mazeski
 
26.8
 
17,984
Image of Carole Cheney
Carole Cheney
 
17.4
 
11,663
Image of Amanda Howland
Amanda Howland
 
12.7
 
8,483
Image of Becky Anderson Wilkins
Becky Anderson Wilkins
 
6.0
 
4,001
Image of Jennifer Zordani
Jennifer Zordani
 
4.1
 
2,743
Image of Ryan Huffman
Ryan Huffman
 
3.5
 
2,365

There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified.

Total votes: 67,013
Candidate Connection = 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 6

Incumbent Peter J. Roskam advanced from the Republican primary for U.S. House Illinois District 6 on March 20, 2018.

Candidate
%
Votes
✔
Image of Peter J. Roskam
Peter J. Roskam
 
100.0
 
56,544

Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified.

Total votes: 56,544
Candidate Connection = 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.

2016

See also: Illinois' 6th Congressional District election, 2016

Heading into the election, Ballotpedia rated this race as safely Republican. Incumbent Peter Roskam (R) defeated Amanda Howland (D) in the general election on November 8, 2016. Roskam defeated Gordon Kinzler in the Republican primary on March 15, 2016, while Howland defeated Robert Marshall to win the Democratic nomination.[14][15]

U.S. House, Illinois District 6 General Election, 2016
Party Candidate Vote % Votes
     Republican Green check mark transparent.pngPeter Roskam Incumbent 59.2% 208,555
     Democratic Amanda Howland 40.8% 143,591
Total Votes 352,146
Source: Illinois State Board of Elections


U.S. House, Illinois District 6 Democratic Primary, 2016
Candidate Vote % Votes
Green check mark transparent.pngAmanda Howland 67.1% 51,101
Robert Marshall 32.9% 25,027
Total Votes 76,128
Source: Illinois State Board of Elections
U.S. House, Illinois District 6 Republican Primary, 2016
Candidate Vote % Votes
Green check mark transparent.pngPeter Roskam Incumbent 68.8% 83,344
Gordon Kinzler 31.2% 37,834
Total Votes 121,178
Source: Illinois State Board of Elections

2014

See also: Illinois' 6th Congressional District elections, 2014
U.S. House, Illinois District 6 General Election, 2014
Party Candidate Vote % Votes
     Republican Green check mark transparent.pngPeter Roskam Incumbent 67.1% 160,278
     Democratic Michael Mason 32.9% 78,465
Total Votes 238,743
Source: Illinois State Board of Elections Official Results

See also

External links

Footnotes

  1. ↑ June 2011 Illinois Redistricting, "Map," accessed July 23, 2012
  2. ↑ Cook Political Report, "Introducing the 2017 Cook Political Report Partisan Voter Index," April 7, 2017
  3. ↑ FiveThirtyEight, "Election Update: The Most (And Least) Elastic States And Districts," September 6, 2018
  4. ↑ Daily Kos, "Daily Kos Elections' statewide election results by congressional and legislative districts," July 9, 2013
  5. ↑ Daily Kos, "Daily Kos Elections' 2016 presidential results for congressional and legislative districts," February 6, 2017
  6. ↑ Cook Political Report, "Introducing the 2017 Cook Political Report Partisan Voter Index," April 7, 2017
  7. ↑ FiveThirtyEight, "Election Update: The Most (And Least) Elastic States And Districts," September 6, 2018
  8. ↑ Fundraising by primary candidates can be found on the race's respective primary election page. Fundraising by general election candidates can be found on the race's general election page.
  9. ↑ Federal Election Commission, "2022 Quarterly Reports," accessed March 2, 2022
  10. ↑ Inside Elections also uses Tilt ratings to indicate an even smaller advantage and greater competitiveness.
  11. ↑ Amee LaTour, "Email correspondence with Nathan Gonzalez," April 19, 2018
  12. ↑ Amee LaTour, "Email correspondence with Kyle Kondik," April 19, 2018
  13. ↑ Amee LaTour, "Email correspondence with Charlie Cook," April 22, 2018
  14. ↑ Illinois State Board of Elections, "Candidate List," accessed November 30, 2015
  15. ↑ The New York Times, "Illinois Primary Results," March 15, 2016


Illinois' current delegation to the United States Congress
Senators
Tammy Duckworth (D)
Dick Durbin (D)
Representatives
District 1
District 2
District 3
District 4
District 5
District 6
District 7
District 8
District 9
District 10
District 11
District 12
Mike Bost (R)
District 13
District 14
District 15
District 16
District 17
Democratic Party (16)
Republican Party (3)


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