Illinois' 7th Congressional District election, 2026 (March 17 Democratic primary)
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| Illinois' 7th Congressional District |
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| Democratic primary Republican primary General election |
| Election details |
| Filing deadline: November 3, 2025 |
| Primary: March 17, 2026 General: November 3, 2026 |
| How to vote |
| Poll times:
6 a.m. to 7 p.m. |
| Race ratings |
DDHQ and The Hill: Pending 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, 2026 |
| See also |
U.S. Senate • 1st • 2nd • 3rd • 4th • 5th • 6th • 7th • 8th • 9th • 10th • 11th • 12th • 13th • 14th • 15th • 16th • 17th Illinois elections, 2026 U.S. Congress elections, 2026 U.S. Senate elections, 2026 U.S. House elections, 2026 |
A Democratic Party primary takes place on March 17, 2026, in Illinois' 7th Congressional District to determine which Democratic candidate will run in the district's general election on November 3, 2026.
| Candidate filing deadline | Primary election | General election |
|---|---|---|
A primary election is an election in which registered voters select a candidate that they believe should be a political party's candidate for elected office to run in the general election. They are also used to choose convention delegates and party leaders. Primaries are state-level and local-level elections that take place prior to a general election. In Illinois, state law provides for a closed primary where a voter must be affiliated with a party to vote in that party's primary. However, voters state their affiliation at the polls and any voter may change their affiliation on the day of the primary. A voter's eligibility to vote a party's ballot may be challenged.[1]
For information about which offices are nominated via primary election, see this article.
This page focuses on Illinois' 7th Congressional District Democratic primary. For more in-depth information on the district's Republican primary and the general election, see the following pages:
- Illinois' 7th Congressional District election, 2026 (March 17 Republican primary)
- Illinois' 7th Congressional District election, 2026
Candidates and election results
Democratic primary election
Democratic primary for U.S. House Illinois District 7
The following candidates are running in the Democratic primary for U.S. House Illinois District 7 on March 17, 2026.
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
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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.
Party: Democratic Party
Incumbent: No
Political Office: None
Submitted Biography: "Born and raised on the South Side, Dr. Fisher grew up in a home that emphasized service. Those motives shaped his life and he has spent two decades following this call to care for the community that raised him.That legacy inspired his path through Dartmouth, the University of Chicago School of Medicine, and Harvard University’s School of Public Health – and led him to emergency medicine, where he’s spent over two decades treating everyone, regardless of their background or means. But the ER is also where the consequences of bad policy show up: gun violence, housing insecurity, untreated addiction, and lack of care. That’s why Dr. Fisher took the fight upstream – as a White House Fellow during the rollout of the ACA, a Medicaid leader in Cook County, a healthcare executive focused on equity, and the author of The Emergency: A Year of Healing and Heartbreak in a Chicago ER, a nationally acclaimed book exposing the injustices of our healthcare system. When COVID hit, Dr. Fisher returned full-time to the ER and what he saw inspired his acclaimed book, The Emergency, named one of TIME Magazine’s 100 Must-Read Books. Through it all, he never stopped fighting for the people failed by our political system."
Party: Democratic Party
Incumbent: No
Political Office: None
Submitted Biography: "I’m not a career politician. I’m not a Washington insider. I am a Veteran of the United States Marine Corps (2013-2017), a stand up comedian (2010-present) and a man who has always been curious about others. I grew up in Joliet, IL and throughout my public school education I wanted to get to know everyone, jumping from different social circles like Orchestra, Track, Cross Country, Youth Group, and JROTC. I also had a passion for challenges which is why I received an ROTC scholarship through the Marine Corps to attend the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. I graduated from U of I with a degree in Creative Writing but my real education began in the Marines. There I first began understanding the tenets of steward leadership, to lead from the front, and to 'find a way or make a way'. After deployments to Romania and Spain I exited the Marines in 2017 and moved to Chicago to earnestly pursue a career in stand up comedy. During this time I worked as a rideshare driver, a proofreader, a communications specialist, and an attorney manager at a corporation but my passion was in comedy. Touring internationally and even locally taught me that most people agree on 95% of issues if we are able to look past labels. Empathy and compassion and diversity are strengths, not weaknesses. I'm running for office because ‘Patriotism’ isn’t living in a fairytale world where your country has no faults. It’s the belief that it can and should be better for EVERYONE."
Party: Democratic Party
Incumbent: No
Political Office: None
Submitted Biography: "I’m Jazmin J. Robinson, and I’m running for U.S. House of Representatives in Illinois’ 7th District. For over a decade, I’ve worked in corporate America as a Human Resources leader focused on making workplaces fairer for employees. I built systems to ensure equal pay, negotiated with healthcare providers to secure better benefits, and designed policies that supported people through major life changes. I’ve also seen H.R.’s shortcomings and pushed for equity and accountability from within. The policy I’m running on, the H.E.A.L. Act (free universal Health Care, Education including childcare, college, and trade schools, Access to Government & Fair Markets, and a Living Wage), is essentially a benefit package I designed for the American people, just like I’ve done for employees throughout my career. It’s funded fairly by asking millionaires, billionaires, and big corporations to finally pay their share in taxes. My goal is simple: build a government that works for everyday people, not just the wealthy few. Outside of HR, I’m also a comedian and improviser, performing at places like Second City, iO, and now on iO’s first BIPOC house team, D.A.R.E Dropouts. Comedy has taught me the power of listening, quick thinking, and connecting with people. Personally, I’m happily married to my husband of eight years, with two spoiled cats. I’m a proud aunt, a blue belt in jiu jitsu, and someone who loves trying new things, from horseback riding to summer softball."
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Party: Democratic Party
Incumbent: No
Political Office: None
Submitted Biography: "I have been a member of the working class for my whole life. Working in restaurants and retail I have met countless excellent hard-working people from all over the world. Being uninsured for the entire time I worked in restaurants took a toll on me but it gave me a unique perspective of the world and the people in it. I decided to leave the culinary field to go back to school and get my BA in Paralegal Studies. While in school I did an internship with a company that helped people find representation when facing eviction and pointed them to renter's rights laws. I am very passionate about worker's rights as well, advocating for union representation in various workplaces. I spend my time away from work with my two dogs, Layla & Tracey. Or you can find me catching a movie at the Siskel or Music Box."
Voting information
- See also: Voting in Illinois
Ballotpedia will publish the dates and deadlines related to this election as they are made available.
Campaign finance
| Name | Party | Receipts* | Disbursements** | Cash on hand | Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Richard Boykin | Democratic Party | $129,285 | $79,500 | $49,785 | As of September 30, 2025 |
| Jerico Brown | Democratic Party | $0 | $0 | $0 | Data not available*** |
| Kina Collins | Democratic Party | $0 | $0 | $0 | Data not available*** |
| Melissa Conyears-Ervin | Democratic Party | $225,375 | $10,332 | $223,775 | As of September 30, 2025 |
| Anthony Driver Jr. | Democratic Party | $102,600 | $27,436 | $75,164 | As of September 30, 2025 |
| David Ehrlich | Democratic Party | $0 | $0 | $0 | Data not available*** |
| Thomas Fisher | Democratic Party | $377,899 | $54,681 | $323,217 | As of September 30, 2025 |
| La Shawn Ford | Democratic Party | $256,631 | $23,457 | $233,174 | As of September 30, 2025 |
| Jason Friedman | Democratic Party | $1,500,959 | $414,408 | $1,086,551 | As of September 30, 2025 |
| Rory Hoskins | Democratic Party | $101,631 | $45,975 | $55,656 | As of September 30, 2025 |
| Kamaria Kali | Democratic Party | $0 | $0 | $0 | Data not available*** |
| Danica Leigh | Democratic Party | $9,830 | $9,830 | $0 | As of September 29, 2025 |
| John McCombs | Democratic Party | $9,316 | $9,316 | $0 | As of October 17, 2025 |
| Anabel Mendoza | Democratic Party | $24,925 | $18,512 | $6,413 | As of September 30, 2025 |
| Jazmin Robinson | Democratic Party | $9,067 | $8,942 | $125 | As of September 30, 2025 |
| Reed Showalter | Democratic Party | $103,210 | $4,078 | $99,132 | As of September 30, 2025 |
| Felix Tello | Democratic Party | $8,410 | $1,898 | $6,512 | As of September 30, 2025 |
| William Volny | Democratic Party | $0 | $0 | $0 | Data not available*** |
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Source: Federal Elections Commission, "Campaign finance data," 2026. 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." |
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District analysis
This section will contain facts and figures related to this district's elections when those are available.
Ballot access
The table below details filing requirements for U.S. House candidates in Illinois in the 2026 election cycle. For additional information on candidate ballot access requirements in Illinois, click here.
| Filing requirements for U.S. House candidates, 2026 | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| State | Office | Party | Signatures required | Filing fee | Filing deadline | Source |
| Illinois | U.S. House | Established parties | Not less than .5% (.005) of the qualified primary electors of their party in the congressional district | N/A | 11/3/2025 | Source |
| Illinois | U.S. House | Independents | Not less than 5% nor more than 8% (or 50 more than the minimum, whichever is greater) of the total number of persons who voted at the last regular general election within the congressional district. | N/A | 5/26/2026 | Source |
See also
- Illinois' 7th Congressional District election, 2026 (March 17 Republican primary)
- Illinois' 7th Congressional District election, 2026
- United States House elections in Illinois, 2026 (March 17 Democratic primaries)
- United States House elections in Illinois, 2026 (March 17 Republican primaries)
- United States House Democratic Party primaries, 2026
- United States House Republican Party primaries, 2026
- United States House of Representatives elections, 2026
- U.S. House battlegrounds, 2026
External links
Footnotes
