Illinois' 7th Congressional District election, 2026 (March 17 Republican primary)
|
← 2024
|
| Illinois' 7th Congressional District |
|---|
 |
| 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 Republican Party primary takes place on March 17, 2026, in Illinois' 7th Congressional District to determine which Republican 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 Republican primary. For more in-depth information on the district's Democratic primary and the general election, see the following pages:
- Illinois' 7th Congressional District election, 2026 (March 17 Democratic primary)
- Illinois' 7th Congressional District election, 2026
Candidates and election results
Republican primary election
Republican primary for U.S. House Illinois District 7
Patricia Easley, Chad Koppie, and Tekita Martinez are running in the Republican primary for U.S. House Illinois District 7 on March 17, 2026.
| ||||
 = 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. | ||||
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: Republican Party
Incumbent: No
Political Office: None
Submitted Biography: "Patricia “P Rae” Easley, M.Ed. is a multilingual Chicago-based educator, financial professional, and media personality known for her leadership in education, finance, and public affairs. She is the host of The Black Excellence Hour on WVON 1690 AM, where she leads discussions on policy, culture, and civic engagement impacting Chicago and communities nationwide. Easley holds a Bachelor of Science in Finance from Hampton University and a Master of Education in Language, Literacy, and Culture from the University of Illinois at Chicago. Her diverse career spans international education and wealth management, including serving as an educational consultant in Senegal, West Africa, and managing over $1 million in client assets as a Wealth Manager at Merrill Lynch. Easley has been recognized by President Donald J. Trump for her community leadership and advocacy, receiving acknowledgment in public remarks and social media posts. She has been a White House guest four times, contributing to policy discussions focused on housing, education, and economic development that directly impact everyday Americans. A frequent contributor to FOX News, Newsmax, and OANN, Easley brings an independent and solutions-driven perspective to national issues. Her campaign theme — “We Deserve the Best of it All” — reflects her belief that every citizen deserves dignity, opportunity, and a government that works for them."
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Patricia Easley | Republican Party | $0 | $0 | $0 | Data not available*** |
| Chad Koppie | Republican Party | $0 | $0 | $0 | Data not available*** |
| Tekita Martinez | Republican Party | $0 | $0 | $0 | Data not available*** |
|
Source: Federal Elections Commission, "Campaign finance data," . 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." |
|||||
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 Democratic 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
