John Elleson
John Elleson (Republican Party) is running for election to the U.S. House to represent Illinois' 9th Congressional District. He declared candidacy for the Republican primary scheduled on March 17, 2026.[source]
Elleson completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2025. Click here to read the survey answers.
Biography
John Elleson was born in Monmouth, Illinois. He graduated from Christian Life College. His career experience includes working as a pastor.[1]
Elections
2026
See also: Illinois' 9th Congressional District election, 2026
General election
The primary will occur on March 17, 2026. The general election will occur on November 3, 2026. General election candidates will be added here following the primary.
General election for U.S. House Illinois District 9
Delila Barrera (Independent) is running in the general election for U.S. House Illinois District 9 on November 3, 2026.
Candidate | ||
| Delila Barrera (Independent) | ||
| ||||
 = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
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Democratic primary
Democratic primary for U.S. House Illinois District 9
The following candidates are running in the Democratic primary for U.S. House Illinois District 9 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. | ||||
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Withdrawn or disqualified candidates
- Jan Schakowsky (D)
- David Abrevaya (D)
- Tamika La'Shon Hill (D)
- Miracle Jenkins (D)
- Jill Manrique (D)
- Lauren Million (D)
Republican primary
Republican primary for U.S. House Illinois District 9
Rocio Cleveland (R), John Elleson (R), Paul Friedman (R), and Mark Su (R) are running in the Republican primary for U.S. House Illinois District 9 on March 17, 2026.
Candidate | ||
 | Rocio Cleveland | |
 | John Elleson | |
 | Paul Friedman | |
 | Mark Su | |
| ||||
| = 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. | ||||
Endorsements
Ballotpedia is gathering information about candidate endorsements. To send us an endorsement, click here.
2022
See also: Illinois' 9th Congressional District election, 2022
General election
General election for U.S. House Illinois District 9
Incumbent Jan Schakowsky defeated Max Rice in the general election for U.S. House Illinois District 9 on November 8, 2022.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ |  | Jan Schakowsky (D) | 71.7 | 179,615 |
 | Max Rice (R) | 28.3 | 70,915 | |
| Total votes: 250,530 | |||
| = 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 9
Incumbent Jan Schakowsky advanced from the Democratic primary for U.S. House Illinois District 9 on June 28, 2022.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Jan Schakowsky | 100.0 | 76,956 |
| Total votes: 76,956 | |||
| = 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
- Andrew Heldut (D)
Republican primary election
Republican primary for U.S. House Illinois District 9
Max Rice advanced from the Republican primary for U.S. House Illinois District 9 on June 28, 2022.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Max Rice | 100.0 | 22,751 |
| Total votes: 22,751 | |||
| = 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
- Bradley Martin (R)
- John Elleson (R)
2018
General election
General election for U.S. House Illinois District 9
Incumbent Jan Schakowsky defeated John Elleson in the general election for U.S. House Illinois District 9 on November 6, 2018.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Jan Schakowsky (D) | 73.5 | 213,368 |
| John Elleson (R) | 26.5 | 76,983 | |
| Total votes: 290,351 (100.00% precincts reporting) | |||
| = 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 9
Incumbent Jan Schakowsky advanced from the Democratic primary for U.S. House Illinois District 9 on March 20, 2018.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Jan Schakowsky | 100.0 | 108,417 |
| Total votes: 108,417 | |||
| = 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 9
John Elleson defeated Sargis Sangari, D. Vincent Thomas Jr., and Max Rice in the Republican primary for U.S. House Illinois District 9 on March 20, 2018.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | John Elleson | 40.4 | 10,476 |
 | Sargis Sangari | 30.7 | 7,954 | |
 | D. Vincent Thomas Jr. | 18.8 | 4,886 | |
| Max Rice | 10.2 | 2,634 | |
| Total votes: 25,950 | |||
| = 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. | ||||
Campaign themes
2026
Ballotpedia survey responses
See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection
John Elleson completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2025. The survey questions appear in bold and are followed by Elleson's responses. Candidates are asked three required questions for this survey, but they may answer additional optional questions as well.
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- I believes in leading with compassion and understanding. We need practical aid-based programs for addiction, homelessness, and mental health. We need community-first healthcare policies, expand local clinics and affordability initiatives without federal overreach. We need to be committed to serving the community and addressing local issues. Listen before legislating. It is then that we can build trust through transparency and accountable leadership. The results will foster bipartisan solutions that stabilize families and uplift vulnerable citizens.
- We need to be focused on policies that uplift and support working families while protecting religious liberty and building bridges across differences. This includes supporting law enforcement with resources and training rooted in de-escalation and community trust. Drugs must be kept off the streets and keep our youth out of crime. On top of all this, we need to promote job creation through local businesses while removing burdensome regulations and support community-based economic revitalization.
- We need to have a vision for the future. I will ensure a prosperous future for constituents by putting their needs first.
Three main stances I am running on: Building Trust Empowering Families
Bridging Communities
Note: Ballotpedia reserves the right to edit Candidate Connection survey responses. Any edits made by Ballotpedia will be clearly marked with [brackets] for the public. If the candidate disagrees with an edit, he or she may request the full removal of the survey response from Ballotpedia.org. Ballotpedia does not edit or correct typographical errors unless the candidate's campaign requests it.
2022
Video for Ballotpedia
| Video submitted to Ballotpedia Released March 11, 2022 |
John Elleson did not complete Ballotpedia's 2022 Candidate Connection survey.
2018
Ballotpedia survey responses
- See also: Ballotpedia's candidate surveys
John Elleson participated in Ballotpedia's candidate survey on February 26, 2018. The survey questions appear in bold, and John Elleson's responses follow below.[2]
What would be your top three priorities, if elected?
| “ | 1) Jobs |
” |
What areas of public policy are you personally passionate about? Why?
| “ | Dealing with the drug epidemic, opioid addiction. I know of about 8 people in our church with relatives who have died of heroin overdose in the last year. It’s a real issue. We need to stay on the jobs issue and do everything we can to promote Good Job Creation. We need good high paying jobs for those who get out of high school and college. When I got out of high school, if you didn't want to go to college, you could go to work at Caterpillar, start out at $22.00 an hour, and that was 1980. We have to change this and get back to good high paying jobs. I also think we need to be working harder on the addiction issue. Our kid's futures are getting hurt with bad choices and the traps of addiction. Education, skill and vocational trade training. Personal responsibility for all areas of our lives, especially the younger generations, so they could have the best future possible. We should be investing in a decade of rebuilding our national infrastructure.Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; invalid names, e.g. too many[4]
|
” |
Ballotpedia also asked the candidate a series of optional questions. John Elleson answered the following:
Who do you look up to? Whose example would you like to follow, and why?
| “ | Pastor Joel. Very disciplined, honest and nice to everyone. Always looking for the best in others.[4] | ” |
| “ | Blessed in the Darkness by Joel Osteen[4] | ” |
| “ | - Integrity - Leadership - Good Policies - Problem Solving - Self-awareness - Authenticity - Willingness to listen to others[4] | ” |
| “ | - Integrity - Leadership - Good Policies - Problem Solving - Self-awareness - Authenticity - Willingness to listen to others[4] | ” |
| “ | - Integrity - Leadership - Good Policies - Problem Solving - Self-awareness - Authenticity - Willingness to listen to others[4] | ” |
| “ | To live a life of integrity, to not take short cuts, to be honorable, to treat people with respect, and to love and fear God.[4] | ” |
| “ | Apollo 11 landed on the moon 7 years old[4] | ” |
| “ | My family grew up in the small town bakery business, getting up at 2:00am before school, 7 days a week. We were taught to work hard.[4] | ” |
| “ | Yes[4] | ” |
| “ | 2-3 terms (6 years) max[4] | ” |
Campaign finance summary
Note: The finance data shown here comes from the disclosures required of candidates and parties. Depending on the election or state, this may represent only a portion of all the funds spent on their behalf. Satellite spending groups may or may not have expended funds related to the candidate or politician on whose page you are reading this disclaimer. Campaign finance data from elections may be incomplete. For elections to federal offices, complete data can be found at the FEC website. Click here for more on federal campaign finance law and here for more on state campaign finance law.
See also
2026 Elections
External links
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Candidate U.S. House Illinois District 9 |
Personal |
Footnotes
- ↑ Information submitted to Ballotpedia through the Candidate Connection survey on December 24, 2025
- ↑ Note: The candidate's answers have been reproduced here verbatim without edits or corrections by Ballotpedia.
- ↑ Ballotpedia's candidate survey, "John Elleson's responses," February 26, 2018
- ↑ 4.00 4.01 4.02 4.03 4.04 4.05 4.06 4.07 4.08 4.09 4.10 4.11 Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
