Rob Cruz

Rob Cruz (Republican Party) ran for election to the U.S. House to represent Illinois' 6th Congressional District. He lost in the Republican primary on June 28, 2022.

Cruz also ran for election to the U.S. Senate to represent Illinois. He did not appear on the ballot for the Republican primary on June 28, 2022.

Cruz completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2021. Click here to read the survey answers.

Biography

Rob Cruz was born in Chicago, Illinois. His career experience includes owning a small business. He has been affiliated with the Providence Alumni club and Imermans Angels.^[1]

Elections

2022

U.S. House

General election

General election for U.S. House Illinois District 6

Incumbent Sean Casten defeated Keith Pekau and Arthur Jones in the general election for U.S. House Illinois District 6 on November 8, 2022.

	Candidate	%	Votes
✔	Sean Casten (D)	54.4	150,496
	Keith Pekau (R)	45.6	126,351
	Arthur Jones (Independent) (Write-in)	0.0	12

	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 276,859
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Democratic primary election

Democratic primary for U.S. House Illinois District 6

Incumbent Sean Casten defeated incumbent Marie Newman and Charles Hughes in the Democratic primary for U.S. House Illinois District 6 on June 28, 2022.

	Candidate	%	Votes
✔	Sean Casten	67.7	45,654
	Marie Newman	29.2	19,726
	Charles Hughes	3.1	2,085

	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 67,465
= 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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Republican primary election

Republican primary for U.S. House Illinois District 6

The following candidates ran in the Republican primary for U.S. House Illinois District 6 on June 28, 2022.

	Candidate	%	Votes
✔	Keith Pekau	38.7	20,178
	Gary Grasso	27.2	14,150
	Niki Conforti	11.4	5,947
	Catherine A. O'Shea	10.1	5,243
	Scott Kaspar	6.9	3,573
	Rob Cruz	5.8	3,003

	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 52,094
= 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

John Ostman (R)

U.S. Senate

General election

General election for U.S. Senate Illinois

Incumbent Tammy Duckworth defeated Kathy Salvi, Bill Redpath, Lowell Seida, and Connor VlaKancic in the general election for U.S. Senate Illinois on November 8, 2022.

	Candidate	%	Votes
✔	Tammy Duckworth (D)	56.8	2,329,136
	Kathy Salvi (R)	41.5	1,701,055
	Bill Redpath (L)	1.7	68,671
	Lowell Seida (Independent) (Write-in)	0.0	23
	Connor VlaKancic (Independent) (Write-in)	0.0	11

	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 4,098,896
= 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

W. Thomas La Fontaine Olson (Independent)

Democratic primary election

Democratic primary for U.S. Senate Illinois

Incumbent Tammy Duckworth advanced from the Democratic primary for U.S. Senate Illinois on June 28, 2022.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Tammy Duckworth	100.0	856,720

	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 856,720
= 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. Senate Illinois

The following candidates ran in the Republican primary for U.S. Senate Illinois on June 28, 2022.

	Candidate	%	Votes
✔	Kathy Salvi	30.2	216,007
	Peggy Hubbard	24.8	177,180
	Matthew Dubiel	12.7	90,538
	Casey Chlebek	10.7	76,213
	Bobby Piton	9.2	65,461
	Anthony Williams	7.4	52,890
	Jimmy Lee Tillman II	5.1	36,342

	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 714,631
= 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

Campaign themes

2022

U.S. House

Ballotpedia survey responses

Rob Cruz completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2021. The survey questions appear in bold and are followed by Cruz's responses. Candidates are asked three required questions for this survey, but they may answer additional optional questions as well.

Expand all | Collapse all

Who are you? Tell us about yourself.

My mission is simple, put our children, our communities, and our state first over the blinding politics that pits neighbor against neighbor in an endless spiral of hate. I've looked death in the face while fighting cancer for four years of my life, I have seen firsthand how low a person can go. But, I'm here to tell you that tomorrow will be better. Tomorrow we can win the day, tomorrow we can reconcile our differences while bettering our community, and tomorrow we can move forward together. If you believe in making the state of Illinois the priority over DC politics, then join me in this journey to serve as your next U.S. Senator. The political game is changing and so must the players if we want to ensure that our state finally focuses on our neighbors instead of the whims of politicians who don't even live here.

Please list below 3 key messages of your campaign. What are the main points you want voters to remember about your goals for your time in office?

Term Limits
Infastructure
Safety

What areas of public policy are you personally passionate about?

Healthcare:

Being a Cancer survivor and having a parent who struggled with mental health, this is something that affects Americans of all walks of life on a daily basis.

Who do you look up to? Whose example would you like to follow, and why?

I look up to my wife. She holds are family together and does all the little things that makes it work. She has a great spirit and I would be lost without her.

Is there a book, essay, film, or something else you would recommend to someone who wants to understand your political philosophy?

Not at this time. My philosophy is derived from my life experiences and current climate

What characteristics or principles are most important for an elected official?

I believe our elected officials should have:

1. Work Ethic - things don't come easy in D.C.
2. Character - are you a person of your word
3. Discipline - can you see the forest through the trees

4. Compromise - can you position yourself and others for successful agreements

What qualities do you possess that you believe would make you a successful officeholder?

1. Work Ethic

2. Reliable
3. Straight forward

4. Problem solver

What do you believe are the core responsibilities for someone elected to this office?

Ultimately your responsible to the people you serve. You are to put their interests ahead of your own and work to make their lives better.

What legacy would you like to leave?

To start the pattern of sharing the responsibilities of governing through term limits so future generations can build a new society that will benefit them in their time

What is the first historical event that happened in your lifetime that you remember? How old were you at the time?

Birth of my little sister and I was 4 years old

What was your very first job? How long did you have it?

Factory worker in college
Sales Rep after

What is your favorite book? Why?

Think and Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill

The philosophy in this book can change your outlook on life, which will change your life if your willing to trust it.

If you could be any fictional character, who would you want to be?

Superman of course!!!!

What was the last song that got stuck in your head?

Whose going to run this town tonight - Jay Z and Kanye West

Love this beat

What is something that has been a struggle in your life?

Patience

What do you perceive to be the United States’ greatest challenges as a nation over the next decade?

1. Immigration

2. Racial divide
3. Job creation
4. Term Limits
5. Education

6. Healthcare

What qualities does the U.S. Senate possess that makes it unique as an institution?

The US Senate is the check on our legislative process. Our role as Senators is to confirm legislation passed by the house and confirm it is useful as a society. Confirming appointed positions that will affect every day Americans that is unique to the Senate and the impact can last generations.

Do you believe that it’s beneficial for senators to have previous experience in government or politics?

I do not. I believe people want to have a representation that has the same life experiences as they do.

What do you think of the filibuster?

I believe in having a minority voice is important and I would not change the filibuster as it currently exists

What criteria would you apply when deciding whether to confirm presidential appointees?

1. Character

2. Knowledge
3. Work ethic

4. Experience

If you are not a current senator, are there certain committees that you would want to be a part of?

I will do whatever assignment is given. I am a Team Player first

If you are a current senator, why did you join your current committees?

n/a

Is there a particular senator, past or present, whom you want to model yourself after?

No, I want to be myself

Tell us your favorite joke.

Not something appropriate for this site :-) :-)

How would you evaluate a judicial nominee?

1. Character

2. Knowledge
3. Work ethic

4. Experience

What kind of relationships would you build with other senators?

I would look to find common ground with other senators so that we can do our job and serve the people of the US

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.

U.S. Senate

Ballotpedia survey responses

Rob Cruz did not complete Ballotpedia's 2022 Candidate Connection survey.

External links

Search Google News for this topic

Candidate

U.S. House Illinois District 6

Footnotes

↑ Information submitted to Ballotpedia through the Candidate Connection survey on June 2, 2021.

[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)

[bio-1] Information submitted to Ballotpedia through the Candidate Connection survey on June 2, 2021.

[1]

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Rob Cruz

Biography

Elections

2022

U.S. House

General election

General election for U.S. House Illinois District 6

Democratic primary election

Democratic primary for U.S. House Illinois District 6

Republican primary election

Republican primary for U.S. House Illinois District 6

Withdrawn or disqualified candidates

U.S. Senate

General election

General election for U.S. Senate Illinois

Withdrawn or disqualified candidates

Democratic primary election

Democratic primary for U.S. Senate Illinois

Republican primary election

Republican primary for U.S. Senate Illinois

Withdrawn or disqualified candidates

Campaign themes

2022

U.S. House

Ballotpedia survey responses

U.S. Senate

Ballotpedia survey responses

See also

External links

Footnotes

Information about voting

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2026 Elections

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