Sanjyot Dunung
Sanjyot Dunung (Democratic Party) is running for election to the U.S. House to represent Illinois' 8th Congressional District. She is on the ballot in the Democratic primary on March 17, 2026.[source]
Biography
Sanjyot Dunung was born in India, and lives in Des Plaines, Illinois. Dunung earned a high school diploma from Maine West High School, a bachelor's degree from Northwestern University, and an MBA from the Thunderbird School of Global Management. Her career experience includes working as an entrepreneur, social scientist, and business owner. Dunung has been affiliated with the National Small Business Association, the Truman Center for National Policy, President Biden’s Foreign Policy Working Group, and UNICEF USA.[1]
Elections
2026
See also: Illinois' 8th 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.
Democratic primary election
Democratic primary for U.S. House Illinois District 8
The following candidates are running in the Democratic primary for U.S. House Illinois District 8 on March 17, 2026.
Candidate | ||
 | Junaid Ahmed | |
 | Yasmeen Bankole  | |
 | Melissa Bean | |
 | Sanjyot Dunung | |
 | Neil Khot | |
 | Kevin Morrison | |
 | Dan Tully | |
 | Ryan Vetticad | |
| ||||
| = 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Withdrawn or disqualified candidates
- Joseph Wentzel (D)
- Christ Kallas (D)
Republican primary election
Republican primary for U.S. House Illinois District 8
Kevin Ake, Jennifer Davis, Herbert Hebein, and Mark Rice are running in the Republican primary for U.S. House Illinois District 8 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. | ||||
Endorsements
Dunung received the following endorsements. To send us additional endorsements, click here.
- Aspire PAC
- U.S. Rep. Susie Lee (D)
- Hindu American PAC
- Vote Common Good
Campaign themes
2026
Ballotpedia survey responses
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Campaign website
Dunung's campaign website stated the following:
Freedom for All
Freedom is the foundation of the American Dream. I’ll push for real solutions, not sound bites, every day to protect our constitutional rights, our democracy, and the freedoms that allow all Americans to thrive.
Protecting Personal Freedoms
- Our freedoms are under attack, and I will fight to protect democracy, fairness, justice, and the constitutional rights and individual freedoms of every American.
- I strongly support reproductive freedom and privacy. Every woman should have the freedom to make her own healthcare decisions, regardless of income, race, workplace, or insurance status.
- I believe every person deserves the freedom to pursue their American Dream.
- I will fight to protect the fundamental rights of individuals to choose who they love and how they identify.
Defending Democracy
- I will fight to uphold the Constitution.
- I will champion voting rights so every voice is heard.
- I support fair district maps (no more gerrymandering); campaign finance reform (no more undue corporate PAC influence); and commonsense term limits for the Supreme Court, Senate, and House.
- I will push for accountability and ethics reforms in Congress and the federal courts, including banning stock trading by elected officials.
- I believe America’s foundational freedoms are rooted in equality for all. Wealth should not entitle any citizen to greater rights, and our tax system should promote fairness and opportunity.
Opportunity & Education for All
Opportunity should not depend on your zip code. I will fight to make life more affordable and help families get ahead.
Making Life More Affordable
- Support affordable childcare, elder care, and disability care so families can live and age with dignity.
- Update outdated income and poverty thresholds so families can access real support.
- Lower costs for essentials like groceries, housing, healthcare, and childcare.
- Lower taxes on families struggling to afford childcare, groceries, housing, healthcare, and daily essentials.
- Ensure fairness in our tax code and that billionaires pay their fair share in taxes.
Education & Lifelong Learning
- Education is a fundamental right.
- I believe our nation’s most fundamental responsibility is to ensure every child has access to a world-class education, regardless of race, religion, income, or zip code.
- As an education technology entrepreneur, I understand that innovation is key to preparing students for the jobs of the future.
- We must invest in:
- Universal early childhood education.
- Strengthening our K-12 curriculums so that every child has a world-class education.
- Strong, modern K-12 schools with integrated pathways to vocational and trade schools, apprenticeships, and college.
- Lifelong learning and skills training so workers can adapt and succeed in a changing economy.
Jobs, Innovation & Small Business
I’ve spent my career creating jobs and helping businesses grow — and I’ll bring that experience to Congress.
Growing Good-Paying Jobs
I believe that we need to invest in expanded public-private partnerships for apprenticeships, skills development, and retraining to support workers and the businesses that employ them.
- Increase wages, including a higher minimum wage to ensure everyone has the opportunity to thrive.
- Make it faster, easier, and more affordable to start and grow a business.
- Support small businesses at every stage — from start-up to expansion.
- Invest in innovation that raises wages, ensures benefits, and improves daily life.
- Make transformative investments in America’s infrastructure and create millions of jobs.
Leading the World in Innovation
- Modernize laws so new technologies protect privacy, children, and workers.
- Lead the efforts to create global guardrails for responsible use of AI by governments, businesses, and people.
- Ensure America — not China — leads in AI, clean energy, and advanced manufacturing.
- Cut waste and improve efficiency responsibly without destroying agencies that help people and employ Americans. We can fix government without crashing the economy.
Building Clean Energy Infrastructure That Powers Our Economy
Clean water and clean air are basic human rights.
We must partner with the private sector to invest in a healthier climate and planet for our children.
- Invest in renewable energy generation, transmission, and storage projects to create good-paying construction, manufacturing, and maintenance jobs in the United States.
- Protect America’s natural resources so future generations can flourish.
- Lower energy costs and increase reliability for families and small businesses by modernizing the grid.
Dignity for All
Every person deserves respect, care, and security at every stage of life.
Healthcare, Living & Aging with Dignity
I support protecting every individual’s right to healthcare privacy and access to medical care. I believe all Americans deserve the legal and structural protections to live their best lives. As a military mom, I will fight to uphold every commitment made to our military families and veterans.
- Treat healthcare as a right — including mental healthcare.
- Protect Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, and veterans’ programs for current and future generations.
- Expand options for subsidized, part-time in-home care for seniors and people with disabilities.
Inspired by caring for my mother with muscular dystrophy, I will fight for dignity in aging and disability care.
Pro-Legal Immigration Reform
I strongly support comprehensive pro-legal immigration reform. For too long, both parties have dropped the ball on immigration.
We can fix it by creating a fair and transparent legal immigration system that welcomes skilled and unskilled workers from around the world and integrates them quickly into our economy as productive, tax-paying residents.
- Fix our broken immigration system with fair, legal, and humane reform.
- Invest in judges and caseworkers to process visas, green cards, and citizenship faster.
- Deliver legislation to provide a permanent pathway to citizenship for Dreamers.
Security for Our Communities
Everyone deserves to feel safe — at home, at school, and in their neighborhoods.
Community Safety
I will champion legislation that protects both freedom and safety, ensuring everyone has the right to live free from crime and violence. We need to allow the CDC and other independent institutions to conduct research on the root causes of violence in our communities and follow evidence-based solutions. Commonsense public safety policies can reduce gun violence and save lives by keeping guns out of the WRONG hands.
- Prevent gun trafficking.
- Prohibit people with dangerous histories from having guns.
- Stop and regulate the spread of 3D-printed gun designing & manufacturing.
- Implement commonsense gun safety reforms, including universal background checks.
- Support policies that reduce violence in our communities while protecting constitutional rights.
National & Global Security
I believe America must remain a global superpower — not only through military strength, but through moral and economic leadership. When we stand with our allies and stand up to our adversaries, we make all Americans safer and more prosperous.
- Provide a strong national defense and support for our military families and veterans.
- Pursue smart foreign policy that strengthens our alliances, including NATO, and stands up to our adversaries — countries as well as global terrorist groups.
- Strengthen our economic security through strong, diversified supply chains, trade, and innovation.
We must keep America strong and safe. That means investing wisely in our military and defense innovation so we remain the most capable force in the world. We should build a modern military that works closely with our allies to prevent conflict whenever possible and uses force carefully and responsibly — only when our core national interests are directly threatened. Strength comes not just from power, but from discipline, partnership, and smart leadership.
— Sanjyot Dunung's campaign website (February 12, 2026)
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
Footnotes
- ↑ Ballotpedia staff, "Email communication with Sanjyot Dunung," February 10, 2026
