Sean Casten

Sean Casten (Democratic Party) is a member of the U.S. House, representing Illinois' 6th Congressional District. He assumed office on January 3, 2019. His current term ends on January 3, 2027.

Casten (Democratic Party) is running for re-election to the U.S. House to represent Illinois' 6th Congressional District. He declared candidacy for the Democratic primary scheduled on March 17, 2026.^[source]

Biography

Sean Casten was born in Dublin, Ireland, to American parents.^[1] He earned a bachelor's degree from the Middlebury College and a graduate degree from the Dartmouth College. Prior to serving in the U.S. Congress, Casten worked as a scientist at the Tufts School of Medicine, consultant with Arthur D. Little, and president/CEO of Turbosteam Corporation. In 2007, he co-founded Recycled Energy Development, LLC. He also served as the chairman of the Northeast Combined Heat and Power Association in 2005 and the U.S. Combined Heat and Power Association in 2007.^[2]^[3]

Elections

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 6

Incumbent Sean Casten is running in the Democratic primary for U.S. House Illinois District 6 on March 17, 2026.

		Candidate
		Sean Casten

	Incumbents are bolded and underlined.
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Republican primary election

Republican primary for U.S. House Illinois District 6

Niki Conforti is running in the Republican primary for U.S. House Illinois District 6 on March 17, 2026.

		Candidate
		Niki Conforti

	There are no incumbents in this race.
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Endorsements

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2024

Illinois' 6th Congressional District election, 2024 (March 19 Democratic primary)

Illinois' 6th Congressional District election, 2024 (March 19 Republican primary)

General election

General election for U.S. House Illinois District 6

Incumbent Sean Casten defeated Niki Conforti and Peter Meyer Jr. in the general election for U.S. House Illinois District 6 on November 5, 2024.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Sean Casten (D)	54.2	196,647
		Niki Conforti (R)	45.8	166,116
	Submit photo	Peter Meyer Jr. (Independent) (Write-in)	0.0	86

	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 362,849
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Democratic primary election

Democratic primary for U.S. House Illinois District 6

Incumbent Sean Casten defeated Mahnoor Ahmad and Charles Hughes in the Democratic primary for U.S. House Illinois District 6 on March 19, 2024.

	Candidate	%	Votes
✔	Sean Casten	77.1	56,750
	Mahnoor Ahmad	14.2	10,483
	Charles Hughes	8.6	6,366

	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 73,599
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Republican primary election

Republican primary for U.S. House Illinois District 6

Niki Conforti advanced from the Republican primary for U.S. House Illinois District 6 on March 19, 2024.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Niki Conforti	100.0	30,543

	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 30,543
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Endorsements

Ballotpedia did not identify endorsements for Casten in this election.

2022

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.
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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.
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Withdrawn or disqualified candidates

John Ostman (R)

2020

Illinois' 6th Congressional District election, 2020 (March 17 Republican primary)

Illinois' 6th Congressional District election, 2020 (March 17 Democratic primary)

General election

General election for U.S. House Illinois District 6

Incumbent Sean Casten defeated Jeanne M. Ives and Bill Redpath in the general election for U.S. House Illinois District 6 on November 3, 2020.

	Candidate	%	Votes
✔	Sean Casten (D)	52.8	213,777
	Jeanne M. Ives (R)	45.4	183,891
	Bill Redpath (L)	1.7	7,079

	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 404,747
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Watch the Candidate Conversation for this race!

Democratic primary election

Democratic primary for U.S. House Illinois District 6

Incumbent Sean Casten advanced from the Democratic primary for U.S. House Illinois District 6 on March 17, 2020.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Sean Casten	100.0	82,909

	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 82,909
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Withdrawn or disqualified candidates

Robert Marshall (D)

Republican primary election

Republican primary for U.S. House Illinois District 6

Jeanne M. Ives defeated Gordon Kinzler and Richard Mayers in the Republican primary for U.S. House Illinois District 6 on March 17, 2020.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Jeanne M. Ives	70.8	29,144
		Gordon Kinzler	29.2	12,017
	Submit photo	Richard Mayers (Write-in)	0.0	1

	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 41,162
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Withdrawn or disqualified candidates

Evelyn Sanguinetti (R)

2018

See also: Illinois' 6th Congressional District election, 2018

See also: Illinois' 6th Congressional District election (March 20, 2018 Democratic primary)

General election

General election for U.S. House Illinois District 6

Sean Casten defeated incumbent Peter J. Roskam in the general election for U.S. House Illinois District 6 on November 6, 2018.

	Candidate	%	Votes
✔	Sean Casten (D)	53.6	169,001
	Peter J. Roskam (R)	46.4	146,445

	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 315,446 (100.00% precincts reporting)
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Democratic primary election

Democratic primary for U.S. House Illinois District 6

The following candidates ran in the Democratic primary for U.S. House Illinois District 6 on March 20, 2018.

	Candidate	%	Votes
✔	Sean Casten	29.5	19,774
	Kelly Mazeski	26.8	17,984
	Carole Cheney	17.4	11,663
	Amanda Howland	12.7	8,483
	Becky Anderson Wilkins	6.0	4,001
	Jennifer Zordani	4.1	2,743
	Ryan Huffman	3.5	2,365

	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified.	Total votes: 67,013
= 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

Incumbent Peter J. Roskam advanced from the Republican primary for U.S. House Illinois District 6 on March 20, 2018.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Peter J. Roskam	100.0	56,544

	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified.	Total votes: 56,544
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Campaign themes

2026

Ballotpedia survey responses

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Who fills out Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey?

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You can ask Sean Casten to fill out this survey by using the buttons below or emailing info@castenforcongress.com.

2024

Sean Casten completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2024. The survey questions appear in bold and are followed by Casten'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.

I ran for this office in 2018 on the premise that there's an awful lot more that unites us than divides us. The overwhelming majority of us trust science. We believe that women should have full control of their body and that the government should not be involved in their health care decisions. We think markets are extremely powerful tools to harness ingenuity, but they require a functioning, ethical, and competent government to make sure everybody gets a fair chance. Most importantly, the overwhelming majority of us know that we are only as good as the world we leave to our children.

Over my three terms in Congress, I’ve been reassured by the voters and my colleagues that my idealism is justified. I served on the climate committee that recommended the legislation that became the Inflation Reduction Act - the biggest climate bill ever passed anywhere. We were intimately involved in the recovery from COVID that led to a US economy that recovered faster and is growing faster than any other country in the world - with growth across red states and blue states and income growth fastest among the most needy.

But, to be blunt, our work isn’t finished. Global temperatures continue to rise. A woman’s right to control her body depends on the state she is in. We still have too many guns, and too many gun deaths. It’s an amazing privilege and responsibility to have this job. And as long as we still have work to do, I’ll keep at it.

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?

Climate change remains the existential threat to our species and addressing this crisis remains my top priority in Congress. I am proud to have served on the Select Committee on the Climate Crisis where we wrote substantially all of what became the Inflation Reduction Act. This term I have introduced the Clean Electricity and Transmission Acceleration Act to debottleneck our electric grid and ensure that all the new investments have a path to market. We have an opportunity to expand access to cleaner, cheaper energy and create jobs at the same time. I’m working to make sure that we seize that opportunity.
I am 100% pro-choice without exception, and I’m running to ensure women have the right to make their own health care decisions no matter the state they are in. Congress can and should codify this right by passing the Women’s Health Protection Act, which I was proud to co-sponsor and help pass in the House in the 117th Congress. That bill would reaffirm that abortion access is not an issue of federal rights nor states rights but of women’s rights. I also led over 100 of my colleagues in a letter calling on the Senate to eliminate or modify the filibuster so that we can pass this into law - because given the choice between the rights of 167 million American women and 40 US Senators I will always side with the former.
Our country has too many guns and too many gun deaths. Both are the direct result of courts that have taken a wildly excessive and expansive interpretation of the 2nd Amendment. Since the Heller decision the Supreme Court has manufactured an entire view of the Second amendment that is at odds with our founders’ intent. We need to go back to the 2nd Amendment our founders intended. I support, among other things, banning assault weapons and preventing anyone with a history of domestic violence from owning a firearm - since that demographic comprises two-thirds of all mass shooters in the United States. Until we reduce access to guns in our society we are going to continue to lose too many Americans from needless gun violence.

What areas of public policy are you personally passionate about?

Addressing the climate crisis, protecting women's reproductive rights, lowering costs for families, and ending gun violence.

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

The first time I remember getting paid for the work I did was when I learned that there was a scrap metal yard near my house that would pay for aluminum and tin by the pound. I was probably 12 - 13 years old, having lunch with my dad at a pizza restaurant in town and noticed that all the cans of soda were made of aluminum and tin and were being thrown away. (This was before the 5 cent per can recycling laws were passed.) My dad told me I should come back with a trash can and ask the owner if he'd consider separating them out for me. I remember being embarrassed to ask the question, but I did, and he said yes. And then I would come down once a week to pick up the cans he'd pulled for me and take them over to the scrap yard to earn a few extra dollars. I got to know the guy who ran the yard, and he gave me a tour of their facility, including the molten slabs of aluminum that they produced from my cans to resell - it was a neat, and very visual understanding of the circular economy. I doubt I earned more than $100 for my efforts that summer, but the idea that you can turn other people's waste into money and improve the environment has stuck with me ever since.

Do you believe that compromise is necessary or desirable for policymaking?

I represent a purple district that elected Republicans for almost 50 years straight before I was elected in 2018. Put simply, I would not be in this job unless my values and priorities mapped to the bipartisan interests of my constituents.

And indeed, outside of political jobs, it is never seen as particularly praiseworthy to work well with people who disagree with you on some things. All of us, in our personal and professional lives have undoubtedly made good friends and done good work with people who disagree with us on any number of politically charged issues in Washington.

Ultimately, my view is that if we must choose, we should put the bipartisan interests of our voters first. Where that finds common cause with bipartisanship in Washington, by all means do both. Which I have, whether working with Tim Burchett (R-TN) to introduce bills to provide financial assistance to teachers who pay for classroom supplies out of pocket, with Mike Bost (R-IL) on legislation to lower crop insurance payments for farmers who plant cover crops or with Senators Graham (R-SC), Warren (D-MA) and Marshall (R-KS) on anti-money laundering legislation.

But in the final analysis, what matters is that we make good policy. How we cobble together a majority in the House and Senate is the path to that goal - but we should never elevate paths over goals.

What organizations or individuals have endorsed your campaign?

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

Sean Casten did not complete Ballotpedia's 2022 Candidate Connection survey.

2020

Sean Casten did not complete Ballotpedia's 2020 Candidate Connection survey.

2018

Campaign website

Casten’s campaign website stated the following:

“

Veterans Policy
Veterans, Servicemembers, and Military Families

My father was a U.S. Marine and served our country in Vietnam, my grandfather served in the European theater during WWII and fought at the Battle of the Bulge. They fought and protected our democracy alongside many of their fellow Americans from all walks of life. They also served in an era when it was taken for granted that every generation would serve their country. I grew up around their commitment to service and while I myself did not serve, I have hired and worked with many veterans, and have a first-hand appreciation for the skills and character that are common to our veterans.

At our best, our country should see veterans as a resource. They have already proven their mettle and commitment. Providing them with education, healthcare and employment when they return to civilian life is not just the morally right thing to do — it’s the smart thing to do. But we also need to realize that our veterans have real and unique stresses and challenges, from PTSD to reintegration into civilian society.

When military service was more widely spread throughout the electorate, we understood those challenges more directly. That’s no longer the case. As we’ve shifted to an all-volunteer force, that experience is increasingly localized to isolated military communities. And when less than one percent of the population is shouldering the burden to fight our country’s wars and armed conflicts, it is too easy for most of us to ignore their sacrifice. This has led to a situation where we are committed to maintaining the pre-eminent military in the world (a good thing) but have become far too willing to put our service members in harm’s way, and lost our commitment to provide those veterans with the support they need when they come home.

How I will support veterans, servicemembers, and military families: Make the VA a leader in national health care reform by filling the estimated 30,000 vacancies with qualified doctors and medical staff, employing improved technology, and continuing to reduce wait times at VA health facilities. Update the medical record-keeping system to include modernization of the VA’s and Department of Defense’s IT healthcare systems as well as integrate the DOD and VA networks in order to ease the transfer of care. Block efforts to privatize the VA health care system. Markets are inherently efficient, but come with the risk of price and supply volatility. And while competitive markets include for-profit businesses, the existence of a for-profit business does not imply the existence of a market. Since we should never tolerate price or supply volatility in the health care we provide our veterans, there is no economic argument to privatize the VA. Strengthen and expand the 2014 Choice Act that enables veterans to obtain care from private doctors under certain circumstances. Expand mental health services for veterans and servicemembers to meet the urgent mental health needs of our veterans. The risk of suicide among veterans is, alarmingly, 22 percent higher than the rate among civilians. This crisis calls for an immediate increase in coordination between the Department of Defense and the VA. Improve VA services for our 2 million female veterans, including through support for the Deborah Samson Act which will enhance access to earned services and reduce disparity in care. I support this Act for improving peer to peer counseling services, enhancing gender-specific VA health care, improving the quality of care for infants as well expanding the availability of legal services for female veterans. Support the inclusion of all qualified Americans who want to serve their country in the military. I will protect the rights of LGBT members who are bravely serving in our military and I oppose President Trump’s ban on transgender service in the military as unnecessary and discriminatory. The military has long been at the forefront of equal opportunity, recognizing that the best military employs the best people – not just the ones that fit a specific racial, gender or sexuality profile. We should take pride in that history, not regress to a less tolerant era. Support programs to address and prevent sexual assault and domestic violence in the military as well as gender specific programs to treat PTSD suffered by military victims of sexual assault and domestic violence. Expand and increase coordination among job training and business programs so veterans have the comprehensive tools and networks they need to find a good job or start their own business. I will support and work to enhance the Vocational Rehabilitation and Employment services available through the VA to help vets with job training, resume development, job seeking skills coaching and starting their own business. I am committed to enhancing the effectiveness and ease of access to such programs as the Veterans’ Employment and Training Service available through the US Department of Labor. Fully fund the Post-9/11 G.I. Bill and allow servicemembers to transfer their benefits to family members. I support the preservation of Gainful Employment and Borrower’s Defense legislation to protect veterans against fraud, waste and abuse in relation to educational and employment opportunities. I will support existing programs such as Yellow Ribbon, Tuition-Assistance, and Survivors and Dependents education assistance through the VA Department.

The Right to Vote
The American democratic experiment depends first and foremost on our faith that our vote counts and that every vote counts equally. Any challenge to that belief is an attack on our democracy, and we must demand vigilance to protect against those who would seek to disenfranchise American citizens or otherwise compromise the integrity of our electoral system. This should not be a partisan issue. We all have a stake. It is imperative that we strengthen the integrity of our elections by making voting, registering to vote, and getting to the polls as easy as possible. We must vigorously oppose gerrymandering, voter suppression and other efforts to make our government anything other than a representative of all the people. We must remove the outsized influence of money on our elections by overturning the Citizens United decision and restoring transparency to all money donated for political purposes.

My opponent, Congressman Peter Roskam, supports the Citizens United decision, which has enabled extremely wealthy individuals and corporations to plow unlimited money into our elections. And he has opposed efforts to shine a light on “dark money” to create greater transparency. In fact, just this year Roskam co-sponsored a Koch Brothers-supported bill that would no longer require nonprofits that donate to political candidates to submit donor lists to the IRS. This would make it much easier to hide donations and cover up the influence of money in politics. He also voted to repeal a rule that required energy companies to disclose their payments to foreign governments.

It has been established without a doubt that Russia actively sought to influence the outcome of the 2016 election. Whether or not the Trump team colluded with Russians is the subject of Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s ongoing investigation, which he must be allowed to complete. A government that depends on the consent of the governed cannot long survive if our elections are subject to foreign manipulation or interference. Our political leaders of both parties must be dedicated to finding out the truth about that interference and taking strong action to prevent it from ever happening again.

As a Member of Congress, I would take the following actions to protect the free and fair elections that are central to our democracy:

Introduce legislation to create a “Geneva Convention” for cyberwarfare and election tampering. We need an international framework to create unambiguous lines and an international consensus on how to deal with future cyber attacks – political or otherwise. Protect our voting machines. I would convene relevant experts from the Department of Defense and the National Security Agency to do a full vetting of voting machine technology to ‘hack-proof’ our election systems from foreign or domestic interference.

Incentivize all states to adopt automatic voter registration to ensure a fully representative democracy.  Rather than seeking to restrict or repress the right to vote, we should embrace a national policy of encouraging all who are eligible to exercise their franchise.
Restore the provisions of the Voting Rights Act that were gutted by the Shelby v Holder decision.  Subsequent efforts to restrict voting rights demonstrates that this decision has encouraged some state-level authorities to disenfranchise poor, minority and student voters.  We must correct that mistake.
Support a constitutional amendment to overturn the Citizens United decision.  In the meantime, we should take concrete, immediately achievable actions to increase the transparency of campaign spending, such as the Shareholder Protection Act.
Support efforts to curtail gerrymandering, which has enabled politicians to choose their voters rather than the other way around.  We should encourage the states to adopt non-partisan redistricting through successful reforms like Arizona’s non-partisan commission and Iowa’s computer model.

Restore voting rights to non-violent offenders. America is a place where one can redeem themselves and earn a second chance at success, even after breaking the law. Once someone has done their time and paid their debts to society, they should regain the right to vote. A chief role of our criminal justice system is rehabilitation and preparation for successful re-entry into the community. It is not possible to say re-entry is successful when former felons are functionally second-class citizens. Over six million Americans are disenfranchised due to prior felony convictions, many of which are crimes committed years or decades ago and for non-violent, non-sexual offenses. A disproportionate number of those affected are people of color. Congress should work toward smart criminal justice reform, which must include full restoration of voting rights for non-violent offenders. Move Election Day to the weekend. Getting out to the polls can be hard regardless of what day of the week it is — especially for parents working multiple jobs or lacking access to adequate transportation. Keeping Election Day on Tuesday makes it even harder for more Americans who work regular hours. We should move federal elections to the weekend, to give the more families the most flexibility to exercise their right to vote. Lower the federal voting age to 16. For many, their first election corresponds to their first time living independently, leading to a corresponding reduction in voting relative to other demographics. By dropping to 16, peoples’ first vote will be with their parents, starting a culture of participation. As states like Illinois institute motor-voter registration, this will also serve to tie the right to drive with the right to vote.

Jobs and Growing our Economy During my career I’ve rejected the notion that we have to pick between a better environment or creating jobs. I know we can have both, because that’s what I’ve spent my career doing. And I can tell you that the barriers to doing this are neither technological nor economic; they are policy barriers. What we need to do to grow the economy and create jobs is the exact opposite of what Donald Trump and Peter Roskam propose.

Infrastructure is one of the best investments we can make, because those jobs can’t be outsourced. And it gives our businesses and citizens the tools to grow and create even more jobs. We need an infrastructure package that invests both federal dollars and private capital to build critical and necessary bridges, roads, power plants, and industrial facilities that will provide decades of future value. These are the things that are going to help the economy and the middle class — not huge tax cuts skewed to the very wealthy.

Clean energy is another area where we could be growing jobs by investing in research and technology, so that the next generation of wind turbines, solar panels, fuel cells, and more are designed and manufactured right here, by American workers.

Health Care
My approach to U.S. health care reform The easiest way to evaluate the U.S. health care system and the best ways to improve it is with the proven “best-practices” model that businesses use when evaluating their own competitive landscape. It’s pretty simple: review what other countries are doing, see who’s doing a better job than we are, and then integrate the best pieces of their model into our system.

For health care, the two metrics that matter are the per capita cost of health care and the quality of health outcomes. The U.S. has per capita healthcare costs of nearly $10,000 per year and “mortality rate amenable to health care,” or MAH, of 112/100,000. On both metrics, this is worse than every other country in the OECD. The bulk of industrialized countries cluster between $4,000 – $7,000 per capita annual health care costs and MAH of 60 – 100/100,000.

With a population of 300 million and an annual healthcare cost of $2.7 trillion, that means that just getting down to a midpoint range where our trading partners have already achieved — say, $6,000 per capita annual costs and a MAH of 80 — would lower our annual health care expenses by $1 trillion and save over 100,000 lives per year. Imagine 100,000 Americans living rather than dying each year and the impact that would have on their loved ones and our communities. We cannot even begin to put a price tag on that, but it is a big deal, and a win-win.

So how do we get there?

First, and most importantly, we must insist on true, universal health care. Not just the kind where anyone can go to the emergency room, but the kind that our allies and trading partners have, where everyone, regardless of employment or wealth, has access to full preventative health care services — check-ups, screenings, and all the other early-detection measures that reduce the need for higher-cost, later-stage interventions.

The Affordable Care Act (a.k.a. “Obamacare”) took a big step toward universal health care in the U.S., providing more than 20 million additional Americans with access to affordable insurance for themselves and their families. But the work is not done. We need to finish the job by (1) ensuring that all Americans have health insurance and (2) fixing the flaws in the ACA exchanges to ensure they remain available and solvent.

To address the first goal, we need to add a taxpayer-funded, means-tested base level of health care coverage — means-tested to make sure that this base coverage is only available to those who don’t have health coverage through their employers, unions, V.A. office, Medicare, Medicaid, or personal wealth.

We should also ensure that anyone who doesn’t qualify for this taxpayer-funded plan has the option to buy into that plan — along with whatever other options they may have from their employer or the ACA. This is functionally similar to the Sen. Chris Murphy’s proposal to allow people to buy into Medicare, which I support.

Next, we need to repair the ACA exchanges to make them accessible nationwide. As an employer with staff in different states, it was frustrating for us — and our insurers — to have one set of plans in one state, one in another, one set of plans for private employers, another for government employees, and another for unions. We can make those exchanges much more efficient if we instead set them up to provide a set of national options for people with similar health needs across the country. The ideal health insurance package for a family of 4 with a young kid getting vaccinations and a teenager getting ready for orthodontia are not that different if the family is a union family in West Virginia or a pair of lawyers in Glen Ellyn. Let markets more efficiently allocate services by making sure that both families have the option to buy into the same plan.

Taken together, this approach would provide universal health care, taxpayer-funded for those who cannot afford it and market-provided for those who can. It would provide a path to Medicare for all, but only provided that Americans — at their discretion — chose to buy into that option. It would also provide an identical “menu” of choices for all Americans who elect to buy into for-profit plans, such that if those market-situated providers offer a more competitive value proposition, Americans can — again, at their sole discretion — buy into those options. Thus, it does not stipulate an end-state based on the idealized views of a few hundred legislators in Washington, but rather based on the informed choices of a few hundred million Americans.

Interestingly enough, this approach is very close to the Swiss model, which delivers a lower MAH than any other industrialized country (approximately 55/100,000) and costs $7,000 per capita per year.

In other words, we have real, fully implemented case studies to show that going to the model I propose would lead to lower costs and better care. A win/win. Are there models that deliver still lower costs? Yes — but none of them with better outcomes. So while some may personally decide to choose still cheaper, but lower care costs, that should be subject to personal discretion, not by government fiat.

To understand why it’s so important to allow markets — rather than governments — to choose, one need look no farther than Minnesota. While the U.S. as a whole has a higher MAH than any other industrialized nation, Minnesota as a state has a lower MAH than any other industrialized nation — even Switzerland.

This matters because for an average Minnesotan, a sudden leap to the Swiss model would represent a lower cost and marginally worse health outcomes. That might be a trade off that individuals are willing to make, but we should not assume that all will prefer that option. It also means that we have lessons learned in our own country that we can apply to our health care system without going overseas. (My guess, which I cannot prove, is that a significant reason for the improvement in Minnesota is the Mayo Clinic, which somewhat uniquely compensates their doctors based on health outcomes rather than procedures ordered. Getting economic signals right matters.)

Finally, we cannot talk about health care without also talking about pharmaceutical pricing. It is true that pharmaceuticals in the U.S. cost a lot more than other industrialized countries. It is also true that innovation in drug development is overwhelmingly concentrated in U.S. markets. While we should do everything in our power to lower the cost of pharmaceuticals, we also need to recognize that drug development is a very high cost / high risk activity, with more drugs that never make it to market than do. It is appropriate and necessary to allow those that succeed to earn high profit margins, or else we will not attract the innovation necessary. However, there is much we can do to lower the cost pharmaceuticals without compromising innovation.

Specifically, we must allow Medicare to negotiate drug prices, as the V.A. and for-profit health providers already do. No company would ever go into a negotiation without the right to serve the best interests of their stakeholders, and Medicare’s stakeholders are not the pharmaceutical companies. We need to empower them to meet their mission.

Secondarily, we need to take a much more aggressive posture against the extension of patents and re-purposing of drugs for new diseases that serves only to extend the profit margin of those drugs long after pharmaceutical companies have recouped their initial investment.

How I will advocate for better, more affordable health care: 1. Defend the ACA and support modifications only if they can be shown by non-partisan experts to lead to an improvement

2. Support proposals to accelerate the transition to universal health care, possibly including but not limited to:

A public option The creation of a taxpayer-funded, means-tested base health care plan to fill in the gaps where individuals not currently eligible for employer or existing government programs are not served (this could be through an expansion of existing Medicare networks) Allowing any American to buy into Medicare and/or the Medicare Advantage Plans 3. Support the elimination of differential health care coverage for federal employees

4. Defend and protect Medicare

5. Allow Medicare to negotiate drug prices

6. Act as a strong advocate for consumer protection, working to direct the FDA and others to be highly skeptical of any patent renewals for drugs that have already recouped their initial (high and risky) investment associated with drug development and testing

7. Work with health care providers and hospitals to ensure that the for-profit ends of the health care industry have an economic incentive biased in favor of health outcomes rather than medical procedures

Donald Trump and Peter Roskam have been horrible on health care: Peter Roskam voted three times to take healthcare away from millions of Americans — before even knowing the full impact of his vote as detailed by a CBO report. Republicans in Congress have blocked full implementation of the ACA, making it impossible to fully know the impacts of this legislation or how we need to fix it. Despite having more than 7 years to come up with a proposal that would improve upon the ACA, Mitch McConnell and Paul Ryan came up with no substantial proposals beyond simply repealing parts of a law that has extended coverage to millions across our nation. By voting to repeal the ACA, Peter Roskam wants to allow insurers to once again charge prohibitive rates — or deny healthcare entirely — to those with pre-existing conditions. This is even more troubling considering insurers have considered just being a woman or being older to be an excuse to charge more.

Women’s Rights and Opportunity
We must support and expand women’s rights and opportunities — by protecting reproductive rights, fighting for equal pay for equal work, defending women subjected to harassment and abuse, and much more. Not only do our laws fall short of granting women equality, but our culture has perpetuated inequality and gender discrimination.

In Peter Roskam, we have a representative who voted against the Violence Against Women Act, believes abortion should be illegal even in the case of rape and incest, and refuses to condemn abusive men like Roy Moore. We need leaders who will stand up, hold men accountable, and fight for policies that will promote women’s rights and opportunities.

How I will advocate for women’s rights Keep birth control affordable and accessible Advocate for paid parental leave so new parents have time to spend with their newborn babies Support legislation protecting pregnant women from discrimination at work and in the hiring process Defend and restore access to safe, legal abortions Protect the Violence Against Women Act and its funding Support the Paycheck Fairness Act, which empowers women in gender pay disputes and improves avenues of recourse Fight for legislation that will keep guns out of the hands of domestic abusers Stand with Planned Parenthood by supporting the important work they do in providing essential health and reproductive care Support the ME TOO Congress Act. We must put an end to the outrageous practices in Congress that allow members to settle claims of sexual misconduct with taxpayer dollars, mandating complainants to wait 30 days before filing a complaint, and requiring them to sign nondisclosure agreements Support legislation to remove the ratification deadline in the Equal Rights Amendment Peter Roskam has been a disaster for women Voted against the Violence Against Women Act in 2013 Previously stated that he opposed abortion rights in all cases, including in cases of rape and incest Cosponsored legislation to ban abortion under the Right to Life Act Voted against the Paycheck Fairness Act Wants being a women or sexual assault survivor to once again be treated as a pre-existing condition by insurance companies, making it expensive and even impossible for them to receive health care

Education
My plan for education Our most fundamental responsibility as a nation is to provide a world-class education for every child, regardless of race, religion, economic status, or zip code. We are at our best when every child has equal access to opportunity. But we know — and data shows — that the potential of a life is overwhelmingly defined by early access to education. We must commit to providing universal early childhood education and ensure that all students have access to comparable — and top quality — elementary and high school education. We should do this not out of charity, but out of self-interest. The scientists, entrepreneurs, musicians, and political leaders who will take us into the future are in elementary school today. We owe it to ourselves to enable them to realize their full potential.

In too many communities children are robbed of a quality education precisely because of where they live and how much money their parents earn. They are denied opportunities that should be provided for all, but that are too often only available to kids in the next town, in the “nicer” community. Our ability to address this — to reaffirm that commitment to all of our children — has been hindered by the destructive policies of Donald Trump. His education secretary continues to weaken public education by taking resources from an already financially strapped system — responsible for more than 90 percent of our children — and redistributing them to private and for-profit schools.

While we have failed in our responsibility to provide equal educational opportunities to all children, the policies of the current administration also weaken the role of public schools as the backbone of American civics. Chipping away at the public school system has societal consequences. In an increasingly stratified society, elementary and high school education is the last bastion of true cross-community interaction; the place where we are truly integrated, sharing classrooms, locker rooms, and sports fields with students of every race, religion, and income level. Later in life, as interests, talents, and income levels diverge, we lose opportunities for interaction — but carry those memories, friendships and impressions with us. This was my experience. My high school graduating class was 50% African-American; the white students were predominantly Jewish. My college, graduate school, and professional experiences were not nearly as diverse, but the experiences from my formative years stayed with me. My wife Kara feels the same about her experience growing up in public schools, one of the many reasons we send our girls to public school in Downers Grove.

The government’s role should be to make the public school system as good as it can possibly be. It should not be to grease the paths for the most wealthy or intelligent to exit the system. Current policy creates a race to the bottom, leaving the public schools with the hardest work and the fewest resources. We must recommit to providing universal and high-quality public education to all.

When it comes to higher education, the burden of student loan debt is crippling and can deter many from even considering college. Prior to 2005, individuals could discharge debt obligations through personal bankruptcy. Changes made in the 2005 Bankruptcy Bill effectively eliminated that option, on the logic that the low credit scores of many college freshmen coupled with high post-graduation earnings potential might create a “moral hazard” — an incentive for opportunistic use of the bankruptcy code. However, as the Brookings Institution noted in 2015, there was no subsequent reduction in bankruptcy filings after passage of the 2005 law. More precisely, the analysis did “not reveal responses to the 2005 bankruptcy reform that would indicate widespread opportunistic behavior by private student loan borrowers before the policy change.”

Listed below are legislative initiatives I support:

I support significant expansion of early childhood education. Extensive research has shown that the potential of an individual’s life is overwhelmingly correlated with the quality of educational access available in the child’s first 6 to 8 years. Investments in early childhood education provide a much greater return on investment than later-stage interventions. In many cases, these investments set kids up for success, making subsequent interventions unnecessary. This is the right place for investment and support that will yield long-term social and financial dividends. I actively oppose any policies that direct public schools to adopt anti-scientific curricula. Evolution should be taught in public schools. So, too, for climate change and other settled scientific concepts and principles. I support a reintroduction of civics into middle and high school curricula. We have lost a shared understanding and teaching of American history and values. As school budgets have been slashed, reading, writing, and STEM have been preserved but often at the expense of arts, music, and social studies. This has left us with a wildly disparate set of opinions about what it means to be an American. We should require that all high school students graduate with a common understanding of U.S. history and civics. I support testing in schools for the purpose of student evaluation. I oppose testing for the evaluation of schools and teachers. Many schools have become too burdened with testing and reporting, distracting from teaching. Moreover, standardized testing often does not provide results in time to guide teachers in the classroom. A teacher recently asked me, “Who do you think of when I ask you about the teacher who most impacted you? What about when I ask about the standardized test that most impacted you?”Impactful teachers teach a set of lessons and life skills that don’t necessarily manifest in test results. Teachers know what good teaching looks like. Politicians generally don’t. We would never ask non-lawyers to decide who should pass the bar exam this year, or let non-doctors decide who should pass the medical boards, or let non-engineers decide who is licensed to inspect high pressure boilers. And yet politicians seem to believe that they are qualified to evaluate teacher performance. They aren’t. I support allowing any holder of student loan debt to refinance at current rates. I support linking Pell Grants to the rate of increase in college tuitions, so their value doesn’t diminish over time. I support an overhaul of the provisions in the 2005 Bankruptcy Bill, which has made it practically impossible to discharge student loan debt in bankruptcy. As the Brookings Institution notes, it is likely that the non-dischargeability of student loans increased the amount of loans available, so it may be more prudent to provide more robust rules around the “moral hazard” circumstances under which non-dischargeability may apply than to undo the provisions entirely. We need to increase our investment in STEM programs. I support programs enabling trade-path students. All students do not want or need a 4-year college degree. There are currently thousands of unfilled high-tech manufacturing jobs, and we need to provide the education and training to match students with those jobs. Donald Trump and Peter Roskam have failed on education The National Education Association has given Congressman Roskam a D grade for his lack of commitment to fighting for strong public schools. Trump’s budget proposal includes $9.2 billion in cuts to education. The budget would drastically reduce or eliminate programs for teacher training and reduced class size, literacy programs, and subsidies to pay for the interest on student loans. The Trump Administration has: Relaxed standards and regulations on for-profit colleges Rescinded 72 guidance documents that outline disabled students’ rights In 2014, Peter Roskam joined Republicans in blocking the House version of Senator Warren’s student loan reform bill that would have allowed more than 25 million people to refinance their loans at lower rates. In 2013, Peter Roskam voted for a bill that could have raised student loan interest rates up to 8.5%.

Energy and Climate Policy
U.S. energy and environmental policy is massively complex — but every facet of our lives is affected by it and we all share the same planet. Within the current regulatory landscape, there are a host of policies that may have once made sense individually but that do not add up to a coherent whole.

While it’s impractical to suggest rewriting all of our energy policy from scratch, there are many easy, high-impact policy changes that we can and should make to lower energy costs, decrease pollution, and create jobs.

My approach to energy and environmental policy is informed by the following:

There is no inherent trade-off between increased energy efficiency and economic gain. For decades, environmental policy discussions have been framed around the fallacy that there is conflict between the environment and the economy. Too many rules and regulations have been crafted with this mistaken assumption. These rules have led to inefficient and unnecessary trade-offs, often disincentivizing win-win investments that many energy and environmental experts know exist. Fixing these policies doesn’t require political conflict — it requires electing experts who understand the issues and can reach across the political divide. Energy and environmental policy must incentivize goals, not paths. The Homestead Act instructed citizens to “go west, improve the land, and you can keep it.” It was massively successful because it rewarded the goal. It did not instruct citizens to “buy a Conestoga wagon, hitch it to a team of not less than 6 horses, and head west via one of three routes identified in Exhibit G, and plant a field with one of 4 approved crops. If you do this, we will provide you with a tax credit equal to 10% of the capital you invested subject to schedule D attached hereto.” Our energy policy does the latter. We provide wildly different incentives and mandates for technologies that deliver otherwise identical environmental outcomes. This has led to less than optimal investment decisions and has slowed the adoption of many economically beneficial clean-energy technologies. Shifting to a goal-based regulatory model would unleash massive economic activity while simultaneously rewarding environmentally beneficial outcomes. Our environmental regulatory model must change to prioritize CO2 reduction. The Clean Air Act has done wonders to clean the air, but was never designed to account for a pollutant that scales with fuel combustion rather than the use of exhaust control technology. Modernizing the Clean Air Act to incentivize and reward energy efficiency and conservation is critical to ensure we protect the planet and reduce CO2 as quickly – and as cheaply – as possible. On the margin, tax policy is a bad way to incentivize investment. Businesses that meet social goals to invest in clean energy technology typically have very little taxable income, thanks to the depreciation and interest expense that naturally result from that investment activity. Providing further tax incentives, whether through production tax credits, investment tax credits, or accelerated depreciation schedules, too often provides tax credits that businesses can’t use. This has been a windfall for banks that provide so-called “tax equity” financing, but means that a significant portion of the money we allocate for clean energy flows to financial services businesses rather than to those who are leading the clean energy revolution. The U.S. must use the power of competitive markets to encourage energy innovation, coupled with a strengthened antitrust program. Alfred Kahn, former Chairman of the Civil Aviation Administration, famously wrote that when markets are deregulated, the burden of consumer protection shifts from rate regulation to antitrust enforcement. The 1992 Energy Policy Act set in motion the national deregulation of our energy industry, but then proceeded inconsistently and incompletely across the 50 states. The result is that much of the electric industry has abandoned historically socialized “obligation to serve” benefits but has not yet fully embraced competitive markets. This “half-pregnant” model is far from ideal, as utilities now lack any real incentives to build the long-term capital assets that we need to ensure future energy security and reliability. Market power is still far too concentrated in certain regions, keeping new entrants from challenging incumbent monopolies. We too often confuse the interests of extractive industries with the interests of energy consumers. Miners and oil drillers have a vested interest in maximizing the rate of resource extraction / depletion. Every other sector of the economy — from oil refining to trucking, from wind turbine manufacturers to homeowners — has a vested interest in getting as much value as possible from as little energy input as possible. Energy efficiency is the common thread that unites the overwhelming majority of the country’s businesses and consumers, but gets short-shrift in our energy policy. And unlike extractive industries, energy efficiency is fuel-agnostic. Good policy should always first maximize the efficiency for all fuel sources and only then get bogged down in the merits of any particular fuel. As a member of Congress, I will work to improve our climate and energy policies in the following ways: Champion output-based standards. Many pollution standards crafted subject to the Clean Air Act have targets and compliance obligations based on a so-called “input-based” standard. This often creates an inadvertent disincentive for energy efficiency as lower fuel consumption will — all else being equal — make it harder to meet pollution-per-unit-input metrics. Several states have led the way in converting to an “output-based model” that sets allowable pollution limits per unit of useful output (e.g., pollution per kilowatt-hour). I will work to nationalize this approach, which has already been proven to work at a state level. Pass a national Fossil Energy Reduction Standard. Many states have adopted “renewable portfolio standards” that direct their utilities to ensure that a certain portion of their energy generation mix comes from renewable resources. But almost every state has a different definition of “renewable energy” and provides a different incentive level for different types of renewable energy. There have been several failed attempts to pass a national Renewable Portfolio Standard, which have gotten bogged down in the same definitional challenges. I propose instead the creation of a national “Fossil Energy Reduction Standard” that mandates a rising percentage of power from power sources that reduce fossil energy use, without any preference on technology. Direct federal agencies to lead by example. The federal government is the largest single purchaser of electricity in the country. For many other social goals — from Davis-Bacon procurement rules to minority- and women-owned business incentivization — we have willingly and successfully used federal purchasing guidelines to drive change. This proposal applies that logic to clean energy. Under this plan, the federal government would direct all government-owned buildings and properties to purchase a stipulated and rising percentage of their electricity from clean sources — just as major Fortune 500 companies like Walmart and PepsiCo already have done voluntarily. This would not only accelerate the adoption of clean sources, but would also provide a critical offtake contract to clean energy developers — often the single biggest barrier to clean energy project financing. Eliminate efficiency disincentives in major modification section of Clean Air Act. Under the New Source Performance Standards (NSPS) of the Clean Air Act, facilities with air permits are not allowed to increase the output of a permitted source without being subject to a re-opening of their air permit. While this prevents companies from sneaking new sources into their old permit, it inadvertently discourages those same businesses from investing in efficiency that would increase plant output without requiring additional fuel combustion / pollution. This causes many power plants to actively avoid investments in energy efficiency for permitted facilities. It also creates an opportunity, as a simple fix would both create an immediate incentive for significant, nationwide capital investment and reduce the energy-intensivity of our economy. Support nationwide CO2 regulation, governed by three goals: (1) incentivize the most rapid possible reduction in greenhouse gas emissions; (2) given scarce resources, favor the most cost-effective greenhouse gas reductions available; and (3) encourage the construction of the capital-intensive assets needed to overhaul and modernize our energy system. These three goals are paramount, and are vastly more important than models that penalize CO2 emitters. Replace tax credits with revenue grants (at least for clean energy sources). I will advocate to amend clean energy tax incentive regulations to provide investors with an option to take their tax credit as a revenue grant, set to be equivalent to the dollar value of the tax credit multiplied by their marginal tax rate. Identify and eliminate economically inefficient cross-subsidies that discourage the development of clean energy sources. Incumbent energy providers in the U.S. benefit from a host of historic policy decisions that have a practical effect of lowering the apparent costs of dirty energy to consumers. These range from the health costs of pollution that are borne by our health system to the military costs of protecting foreign shipping lanes that are paid out of our income taxes (to name just a couple). Meanwhile, new energy sources — from biofuels to solar electricity — must compete economically, bearing their full costs of fuel procurement, distribution, conversion, and delivery. The resulting economic inefficiency distorts market forces and slows the adoption of cleaner technology. Identifying and fixing these market failures will lower total energy costs, clean the air, and grow the economy. Support Senate Bill 1068 as introduced by Ron Wyden. This bill would modify existing technology-based clean energy tax credits to provide equivalent incentives for all technologies that achieve equivalent fossil fuel reduction. Peter Roskam is ignoring the facts and hurting the environment Roskam has referred to global warming as “junk science.” Roskam has received an abysmal 3% rating from the League of Conservation Voters. Roskam voted to bar the EPA from regulating greenhouse gases and voted against enforcing limits on CO2 emissions — one of the main contributors to global warming. Roskam voted against renewing tax credits to those choosing to install solar panels on their homes, purchase electric cars, or use biodiesel. Since Trump was elected, Roskam has been a reliable vote for Trump’s disastrous environmental record: Voted to delay implementation of ozone standards (HR 806 – Ozone Standards Implementation Act of 2017) Voted to repeal a rule requiring that energy companies reduce waste and emissions (HJ Res 36) Voted to repeal the stream protection rule, putting Illinois waterways at risk of pollution (HJ Res 38) Voted to repeal a rule that required energy companies to disclose payments to foreign governments (HJ Res 41) Roskam voted against banning mining in wilderness study areas and requiring mine operators to restore areas damaged by their mining operations (HR 2262).

LGBTQ Rights
LGBTQ rights are human rights, period. To deny any citizen the full set of rights and opportunities afforded to any other citizen is simply wrong and unconscionable.

Too many LGBTQ children face harassment, are exposed to homelessness, and take their own lives. Too many qualified members of our workforce face discrimination because of sexual orientation or gender identity. And too many gaps exist in our civil rights laws, leaving LGBTQ Americans without the full protections that other citizens enjoy.

Throughout our nation’s history, it’s taken time for society to catch up with the spirit of our founding documents. To establish justice, ensure domestic tranquility, promote the general welfare, and truly proclaim that all people are created equal, we must continue to expand and fight for LGBTQ equality.

How I plan to lead on LGBTQ issues Support the Employment Non-Discrimination Act to ensure that LGBTQ workers cannot be discriminated against in the workplace and hiring process Support the Equality Act, which will expand upon our civil rights legislation to ensure non-discrimination protections against LGBTQ Americans in “employment, housing, credit, education, public spaces and services, federally funded programs, and jury service” Fight to protect the Affordable Care Act provisions that prohibit discrimination in the insurance market Protect the Adoption Tax Credit, which enables same-sex couples to adopt and start a family, and fight against discriminatory practices in the adoption process Support legislation that would ban the heinous practice of conversion therapy Defend legislation such as the Local Law Enforcement Hate Crimes Prevention Act that protects LGBTQ Americans against hate crimes and fight to protect funds for state and local agencies to investigate and prosecute these crimes Support services for homeless youth, ensuring that those services do not discriminate against individuals because of their sexual orientation or gender identity, and support and expand funding for federal grants for organizations that serve homeless LGBTQ youth Act as a watchdog for the district to ensure that all existing federal protections for LGBTQ Americans are recognized, including in our school districts — so that LGBTQ students feel safe

Fight to fully fund programs that prevent, educate about, and treat HIV/AIDS

Support legislation to ensure that our foreign policies are inclusive, promoting the human rights of LGBTQ individuals Support efforts that enable transgender Americans to change their gender on government identification documents and allow transgender Americans to use the public facilities that fit their gender identities Donald Trump and Peter Roskam have failed LGBTQ Americans For the last three Congressional sessions, Peter Roskam has received a ZERO score from the Human Rights Campaign for his failure to support any of their legislation to protect and expand LGBTQ rights. When moderate Republicans attempted to make their party more inclusive in 2016, Peter Roskam lobbied the Illinois GOP to keep language in the party platform defining marriage as between one man and one woman. The Trump Administration has: Rolled back the Department of Education and Justice guidelines allowing students to use the facilities that correspond to their gender identities Disempowered the Obama Administration executive order ensuring that federal contracts are not awarded to companies that discriminate against LGBTQ employees Stated that transgender Americans will no longer be allowed serve in the military Promoted ACA repeal, with Peter Roskam’s support, which would have stripped health care access to individuals living with HIV/AIDS

Immigration Reform
My plan for immigration reform We are, as the cliché goes, a nation of immigrants. We know this to be true, but we’ve somehow stopped thinking about what it means. None of us, other than Native Americans, have any birthright to U.S. soil and we are at our best when we recognize that the meaningful difference is when we came — not from where we came. Those who immigrated to the U.S. voluntarily all did so with the common idea that they would have more opportunity in the U.S. than they had at home. Many of those who came here in bondage would later lead the Great Migration northward, driven by the same impulse. This American willingness to uproot and resettle in a foreign land gave us a legacy of risk-takers, adventurers, and hard workers. It is what continues to make America great.

Yet we now find ourselves in a country where too many of our leaders focus on the poverty of the countries immigrants are coming from rather than the strength of character that inspired them to leave.

Of course, we need to protect our borders — and vet those who wish to come to our country. That is not in dispute. More people want to immigrate to the United States than we can accommodate. But that is a blessing, not a burden.

For too long, we have written immigration policy at the corners, rarely with a holistic view of our national goals or interests. Immigration is too often an afterthought to other initiatives. International narcotics policy, the “war on terror,” and economic policy are set nationally, but also tamper with the effectiveness of local law enforcement, from community policing programs to coordination with cross-border colleagues. We cannot ignore the fact that our historic immigration policy has been used by demagogues to scapegoat foreigners rather than address fundamental challenges in the economy; it’s always easier to blame others than to honestly confront structural changes in the U.S. economy, but that doesn’t make it right.

Nationally, we know these things to be true, and we know we need comprehensive immigration reform to address them. As recently as 2013, the “Gang of Eight” came close to achieving a fix for many of these issues. Unfortunately, partisan politics prevented the effort from moving forward, leaving us with only temporary patches made to DACA under President Obama. A positive step, to be sure, but far from comprehensive.

In 2011, I helped publish a white paper for the Chicago Council of Global Affairs with fellow Emerging Leaders to review comprehensive immigration reform and its impact on the Chicago area. That report can be found here. In addition, I serve on the Thayer School of Engineering Corporate Collaboration Council, which helps engineering graduate students secure internships and long-term employment — many of them are foreigners in the U.S. on education or H1B visas. In 2001, our family set up a five-year exchange program to support 5×1 year exchange programs with a high school in East Java, Indonesia after 9/11 to facilitate cross-cultural communication. Going back to my early days, when I was a toddler in 1972 in Columbus, Indiana, my parents worked with local churches to create a resettlement program for Vietnamese refugees. It changed the character of that town and — as it spread across America — helped change our national attitudes for the better. Ironically, we find ourselves with Columbus-native Mike Pence in the White House, demonizing refugees as undeserving of our support despite the internationalization and positive impact immigrant families had on the fabric of that community.

My approach to immigration policy We must pass legislation to formally approve DACA and protect immigrants who entered the country as children from removal by future presidents (e.g., through the DREAM Act). We must secure our borders — but we also must recognize that the bulk of undocumented immigrants to the U.S. are visa overstays, not illegal border crossings. Border walls are an expensive waste of resources paid by U.S. taxpayers, not Mexico as Donald Trump promised. The CIA and FBI should delegate more authority to local law enforcement agencies in border regions, so as not to frustrate the ability of those “boots on the ground” to coordinate with cross-border allies to fight drug and crime syndicates. For most of U.S. history, our immigration policy has been biased towards a national-origin based preference system, tending to favor immigration from countries who “look like us.” At various times in recent history our immigration policy was biased against southern Europeans, Irish, eastern Europeans, and Chinese. Today, it is biased against people from North Africa and the Middle East. In all eras, policymakers framed these biases with concerns about national security or changing American values; in hindsight, they were simply xenophobic. We have partially adopted a “skills-based” approach in our H1B program, but even there, an applicant’s country of origin matters, frustrating the intent of that particular visa. I favor a stronger shift to preferences based on the employment needs of the U.S. economy. Notwithstanding the prior point, we must guard against extreme isolationist policies supported by Donald Trump and some Republicans that prioritize a “skills-based” immigration model as an alternative to moral and humanitarian preferences for family reunification and assistance to refugees and other persecuted groups. A “points-based” system need not favor only skills, and I will commit to making sure that family reunification, humanitarian assistance to refugees, and protection for those who risk persecution in their home countries are also preferentially favored. We must close private immigration detention centers. We detain too many immigrants in facilities that dehumanize them and harken back to dark days of Japanese internment camps. We are better than that as a country and should not allow these facilities to remain open. We must limit the ability of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to interject themselves into local law enforcement. Local police forces almost unanimously oppose the federal overreach that ICE has applied to compel disclosure of immigration status. Those programs frustrate community policing, put victims of domestic violence at risk and increase our risk for communicable diseases — all because they create a culture wherein otherwise law-abiding undocumented immigrants are reluctant to engage with public officials. Some cities and states have responded by adopting public policy guidelines that limit their cooperation with ICE in the enforcement of federal immigration law when federal immigration law may infringe upon an individual’s right to due process, but we need to provide them with responsible federal policy — not to ask them to correct our mistakes. Donald Trump and Peter Roskam have failed on immigration Congressman Roskam said that trying to achieve comprehensive immigration reform is too big an undertaking because “there is little capacity to get something big done on something as controversial as immigration without it all breaking down.” That kind of defeatist attitude is why nothing gets done in Washington. (Daily Herald) President Trump repeatedly demonstrates his contempt for people from other countries, most recently using vile and vulgar language to describe Haiti and African countries. President Trump has adopted and injected racist language from the alt-right that the GOP has been all too happy to normalize, coarsening our public conversation and giving voices to the worst elements in our society. The GOP-wide co-option of the term “chain migration” not only ignores that many African-Americans arrived here against their will in actual chains, but also cheapens the real chains of love and family that are at the heart of our good policies to facilitate family reunification. President Trump has no real stance on DACA and views the protection of Dreamers’ legal status as nothing more than a bargaining chip. OMB director Mick Mulvaney stated clearly that Trump’s position “depends on what we get in exchange. What do we get for border security? What do we get for the wall?” (The Week) President Trump wants to end the Diversity Visa Lottery program, which allows 55,000 people from countries with lower U.S. immigration rates to come to the U.S. Rep. Roskam failed to push for a clean resolution on the federal budget without holding Dreamers hostage.

Gun Safety
My plan for gun reform Every year, guns kill more than 30,000 Americans. (To put that grim number in perspective, that’s equivalent to losing every man, woman, and child in St. Charles — every single year.)

Why? Because the gun lobby is holding Congress hostage.

Consider these facts:

57% of Americans favor a ban on the sale of assault weapons. 60% of Americans agree that laws governing firearm sales should be made more strict. 75% of Americans believe there should be a 30 day waiting period on all gun purchases. 70% of Americans believe that all privately owned guns should be registered with the police. 92% of Americans favor background checks on all gun purchases. Even among gun owners, there is support for these common-sense restrictions.

Yet our representatives in Congress have failed to pass these sensible reforms — because they prize the gun lobby’s money above the lives of their constituents. And all the gun lobby cares about is selling more guns.

What I plan to do

When I’m elected to Congress, I’ll shut my door to the gun lobby. Instead, I’ll stand up for the sane gun laws that the people of the 6th district demand.

I’ll support bringing back the Assault Weapons Ban. I will advocate for laws that allow the ATF to store gun records in searchable, electronic records to bring law enforcement into the 20th (much less 21st) century. I’ll support the Protecting Domestic Violence and Stalking Victims Act, banning access to lethal weapons for offenders who have been convicted of domestic violence or who are under a restraining order (H.R. 2670). I’ll support a national ban on high-capacity magazines. I’ll support laws to close the gun show loophole. I’ll support “no fly no buy” rules to prohibit gun sales to suspected terrorists on the federal no-fly list. I’ll support repeal of the “Dickey Amendment,” which forbids the Center for Disease Control from studying gun violence in the United States. Anyone who opposes these sensible regulations on Second Amendment grounds is simply wrong. Not one of these measures would limit the rights of law-abiding citizens to own guns, but every one of them would save lives.

As Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens has written, the Second Amendment was written during a time of debate on how the newly-formed United States would organize its army. Our Founders could not have imagined today’s assault rifles — and they would never have defended a disturbed individual’s right to buy an automatic weapon and spray bullets at helpless schoolchildren.

The Declaration of Independence states emphatically that every person has the inalienable right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. These assault weapons were designed, quite literally, to take aim at those rights, and no true constitutional scholar — and no elected officials who truly care about the people they serve — would argue otherwise.

I’m tired of hearing lawmakers offer their “thoughts and prayers” after every new report of a tragic mass shooting. It’s time to offer Americans smart, effective gun laws that will save lives.

^[4]

”

—Sean Casten’s campaign website (2018)^[5]

Campaign advertisements

The following is an example of an ad from Casten's 2018 election campaign.

"Creating Jobs, Protecting Our Environment" - Casten campaign video, released September 4, 2018

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.

Sean Casten campaign contribution history
Year	Office	Status	Contributions	Expenditures
2026*	U.S. House Illinois District 6	Candidacy Declared primary	$744,597	$380,112
2024*	U.S. House Illinois District 6	Won general	$3,128,625	$2,488,899
2022	U.S. House Illinois District 6	Won general	$5,577,460	$5,869,182
2020	U.S. House Illinois District 6	Won general	$5,706,348	$5,437,739
2018	U.S. House Illinois District 6	Won general	$6,439,712	$6,362,182
Grand total			$21,596,741	$20,538,114
Sources: OpenSecrets, Federal Elections Commission *This product uses the openFEC API but is not endorsed or certified by the Federal Election Commission (FEC).
* Data from this year may not be complete

Notable endorsements

See also: Ballotpedia: Our approach to covering endorsements

This section displays endorsements this individual made in elections within Ballotpedia's coverage scope.

Notable candidate endorsements by Sean Casten
Endorsee	Election	Stage	Outcome
Kamala D. Harris ^source (D, Working Families Party)	President of the United States (2024)	Primary	Lost General
Joe Biden ^source (D, Working Families Party)	President of the United States (2020)	Primary	Won General

Committee assignments

U.S. House

2025-2026

Casten was assigned to the following committees:

2023-2024

Casten was assigned to the following committees:^[Source]

2021-2022

Casten was assigned to the following committees:^[Source]

Key votes

See also: Key votes

Ballotpedia monitors legislation that receives a vote and highlights the ones that we consider to be key to understanding where elected officials stand on the issues. To read more about how we identify key votes, click here.

Key votes: 118th Congress, 2023-2025

The 118th United States Congress began on January 3, 2023, and ended on January 3, 2025. At the start of the session, Republicans held the majority in the U.S. House of Representatives (222-212), and Democrats held the majority in the U.S. Senate (51-49). Joe Biden (D) was the president and Kamala Harris (D) was the vice president. We identified the key votes below using Congress' top-viewed bills list and through marquee coverage of certain votes on Ballotpedia.

Key votes: 118th Congress, 2023-2025

Vote

Bill and description

Status

Yea

National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2024

The National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2024 (H.R. 2670) was a bill passed by the 118th Congress and signed into law by President Joe Biden (D) on December 22, 2023, authorizing Department of Defense activities and programs for fiscal year 2024. The bill required a two-thirds majority vote in the House to pass the bill as amended by a Senate and House conference report.^[6]

Passed (310-118)^[7]

Nay

To terminate the requirement imposed by the Director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for proof of COVID-19 vaccination for foreign travelers, and for other purposes.

H.R. 185 (To terminate the requirement imposed by the Director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for proof of COVID-19 vaccination for foreign travelers, and for other purposes.) was a bill approved by the House of Representatives that sought to nullify a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) order restricting the entry of foreign citizens to the United States unless the individual was vaccinated against the coronavirus or attested they would take public health measures to prevent the spread of the coronavirus. The bill required a simple majority vote in the House.^[8]

Passed (227-201)^[9]

Nay

Limit, Save, Grow Act of 2023

The Limit, Save, Grow Act of 2023 (H.R. 2811) was a bill approved by the House of Representatives that sought to raise the federal debt limit before a June 5, 2023, deadline. The bill also sought to repeal certain green energy tax credits, increase domestic natural gas and oil production, expand work requirements for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) and Temporary Assistance to Needy Families (TANF) program, and nullify President Joe Biden's (D) proposed student loan debt cancellation program. This bill was not taken up in the Senate, and the debt limit was instead raised through the Fiscal Responsibility Act of 2023. This bill required a simple majority vote in the House.^[10]

Passed (217-215)^[11]

Not Voting

Denouncing the horrors of socialism.

H.Con.Res. 9 (Denouncing the horrors of socialism.) was a resolution approved by the House of Representatives denouncing socialism and opposing the implementation of socialist policies in the United States. The resolution required a simple majority vote in the House.^[12]

Passed (328-86)^[13]

Nay

Lower Energy Costs Act

The Lower Energy Costs Act (H.R. 1) was a bill approved by the House of Representatives that sought to increase domestic energy production and exports by increasing the production of oil, natural gas, and coal, reducing permitting restrictions for pipelines, refineries, and other energy projects, and increase the production of minerals used in electronics, among other energy production-related policies. The bill required a simple majority vote in the House.^[14]

Passed (225-204)^[15]

Nay

Providing for congressional disapproval under chapter 8 of title 5, United States Code, of the rule submitted by the Department of Labor relating to "Prudence and Loyalty in Selecting Plan Investments and Exercising Shareholder Rights".

H.J.Res. 30 (Providing for congressional disapproval under chapter 8 of title 5, United States Code, of the rule submitted by the Department of Labor relating to "Prudence and Loyalty in Selecting Plan Investments and Exercising Shareholder Rights".) was a joint resolution of disapproval under the terms of the Congressional Review Act (CRA) passed by the 118th Congress and vetoed by President Joe Biden (D) on March 20, 2023. This was Biden's first veto of his presidency. The resolution sought to nullify a Department of Labor rule that amended the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA) to allow retirement plans to consider certain environmental, social, and corporate governance (ESG) factors in investment-related decisions. The resolution required a simple majority vote in the House.^[16] Click here to read more.

Passed (219-200)^[17]

Nay

Relating to a national emergency declared by the President on March 13, 2020.

H.J.Res. 7 (Relating to a national emergency declared by the President on March 13, 2020.) was a joint resolution of disapproval under the terms of the Congressional Review Act (CRA) passed by the 118th Congress and signed into law by President Joe Biden (D) on April 10, 2023. The resolution ended the national coronavirus state of emergency, which began on March 13, 2020. The resolution required a simple majority vote in the House.^[18] Click here to read more.

Passed (229-197)^[19]

Yea

Fiscal Responsibility Act of 2023

The Fiscal Responsibility Act of 2023 (H.R. 3746) was a bill passed by the 118th Congress and signed into law by President Joe Biden (D) on June 3, 2023. The bill raised the federal debt limit until January 2025. The bill also capped non-defense spending in fiscal year 2024, rescinded unspent coronavirus relief funding, rescinded some Internal Revenue Service (IRS) funding, enhanced work requirements for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) and the Temporary Assistance to Needy Families program (TANF), simplified environmental reviews for energy projects, and ended the student loan debt repayment pause in August 2023. The bill required a simple majority vote in the House.^[20] Click here to read more.

Passed (314-117)^[21]

Rep. Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.)

Speaker of the House election (January 2023) - 15th vote

In January 2023, the House of Representatives held its regular election for Speaker of the House at the start of the 118th Congress. Voting began on January 3, and ended on January 7. Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) was elected speaker of the House in a 216-212 vote during the 15th round of voting. In order to elect a Speaker of the House, a majority of votes cast for a person by name was required.^[22] Click here to read more.

Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) (216-212)

Yea

Declaring the office of Speaker of the House of Representatives to be vacant.

H.Res. 757 (Declaring the office of Speaker of the House of Representatives to be vacant.) was a resolution passed by the House of Representatives that removed Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) from his position as Speaker of the House. The resolution required a simple majority vote in the House.^[23] Click here to read more.

Passed (216-210)^[24]

Rep. Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.)

Speaker of the House election (October 2023) - 4th vote

In October 2023, following Rep. Kevin McCarthy's (R-Calif.) removal as Speaker of the House, the House of Representatives held another election for the position. Voting began on October 17 and ended on October 25. Rep. Mike Johnson (R-La.) was elected Speaker of the House in a 220-209 vote in the fourth round of voting. In order to elect a Speaker of the House, a majority of votes cast for a person by name was required.^[25] Click here to read more.

Rep. Mike Johnson (R-La.) (220-209)

Nay

Directing certain committees to continue their ongoing investigations as part of the existing House of Representatives inquiry into whether sufficient grounds exist for the House of Representatives to exercise its Constitutional power to impeach Joseph Biden, President of the United States of America, and for other purposes.

H.Res. 918 (Directing certain committees to continue their ongoing investigations as part of the existing House of Representatives inquiry into whether sufficient grounds exist for the House of Representatives to exercise its Constitutional power to impeach Joseph Biden, President of the United States of America, and for other purposes.) was a resolution passed by the House of Representatives that formally authorized an impeachment inquiry into President Joe Biden (D). The inquiry focused on allegations that Biden used his influence as vice president from 2009 to 2017 to improperly profit from his son Hunter Biden's business dealings. The resolution required a simple majority vote in the House.^[26] Click here to read more.

Passed (221-212)^[27]

Yea

Providing for the expulsion of Representative George Santos from the United States House of Representatives.

H.Res. 878 (Providing for the expulsion of Representative George Santos from the United States House of Representatives.) was a resolution passed by the House of Representatives that removed Rep. George Santos (R-N.Y.) from office following a House Ethics Committee investigation that determined there was substantial evidence that Santos violated the law during his 2020 and 2022 campaigns. The resolution required a simple majority vote in the House.^[28]

Passed (311-114)^[29]

Yea

The Social Security Fairness Act of 2023

The Social Security Fairness Act of 2023 (H.R. 82) was a bill passed by the 118th Congress and signed into law by President Joe Biden (D) on January 5, 2025, that reduced Social Security benefits for individuals who received other pensions from state or local governments. It also eliminated an offset that would reduce benefits for spouses and widows of individuals with government pensions. It also eliminated a provision that reduced benefits for an individual who received a pension or disability benefit from an employer that did not withhold Social Security taxes. This bill required a 2/3rds majority vote to pass.^[30]

Passed (327-75)^[31]

Nay

Secure the Border Act of 2023

The Secure the Border Act of 2023 (H.R. 2) was passed by the U.S. House on May 11, 2024. This bill would have introduced limits to asylum eligibility and required employers to use electronic verification of employee's legal eligibility to work. This bill required a simple majority vote.^[32]

Passed (219-213)^[33]

Nay

Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2024

The Consolidated Appropriations Act 2024 (H.R. 4366) was a bill passed by the 118th Congress and signed into law by President Joe Biden (D) on March 9, 2024, authorizing appropriations for various government departments for the fiscal year 2024. The bill required a majority vote to pass.^[34]

Passed (219-211)^[35]

Yea

Tax Relief for American Families and Workers Act of 2024

The Tax Relief for American Families and Workers Act of 2024 (H.R. 7024) was a bill passed by the U.S. House on January 31, 2024, that would have modified the U.S. tax code, increasing how much money can be given back in credits and what is exempt. This bill required a 2/3rds majority vote to pass.^[36]

Passed (357-70)^[37]

Nay

Servicemember Quality of Life Improvement and National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2025

The Servicemember Quality of Life Improvement and National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2025 (H.R. 8070) was passed by the U.S. House on June 14, 2024. The bill would have modified defense spending in the fiscal year 2025. The bill required a two-thirds majority vote in the House to pass the bill as amended by a Senate and House conference report. ^[38]

Passed (217-199)^[39]

Nay

Antisemitism Awareness Act of 2023

The Antisemitism Awareness Act of 2023 (H.R. 6090) was passed by the U.S. House on May 1, 2024. This bill made it so the Department of Education's Office of Civil Rights could have the authority to use the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance's definition of antisemitism when investigating cases of discrimination. This bill required a simple majority vote to pass.^[40]

Passed (320-91)^[41]

Yea

FAA Reauthorization Act of 2024

The FAA Reauthorization Act of 2024 (H.R.3935) was a bill passed by the 118th Congress and signed into law by President Joe Biden (D) on May 16, 2024, that reauthorized Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) funding until fiscal year 2028. The bill also made other modifications to address various department-related issues. The bill required a two-thirds majority vote in the House to pass the bill as amended by a Senate and House conference report.^[42]

Passed (387-26)^[43]

Nay

Stop Terror-Financing and Tax Penalties on American Hostages Act

The Stop Terror-Financing and Tax Penalties on American Hostages Act (H.R. 9495) was passed by the U.S. House on November 21, 2024. The bill would have postponed U.S. tax deadlines for citizens who were wrongfully detained abroad. This bill required a simple majority to pass.^[44]

Passed (219-184)^[45]

Nay

Impeaching Alejandro Nicholas Mayorkas, Secretary of Homeland Security, for high crimes and misdemeanors.

H.Res.863, Impeaching Alejandro Nicholas Mayorkas, Secretary of Homeland Security, for high crimes and misdemeanors, passed the U.S. House on February 13, 2024. The resolution impeached U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas (D) for high crimes and misdemeanors. The motion to impeach required a majority in the House and a 2/3rds vote in the Senate.^[46]

Passed (214-213)^[47]

Yea

Continuing Appropriations and Extensions Act, 2025

H.R.9747, the Continuing Appropriations and Extensions Act, 2025, was passed by the 118th Congress and signed into law by President Joe Biden (D) on September 26, 2024, providing funding to federal agencies, including the Secret Service, and federal programs for the 2025 fiscal year. The bill required a two-thirds majority vote in the House to pass the bill as amended by a Senate and House conference report.^[48]

Passed (341-82)^[49]

Key votes: Previous sessions of Congress

Key votes (click "show" to expand or "hide" to contract)

Key votes: 117th Congress, 2021-2023

The 117th United States Congress began on January 3, 2021 and ended on January 3, 2023. At the start of the session, Democrats held the majority in the U.S. House of Representatives (222-213), and the U.S. Senate had a 50-50 makeup. Democrats assumed control of the Senate on January 20, 2021, when President Joe Biden (D) and Vice President Kamala Harris (D), who acted as a tie-breaking vote in the chamber, assumed office. We identified the key votes below using Congress' top-viewed bills list and through marquee coverage of certain votes on Ballotpedia.

Key votes: 117th Congress, 2021-2023

Vote

Bill and description

Status

Yea

Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act

The Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (H.R. 3684) was a federal infrastructure bill passed by the 117th Congress and signed into law by President Joe Biden (D) on November 15, 2021. Among other provisions, the bill provided funding for new infrastructure projects and reauthorizations, Amtrak maintenance and development, bridge repair, replacement, and rehabilitation, clean drinking water, high-speed internet, and clean energy transmission and power infrastructure upgrades. The bill required a simple majority vote in the House.^[50] Click here to read more.

Passed (228-206)

Yea

American Rescue Plan Act of 2021

The American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 (H.R. 1319) was a bill passed by the 117th Congress and signed into law by President Joe Biden (D) on March 11, 2021, to provide economic relief in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Key features of the bill included funding for a national vaccination program and response, funding to safely reopen schools, distribution of $1,400 per person in relief payments, and extended unemployment benefits. The bill required a simple majority vote in the House.^[51] Click here to read more.

Passed (220-210)

Yea

Inflation Reduction Act of 2022

The Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 (H.R. 5376) was a bill passed by the 117th Congress and signed into law by President Joe Biden (D) on August 16, 2022, to address climate change, healthcare costs, and tax enforcement. Key features of the bill included a $369 billion investment to address energy security and climate change, an extension of Affordable Care Act subsidies, allowing Medicare to negotiate certain drug prices, a 15% corporate minimum tax, a 1% stock buyback fee, and enhanced Internal Revenue Service (IRS) enforcement, and an estimated $300 billion deficit reduction from 2022-2031. The bill required a simple majority vote in the House.^[52] Click here to read more.

Passed (220-207)

Yea

Marijuana Opportunity Reinvestment and Expungement Act

The Marijuana Opportunity Reinvestment and Expungement Act (H.R. 3617) was a bill approved by the House of Representatives that sought to decriminalize marijuana, establish studies of legal marijuana sales, tax marijuana imports and production, and establish a process to expunge and review federal marijuana offenses. The bill required a simple majority vote in the House.^[53]

Passed (220-204)

Yea

For the People Act of 2021

The For the People Act of 2021 (H.R. 1) was a federal election law and government ethics bill approved by the House of Representatives. The Congressional Research Service said the bill would "expand voter registration (e.g., automatic and same-day registration) and voting access (e.g., vote-by-mail and early voting). It [would also limit] removing voters from voter rolls. ... Further, the bill [would address] campaign finance, including by expanding the prohibition on campaign spending by foreign nationals, requiring additional disclosure of campaign-related fundraising and spending, requiring additional disclaimers regarding certain political advertising, and establishing an alternative campaign funding system for certain federal offices." The bill required a simple majority vote in the House.^[54] Click here to read more.

Passed (220-210)

Yea

Assault Weapons Ban of 2022

The Assault Weapons Ban of 2022 (H.R. 1808) was a bill passed by the House of Representatives that sought to criminalize the knowing import, sale, manufacture, transfer, or possession of semiautomatic assault weapons (SAW) or large capacity ammunition feeding devices (LCAFD). The bill made exemptions for grandfathered SAWs and LCAFDs. It required a simple majority vote in the House.^[55]

Passed (217-213)

Yea

National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2022

The National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2022 (S. 1605) was a bill passed by the 117th Congress and signed into law by President Joe Biden (D) on December 27, 2021, authorizing Department of Defense acitivities and programs for fiscal year 2022. The bill required a simple majority vote in the House.^[56]

Passed (363-70)

Yea

James M. Inhofe National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2023

The James M. Inhofe National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2023 (H.R. 7776) was a bill passed by the 117th Congress and signed into law by President Joe Biden (D) on December 23, 2022, authorizing Department of Defense activities and programs for fiscal year 2023. The bill required a 2/3 majority in the House to suspend rules and pass the bill as amended.^[57]

Passed (350-80)

Yea

American Dream and Promise Act of 2021

The American Dream and Promise Act of 2021 (H.R. 6) was an immigration bill approved by the House of Representatives that proposed a path to permanent residence status for unauthorized immigrants eligible for Temporary Protected Status or Deferred Enforced Departure, among other immigration-related proposals. The bill required a simple majority vote in the House.^[58]

Passed (228-197)

Yea

Sergeant First Class Heath Robinson Honoring our Promise to Address Comprehensive Toxics Act of 2022

The Sergeant First Class Heath Robinson Honoring our Promise to Address Comprehensive Toxics Act of 2022 (S. 3373) was a bill passed by the 117th Congress and signed into law by President Joe Biden (D) on August 10, 2022, that sought to address healthcare access, the presumption of service-connection, and research, resources, and other matters related to veterans who were exposed to toxic substances during military service. The bill required a simple majority vote in the House.^[59]

Passed (342-88)

Yea

Chips and Science Act

The Chips and Science Act (H.R. 4346) was a bill approved by the 117th Congress and signed into law by President Joe Biden (D) on August 9, 2022, which sought to fund domestic production of semiconductors and authorized various federal science agency programs and activities. The bill required a simple majority vote in the House.^[60]

Passed (243-187)

Yea

Women’s Health Protection Act of 2021

The Women's Health Protection Act of 2021 (H.R. 3755) was a bill passed by the House of Representatives. The bill proposed prohibiting governmental restrictions on the provision of and access to abortion services and prohibiting governments from issuing some other abortion-related restrictions. The bill required a simple majority vote in the House.^[61]

Passed (218-211)

Yea

SAFE Banking Act of 2021

The SAFE Banking Act of 2021 (H.R. 1996) was a bill passed by the House of Representatives that proposed prohibiting federal regulators from penalizing banks for providing services to legitimate cannabis-related businesses and defining proceeds from such transactions as not being proceeds from unlawful activity, among other related proposals. Since the House moved to suspend the rules and pass the bill in an expedited process, it required a two-thirds majority vote in the House.^[62]

Passed (321-101)

Yea

Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2022

The Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2022 (H.R. 2471) was a bill passed by the 117th Congress and signed into law by President Joe Biden (D) on March 15, 2022, providing for the funding of federal agencies for the remainder of 2022, providing funding for activities related to Ukraine, and modifying or establishing various programs. The bill required a simple majority vote in the House.^[63]

Passed (260-171)

Yea

Equality Act

The Equality Act (H.R. 5) was a bill approved by the House of Representatives that proposed prohibiting discrimination on the basis of sex, sexual orientation, and gender identity in areas including public accommodations and facilities, education, federal funding, employment, housing, credit, and the jury system, among other related proposals. The bill required a simple majority vote in the House.^[64]

Passed (224-206)

Yea

Respect for Marriage Act

The Respect for Marriage Act (H.R. 8404) was a bill passed by the 117th Congress and signed into law by President Joe Biden (D) on December 13, 2022. The bill codified the recognition of marriages between individuals of the same sex and of different races, ethnicities, or national origins, and provided that the law would not impact religious liberty or conscience protections, or provide grounds to compel nonprofit religious organizations to recognize same-sex marriages. The bill required a simple majority vote in the House.^[65] Click here to read more.

Passed (258-169)

Yea

Continuing Appropriations and Ukraine Supplemental Appropriations Act, 2023

The Continuing Appropriations and Ukraine Supplemental Appropriations Act, 2023 (H.R. 6833) was a bill approved by the 117th Congress and signed into law by President Joe Biden (D) on September 30, 2022. It provided for some fiscal year 2023 appropriations, supplemental funds for Ukraine, and extended several other programs and authorities. The bill required a simple majority vote in the House.^[66]

Passed (230-201)

Yea

Consumer Fuel Price Gouging Prevention Act

The Consumer Fuel Price Gouging Prevention Act (H.R. 7688) was a bill approved by the House of Representatives that sought to prohibit individuals from selling consumer fuels at excessive prices during a proclaimed energy emergency. It would have also required the Federal Trade Commission to investigate whether the price of gasoline was being manipulated. The bill required a simple majority vote in the House.^[67]

Passed (217-207)

Yea

Bipartisan Background Checks Act of 2021

The Bipartisan Background Checks Act of 2021 (H.R. 8) was a bill approved by the House of Representatives that sought to prohibit the transfer of firearms between private parties unless a licensed firearm vendor conducted a background check on the recipient. The bill also provided for certain exceptions to this requirement. The bill required a simple majority vote in the House.^[68]

Passed (227-203)

Yea

Freedom to Vote: John R. Lewis Act

The Freedom to Vote: John R. Lewis Act was a federal elections bill approved by the House of Representatives and voted down by the Senate in a failed cloture vote that sought to, among other provisions, make Election Day a public holiday, allow for same-day voter registration, establish minimum early voting periods, and allow absentee voting for any reason, restrict the removal of local election administrators in federal elections, regulate congressional redistricting, expand campaign finance disclosure rules for some organizations, and amend the Voting Rights Act to require some states to obtain clearance from the U.S. Department of Justice before implementing new election laws. The bill required a simple majority vote in the House.^[69] Click here to read more.

Passed (220-203)

Yea

Bipartisan Safer Communities Act

The Bipartisan Safer Communities Act (S. 2938) was a firearm regulation and mental health bill passed by the 117th Congress and signed into law by President Joe Biden (D) on June 25, 2022. Provisions of the bill included expanding background checks for individuals under the age of 21, providing funding for mental health services, preventing individuals who had been convicted of a domestic violence misdemeanor or felony in dating relationships from purchasing firearms for five years, providing funding for state grants to implement crisis intervention order programs, and providing funding for community-based violence prevention initiatives. The bill required a simple majority vote in the House.^[70] Click here to read more.

Passed (234-193)

Yea

Impeaching Donald John Trump, President of the United States, for high crimes and misdemeanors.

This was a resolution before the 117th Congress setting forth an article of impeachment saying that Donald Trump (R) incited an insurrection against the government of the United States on January 6, 2021. The House of Representatives approved the article of impeachment, and the Senate adjudged that Trump was not guilty of the charges. The article of impeachment required a simple majority vote in the House.^[71] Click here to read more.

Passed (232-197)

Yea

Electoral Count Reform and Presidential Transition Improvement Act of 2022

The Electoral Count Reform and Presidential Transition Improvement Act was a bill passed by the 117th Congress in the form of an amendment to a year-end omnibus funding bill that was signed into law by President Joe Biden (D) on December 23, 2022. The bill changed the procedure for counting electoral votes outlined in the Electoral Count Act of 1887. Elements of the bill included specifying that the vice president's role at the joint session of congress to count electoral votes is ministerial, raising the objection threshold at the joint session of congress to count electoral votes to one-fifth of the members of both the House of Representatives and the Senate, identifying governors as the single official responsible for submitting the certificate of ascertainment identifying that state’s electors, and providing for expedited judicial review of certain claims about states' certificates identifying their electors. The bill required a simple majority vote in the House.^[72] Click here to read more.

Passed (225-201)

Key votes: 116th Congress, 2019-2021

The 116th United States Congress began on January 9, 2019, and ended on January 3, 2021. At the start of the session, Democrats held the majority in the U.S. House of Representatives (235-200), and Republicans held the majority in the U.S. Senate (53-47). Donald Trump (R) was the president and Mike Pence (R) was the vice president. We identified the key votes below using Congress' top-viewed bills list and through marquee coverage of certain votes on Ballotpedia.

Key votes: 116th Congress, 2019-2021

Vote

Bill and description

Status

Yea

Fairness for High-Skilled Immigrants Act of 2020

The Fairness for High-Skilled Immigrants Act of 2020 (H.R. 1044) was a bill passed by the House of Representatives seeking to increase the cap on employment-based visas, establish certain rules governing such visas, and impose some additional requirements on employers hiring holders of such visas. The bill required a two-thirds majority vote in the House to suspend the rules and pass the bill as amended.^[73]

Passed (365-65)

Yea

The Heroes Act

The HEROES Act (H.R. 6800) was a bill approved by the House of Representatives that sought to address the COVID-19 outbreak by providing $1,200 payments to individuals, extending and expanding the moratorium on some evictions and foreclosures, outlining requirements and establishing finding for contact tracing and COVID-19 testing, providing emergency supplemental appropriations to federal agencies for fiscal year 2020, and eliminating cost-sharing for COVID-19 treatments. This bill required a simple majority vote in the House.^[74]

Passed (208-199)

Yea

For the People Act of 2019

The For the People Act of 2019 (H.R.1) was a bill approved by the House of Representatives that sought to protect election security, revise rules on campaign funding, introduce new provisions related to ethics, establish independent, nonpartisan redistricting commissions, and establish new rules on the release of tax returns for presidential and vice presidential candidates. This bill required a simple majority vote in the House.^[75]

Passed (234-193)

Yea

CARES Act

The Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act (H.R. 748) was a bill passed by the 116th Congress and signed into law by President Donald Trump (R) on March 27, 2020, that expanded benefits through the joint federal-state unemployment insurance program during the coronavirus pandemic. The legislation also included $1,200 payments to certain individuals, funding for Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits, and funds for businesses, hospitals, and state and local governments. This bill required a two-thirds majority vote in the House.^[76]

Passed (419-6)

Yea

Equality Act

The Equality Act (H.R. 5) was a bill approved by the House Representatives that sought to ban discrimination based on sex, sexual orientation, and gender identity by expanding the definition of establishments that fall under public accomodation and prohibiting the denial of access to a shared facility that is in agreement with an indiviual's gender indenitity. This bill required a simple majority vote in the House.^[77]

Passed (236-173)

Yea

Bipartisan Background Checks Act of 2019

The Bipartisan Background Checks Act of 2019 (H.R. 8) was a bill approved by the House that sought to ban firearm transfers between private parties unless a licensed gun dealer, manufacturer, or importer first takes possession of the firearm to conduct a background check. This bill required a simple majority vote in the House.^[78]

Passed (240-190)

Yea

American Dream and Promise Act of 2019

The American Dream and Promise Act of 2019 (H.R.6) was a bill approved by the House Representatives that sought to protect certain immigrants from removal proceedings and provide a path to permanent resident status by establishing streamlined procedures for permanant residency and canceling removal proceedings against certain qualifed individuals. This bill required a simple majority vote in the House.^[79]

Passed (237-187)

Yea

National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2020

The National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2020 (S. 1790) was a bill passed by the 116th Congress and signed into law by President Donald Trump (R) on December 20, 2019, setting policies and appropriations for the Department of Defense. Key features of this bill include appropriations for research/development, procurement, military construction, and operation/maintenence, as well as policies for paid family leave, North Korea nuclear sanctions, limiting the use of criminal history in federal hiring and contracting, military housing privatization, and paid family leave for federal personnel. This bill required a simple majority vote in the House.^[80]

Passed (377-48)

Yea

Families First Coronavirus Response Act

The Families First Coronavirus Response Act (H.R. 6201) was a bill passed by the 116th Congress and signed into law by President Donald Trump (R) on March 18, 2020, addressing the COVID-19 pandemic by increasing access to unemployment benefits and food assistance, increasing funding for Medicaid, providing free testing for COVID-19, and requiring employers to provide paid sick time to employees who cannot work due to COVID-19. The bill required a two-thirds majority vote in the House.^[81]

Passed (363-40)

Yea

Setting Every Community Up for Retirement Enhancement Act of 2019

The Setting Every Community Up for Retirement Enhancement Act (H.R. 1994) was a bill passed by the House Representatives that sought to change the requirements for employer provided retirement plans, IRAs, and other tax-favored savings accounts by modfying the requirements for things such as loans, lifetime income options, required minimum distributions, the eligibility rules for certain long-term, part-time employees, and nondiscrimination rules. The bill also sought to treat taxable non-tuition fellowship and stipend payments as compensation for the purpose of an IRA, repeal the maximum age for traditional IRA contributions, increase penalties for failing to file tax returns, allow penalty-free withdrawals from retirement plans if a child is born or adopted, and expand the purposes for which qualified tuition programs may be used. This bill required a simple majority vote in the House. ^[82]

Passed (417-3)

Yea

Elijah E. Cummings Lower Drug Costs Now Act

The Elijah E. Cummings Lower Drug Costs Now Act (H.R. 3) was a bill approved by the House Representatives that sought to address the price of healthcare by requiring the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to negotiate prices for certain drugs, requiring drug manufactures to issue rebates for certain drugs covered under Medicare, requiring drug price transparency from drug manufacturers, expanding Medicare coverage, and providing funds for certain public health programs. This bill required a simple majority vote in the House.^[83]

Passed (230-192)

Yea

Further Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2020

The Further Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2020 (H.R. 1865) was a bill passed by the 116th Congress and signed into law by President Donald Trump (R) on December 20, 2019, providing appropriations for federal agencies in fiscal year 2020. This bill required a simple majority vote in the House.^[84]

Passed (297-120)

Yea

Hong Kong Human Rights and Democracy Act of 2019

The Hong Kong Human Rights and Democracy Act of 2019 (S. 1838) was a bill passed by the 116th Congress and signed into law by President Donald Trump (R) on November 27, 2019, directing several federal departments to assess Hong Kong's unique treatment under U.S. law. Key features of the bill include directing the Department of State to report and certify annually to Congress as to whether Hong Kong is sufficiently autonomous from China to justify its unique treatment, and directing the Department of Commerce to report annually to Congress on China's efforts to use Hong Kong to evade U.S. export controls and sanctions. This bill required a two-thirds majority vote in the House.^[85]

Passed (417-1)

Yea

MORE Act of 2020

The MORE Act of 2020 (H.R. 3884) was a bill approved by the House of Representatives that sought to decriminalize marijuana by removing marijuana as a scheduled controlled substance and eliminating criminal penalties for an individual who manufactures, distributes, or possesses marijuana. This bill required a simple majority vote from the House.^[86]

Passed (228-164)

Yea

Coronavirus Preparedness and Response Supplemental Appropriations Act, 2020

The Coronavirus Preparedness and Response Supplemental Appropriations Act, 2020 (H.R. 6074) was a bill passed by the 116th Congress and signed into law by President Donald Trump on March 6, 2020, providing emergency funding to federal agencies in response to the COVID-19 outbreak. Key features of the bill include funding for vaccine research, small business loans, humanitarian assistance to affected foreign countries, emergency preparedness, and grants for public health agencies and organizations. This bill required a two-thirds majority vote in the House to suspend the rules and pass the bill.^[87]

Passed (415-2)

Yea

Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2019

The Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2019 (H.J.Res. 31) was a bill passed by the 116th Congress and signed into law by President Donald Trump on February 15, 2019, providing approrations for Fiscal Year 2019. This bill required a simple majority vote in the House.^[88]

Passed (300 -128)

Yea

John D. Dingell, Jr. Conservation, Management, and Recreation Act

The John D. Dingell, Jr. Conservation, Management, and Recreation Act (S. 47) was a bill passed by the 116th Congress and signed into law by President Doanld Trump on March 12, 2019. This bill sought to set provisions for federal land management and conservation by doing things such as conducting land exchanges and conveyances, establishing programs to respond to wildfires, and extending and reauthorizing wildlife conservation programs. This bill required a two-thirds majority vote in the House.^[89]

Passed (363-62)

Yea

William M. (Mac) Thornberry National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2021 (On passage)

The William M. (Mac) Thornberry National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2021 (H.R. 6395) was a bill passed by the 116th Congress and vetoed by President Donald Trump on December 23, 2020. Congress voted to override Trump's veto, and the bill became law on January 1, 2021. The bill set Department of Defense policies and appropriations for Fiscal Year 2021. Trump vetoed the bill due to disagreement with provisions related to Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act, the renaming of certain military installations, limits on emergency military construction fund usage, and limits on troop withdrawals. This bill required a simple majority vote in the House on passage, and a two-thirds majority vote in the House to override Trump's veto.^[90]

Passed (335-78)

Yea

William M. (Mac) Thornberry National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2021 (Overcoming veto)

The William M. (Mac) Thornberry National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2021 (H.R. 6395) was a bill passed by the 116th Congress and vetoed by President Donald Trump on December 23, 2020. Congress voted to override Trump's veto, and the bill became law on January 1, 2021. The bill set Department of Defense policies and appropriations for Fiscal Year 2021. Trump vetoed the bill due to disagreement with provisions related to Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act, the renaming of certain military installations, limits on emergency military construction fund usage, and limits on troop withdrawals. This bill required a simple majority vote in the House on passage, and a two-thirds majority vote in the House to override Trump's veto.^[91]

Passed (322-87)

Yea

Government Employee Fair Treatment Act of 2019

The Government Employee Fair Treatment Act of 2019 (S.24) was a bill passed by the 116th Congress and signed into law by President Donald Trump on January 16, 2019, that requires federal employees who were furloughed or compelled to work during a lapse in government funding to be compensated for that time. The bill also required those employees to be compensated as soon as the lapse in funding ends, irregardless of official pay date. This bill required a two-thirds majority vote in the House to suspend the rules and pass the bill.^[92]

Passed (411-7)

Yea

Impeaching Donald John Trump, President of the United States, for high crimes and misdemeanors. (Article 1)

The 2020 impeachment of Donald Trump (R) was a resolution before the 116th Congress to set forth two articles of impeachment saying that Trump abused his power and obstructed congress. The first article was related to allegations that Trump requested the Ukrainian government investigate former Vice President Joe Biden (D) and his son, Hunter Biden, in exchange for aid, and the second was related to Trump's response to the impeachment inquiry. The House of Representatives approved both articles of impeachment, and the Senate adjudged that Trump was not guilty of either charge. The articles of impeachment required a simple majority vote in the House. ^[93]

Guilty (230-197)

Yea

Impeaching Donald John Trump, President of the United States, for high crimes and misdemeanors. (Article 2)

The 2020 impeachment of Donald Trump (R) was a resolution before the 116th Congress to set forth two articles of impeachment saying that Trump abused his power and obstructed congress. The first article was related to allegations that Trump requested the Ukrainian government investigate former Vice President Joe Biden (D) and his son, Hunter Biden, in exchange for aid, and the second was related to Trump's response to the impeachment inquiry. The House of Representatives approved both articles of impeachment, and the Senate adjudged that Trump was not guilty of either charge. The articles of impeachment required a simple majority vote in the House. ^[94]

Guilty (229-198)

Noteworthy events

Said President Joe Biden (D) should withdraw as 2024 Democratic presidential nominee

See also: Democratic Party officials on Joe Biden's 2024 presidential election campaign

On July 19, 2024, U.S. Rep. Sean Casten (D-Ill.) said President Joe Biden (D) should withdraw from the 2024 Democratic presidential race ahead of the Democratic National Convention on August 19-22, 2024.

Casten said, "If the upcoming election is a referendum on past performance, future promises and character, I have every confidence Biden would win. But politics, like life, isn’t fair. And as long as this election is instead litigated over which candidate is more likely to be held accountable for public gaffes and 'senior moments,' I believe that Biden is not only going to lose but is also uniquely incapable of shifting that conversation. It is with a heavy heart and much personal reflection that I am therefore calling on Biden to pass the torch to a new generation."^[95]

Following the first 2024 presidential debate, Democratic elected officials commented publicly on President Joe Biden's (D) debate performance and his presidential candidacy. On July 2, 2024, U.S. Rep. Lloyd Doggett (D-Texas) became the first Democratic federal elected official to call on Biden to withdraw from the race in the wake of the debate.

External links

Search Google News for this topic

Candidate

U.S. House Illinois District 6

Officeholder

U.S. House Illinois District 6

Personal

Footnotes

Political offices
Preceded by Peter J. Roskam (R)	U.S. House Illinois District 6 2019-Present	Succeeded by -

[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)

[1] The Association of American Resident Overseas, "District 06, Sean Casten," accessed January 30, 2019

[2] Sean Casten, "Meet Sean," accessed January 30, 2019

[3] Information submitted to Ballotpedia through the Candidate Connection survey on February 20, 2024

[quotedisclaimer-4] Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.

[5] Sean Casten for Congress, “Issues,” accessed September 15, 2018

[6] Congress.gov, "H.R.2670 - National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2024," accessed February 23, 2024

[7] Clerk of the United States House of Representatives, "Roll Call 723," December 14, 2023

[8] Congress.gov, "H.R.185 - To terminate the requirement imposed by the Director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for proof of COVID-19 vaccination for foreign travelers, and for other purposes." accessed February 23, 2024

[9] Clerk of the United States House of Representatives, "Roll Call 116," accessed May 15, 2025

[10] Congress.gov, "H.R.2811 - Limit, Save, Grow Act of 2023," accessed February 23, 2024

[11] Clerk of the United States House of Representatives, "Roll Call 199," accessed May 15, 2025

[12] Congress.gov, "H.Con.Res.9 - Denouncing the horrors of socialism." accessed February 23, 2024

[13] Clerk of the United States House of Representatives, "Roll Call 106," accessed May 15, 2025

[14] Congress.gov, "H.R.1 - Lower Energy Costs Act," accessed February 23, 2024

[15] Clerk of the United States House of Representatives, "Roll Call 182," accessed May 15, 2025

[16] Congress.gov, "H.J.Res.30 - Providing for congressional disapproval under chapter 8 of title 5, United States Code, of the rule submitted by the Department of Labor relating to 'Prudence and Loyalty in Selecting Plan Investments and Exercising Shareholder Rights'." accessed February 23, 2024

[17] Clerk of the United States House of Representatives, "Roll Call 149," accessed May 15, 2025

[18] Congress.gov, "H.J.Res.7 - Relating to a national emergency declared by the President on March 13, 2020." accessed February 23, 2024

[19] Clerk of the United States House of Representatives, "Roll Call 104," accessed May 15, 2025

[20] Congress.gov, "H.R.3746 - Fiscal Responsibility Act of 2023," accessed February 23, 2024

[21] Clerk of the United States House of Representatives, "Roll Call 243," accessed May 15, 2025

[22] Congress.gov, "Roll Call 20," accessed February 23, 2024

[23] Congress.gov, "H.Res.757 - Declaring the office of Speaker of the House of Representatives to be vacant.," accessed February 23, 2024

[24] Clerk of the United States House of Representatives, "Roll Call 519," accessed May 15, 2025

[25] Congress.gov, "Roll Call 527," accessed February 23, 2024

[26] Congress.gov, "H.Res.757 - Declaring the office of Speaker of the House of Representatives to be vacant." accessed February 23, 2024

[27] Clerk of the United States House of Representatives, "Roll Call 519," accessed May 15, 2025

[28] Congress.gov, "H.Res.878 - Providing for the expulsion of Representative George Santos from the United States House of Representatives." accessed February 23, 2024

[29] Clerk of the United States House of Representatives, "Roll Call 691," accessed May 15, 2025

[30] Congress.gov, "Social Security Fairness Act of 2023." accessed February 13, 2025

[31] Clerk of the United States House of Representatives, "Roll Call 456," accessed May 15, 2025

[32] Congress.gov, "H.R.2 - Secure the Border Act of 2023," accessed February 13, 2025

[33] Clerk of the United States House of Representatives, "Roll Call 209," accessed May 15, 2025

[34] Congress.gov, "H.R.4366 - Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2024," accessed February 13, 2025

[35] Clerk of the United States House of Representatives, "Roll Call 380," accessed May 15, 2025

[36] Congress.gov, "Tax Relief for American Families and Workers Act of 2024," accessed February 23, 2024

[37] Clerk of the United States House of Representatives, "Roll Call 30," accessed May 15, 2025

[38] Congress.gov, "H.R.8070 - Servicemember Quality of Life Improvement and National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2025," accessed February 18, 2025

[39] Clerk of the United States House of Representatives, "Roll Call 279," accessed May 15, 2025

[40] Congress.gov, "H.R.6090 - Antisemitism Awareness Act of 2023," accessed February 13, 2025

[41] Clerk of the United States House of Representatives, "Roll Call 172," accessed May 15, 2025

[42] Congress.gov, "H.R.3935 - FAA Reauthorization Act of 2024," accessed February 13, 2025

[43] Clerk of the United States House of Representatives, "Roll Call 200," accessed May 15, 2025

[44] Congress.gov, "H.R.9495 - Stop Terror-Financing and Tax Penalties on American Hostages Act," accessed February 13, 2025

[45] Clerk of the United States House of Representatives, "Roll Call 477," accessed May 15, 2025

[46] Congress.gov, "H.Res.863 - Impeaching Alejandro Nicholas Mayorkas, Secretary of Homeland Security, for high crimes and misdemeanors." accessed February 13, 2025

[47] Clerk of the United States House of Representatives, "Roll Call 43," accessed May 15, 2025

[48] Congress.gov, "H.R.9747 - Continuing Appropriations and Extensions Act, 2025," accessed February 13, 2025

[49] Clerk of the United States House of Representatives, "Roll Call 450," accessed May 15, 2025

[50] Congress.gov, "H.R.3684 - Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act," accessed April 15, 2022

[51] Congress.gov, "H.R.1319 - American Rescue Plan Act of 2021," accessed April 15, 2022

[52] Congress.gov, "H.R.5376 - Inflation Reduction Act of 2022," accessed January 20, 2023

[53] Congress.gov, "H.R.3617 - Marijuana Opportunity Reinvestment and Expungement Act," accessed January 20, 2023

[54] Congress.gov, "H.R.1 - For the People Act of 2021," accessed April 15, 2022

[55] Congress.gov, "H.R.1808 - Assault Weapons Ban of 2022," accessed January 20, 2023

[56] Congress.gov, "S.1605 - National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2022," accessed April 15, 2022

[57] Congress.gov, "H.R.7776 - James M. Inhofe National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2023," accessed January 20, 2023

[58] Congress.gov, "H.R.6 - American Dream and Promise Act of 2021," accessed April 15, 2022

[59] Congress.gov, "S.3373 - Sergeant First Class Heath Robinson Honoring our Promise to Address Comprehensive Toxics Act of 2022," accessed January 20, 2023

[60] Congress.gov, "H.R.4346 - Chips and Science Act," accessed January 20, 2023

[61] Congress.gov, "H.R.3755 - Women's Health Protection Act of 2021," accessed April 15, 2022

[62] Congress.gov, "H.R.1996 - SAFE Banking Act of 2021," accessed April 15, 2022

[63] Congress.gov, "H.R.2471 - Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2022," accessed January 20, 2023

[64] Congress.gov, "H.R.5 - Equality Act," accessed April 15, 2022

[65] Congress.gov, "H.R.8404 - Respect for Marriage Act," accessed January 20, 2023

[66] Congress.gov, "H.R.6833 - Continuing Appropriations and Ukraine Supplemental Appropriations Act, 2023," accessed January 20, 2023

[67] Congress.gov, "H.R.7688 - Consumer Fuel Price Gouging Prevention Act," accessed January 20, 2023

[68] Congress.gov, "H.R.8 - Bipartisan Background Checks Act of 2021," accessed January 20, 2023

[69] Congress.gov, "H.R.5746 - Freedom to Vote: John R. Lewis Act," accessed January 20, 2023

[70] Congress.gov, "S.2938 - Bipartisan Safer Communities Act," accessed January 20, 2023

[71] Congress.gov, "H.Res.24 - Impeaching Donald John Trump, President of the United States, for high crimes and misdemeanors.," accessed April 15, 2022

[72] Congress.gov, "H.R.2617 - Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2023," accessed January 20, 2023

[73] Congress.gov, "H.R.1044 - Fairness for High-Skilled Immigrants Act of 2020," accessed March 22, 2024

[74] Congress.gov, "H.R.6800 - The Heroes Act," accessed April 23, 2024

[75] Congress.gov, "H.R.1 - For the People Act of 2019," accessed April 23, 2024

[76] Congress.gov, "H.R.748 - CARES Act," accessed April 23, 2024

[77] Congress.gov, "H.R.5 - Equality Act," accessed April 23, 2024

[78] Congress.gov, "H.R.8 - Bipartisan Background Checks Act of 2019," accessed April 23, 2024

[79] Congress.gov, "H.R.6 - American Dream and Promise Act of 2019," accessed April 27, 2024

[80] Congress.gov, "S.1790 - National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2020," accessed April 27, 2024

[81] Congress.gov, "H.R.6201 - Families First Coronavirus Response Act," accessed April 24, 2024

[82] Congress.gov, "H.R.1994 - Setting Every Community Up for Retirement Enhancement Act of 2019," accessed April 27, 2024

[83] Congress.gov, "H.R.3 - Elijah E. Cummings Lower Drug Costs Now Act," accessed March 22, 2024

[84] Congress.gov, "H.R.1865 - Further Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2020," accessed April 27, 2024

[85] Congress.gov, "S.1838 - Hong Kong Human Rights and Democracy Act of 2019," accessed April 27, 2024

[86] Congress.gov, "H.R.3884 - MORE Act of 2020," accessed April 27, 2024

[87] Congress.gov, "H.R.6074 - Coronavirus Preparedness and Response Supplemental Appropriations Act, 2020," accessed April 27, 2024

[88] Congress.gov, "H.J.Res.31 - Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2019," accessed April 27, 2024

[89] Congress.gov, "S.47 - John D. Dingell, Jr. Conservation, Management, and Recreation Act," accessed April 27, 2024

[90] Congress.gov, "H.R.6395 - William M. (Mac) Thornberry National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2021," accessed April 27, 2024

[91] Congress.gov, "H.R.6395 - William M. (Mac) Thornberry National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2021," accessed April 27, 2024

[92] Congress.gov, "S.24 - Government Employee Fair Treatment Act of 2019," accessed April 27, 2024

[93] Congress.gov, "H.Res.755 - Impeaching Donald John Trump, President of the United States, for high crimes and misdemeanors," accessed April 27, 2024

[94] Congress.gov, "H.Res.755 - Impeaching Donald John Trump, President of the United States, for high crimes and misdemeanors," accessed April 27, 2024

[95] Chicago Tribune, "Rep. Sean Casten: It’s time for Joe Biden to pass the torch," July 19, 2024

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	v • e State of Illinois Springfield (capital)
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Sean Casten

Biography

Elections

2026

General election

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Democratic primary for U.S. House Illinois District 6

Republican primary election

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Endorsements

2024

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

Endorsements

2022

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

2020

General election

General election for U.S. House Illinois District 6

Democratic primary election

Democratic primary for U.S. House Illinois District 6

Withdrawn or disqualified candidates

Republican primary election

Republican primary for U.S. House Illinois District 6

Withdrawn or disqualified candidates

2018

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

Campaign themes

2026

Ballotpedia survey responses

2024

2022

2020

2018

Campaign website

Campaign advertisements

Campaign finance summary

Notable endorsements

Committee assignments

U.S. House

2025-2026

2023-2024

2021-2022

Key votes

Key votes: 118th Congress, 2023-2025

Key votes: Previous sessions of Congress

Key votes: 117th Congress, 2021-2023

Key votes: 116th Congress, 2019-2021

Noteworthy events

Said President Joe Biden (D) should withdraw as 2024 Democratic presidential nominee

See also

External links

Footnotes

Information about voting

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2026 Elections

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