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United States House of Representatives elections in Illinois, 2018
- General election: Nov. 6
- Voter registration deadline: Oct. 9
- Early voting: Sept. 27 - Nov. 5
- Absentee voting deadline: Nov. 20
- Online registration: Yes
- Same-day registration: Yes
- Voter ID: No
- Poll times: 6:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m.
The 2018 U.S. House of Representatives elections in Illinois took place on November 6, 2018. Voters elected 18 candidates to serve in the U.S. House, one from each of the state's 18 congressional districts.
Partisan breakdown
Heading into the November 6 election, the Democratic Party held 11 of the 18 congressional seats from Illinois.
| Members of the U.S. House from Illinois -- Partisan Breakdown | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Party | As of November 2018 | After the 2018 Election | |
| Democratic Party | 11 | 13 | |
| Republican Party | 7 | 5 | |
| Total | 18 | 18 | |
Incumbents
Heading into the 2018 election, the incumbents for the 18 congressional districts were:
2016 Pivot Counties
Illinois features three congressional districts that, based on boundaries adopted after the 2010 census, intersected with one or more Pivot Counties. These 206 Pivot Counties voted for Donald Trump (R) in 2016 after voting for Barack Obama (D) in 2008 and 2012.
The 206 Pivot Counties are located in 34 states. Iowa, with 31, had the most such counties. Heading into the 2018 elections, the partisan makeup of the 108 congressional districts intersecting with Pivot Counties was more Republican than the partisan breakdown of the U.S. House. Of the 108 congressional districts that had at least one Pivot County, 63 percent were held by a Republican incumbent, while 55.4 percent of U.S. House seats were won by a Republican in the 2016 elections.[1]
Candidates
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District 1
General election candidates
- Bobby Rush (Incumbent) (Democratic Party) ✔
- Jimmy Lee Tillman II (Republican Party)
- Thomas Rudbeck (Independent)
Primary candidates
Democratic primary candidates
- Bobby Rush (Incumbent) ✔
Did not make the ballot:
Republican primary candidates
Did not make the ballot:
District 2
General election candidates
- Robin Kelly (Incumbent) (Democratic Party) ✔
- David Merkle (Republican Party)
Primary candidates
Democratic primary candidates
- Robin Kelly (Incumbent) ✔
- Marcus Lewis
Republican primary candidates
District 3
General election candidates
- Daniel Lipinski (Incumbent) (Democratic Party) ✔
- Arthur Jones (Republican Party)
Did not make the ballot:
- Mat Tomkowiak (Independent)
Write-in candidates
Primary candidates
Democratic primary candidates
- Daniel Lipinski (Incumbent) ✔
- Marie Newman
Republican primary candidates
Independent
Not on ballot
District 4
General election candidates
- Jesus Garcia (Democratic Party) ✔
- Mark Wayne Lorch (Republican Party)
Primary candidates
Democratic primary candidates
Did not make the ballot:
Republican primary candidates
Did not make the ballot:
District 5
General election candidates
- Mike Quigley (Incumbent) (Democratic Party) ✔
- Tom Hanson (Republican Party)
Primary candidates
Democratic primary candidates
Republican primary candidates
District 6
General election candidates
- Peter J. Roskam (Incumbent) (Republican Party)
- Sean Casten (Democratic Party) ✔
Primary candidates
Democratic primary candidates
- Becky Anderson Wilkins
- Sean Casten ✔
- Carole Cheney
- Amanda Howland
- Ryan Huffman
- Kelly Mazeski
- Jennifer Zordani
Republican primary candidates
- Peter J. Roskam (Incumbent) ✔
District 7
General election candidates
- Danny K. Davis (Incumbent) (Democratic Party) ✔
- Craig Cameron (Republican Party)
Primary candidates
Democratic primary candidates
- Danny K. Davis (Incumbent) ✔
- Anthony Clark
Did not make the ballot:
Republican primary candidates
District 8
General election candidates
- Raja Krishnamoorthi (Incumbent) (Democratic Party) ✔
- Jitendra Diganvker (Republican Party)
Did not make the ballot:
- Andrew Straw (Disability Party)
Primary candidates
Democratic primary candidates
- Raja Krishnamoorthi (Incumbent) ✔
Republican primary candidates
Did not make the ballot:
District 9
General election candidates
- Jan Schakowsky (Incumbent) (Democratic Party) ✔
- John Elleson (Republican Party)
Primary candidates
Democratic primary candidates
- Jan Schakowsky (Incumbent) ✔
Republican primary candidates
District 10
General election candidates
- Brad Schneider (Incumbent) (Democratic Party) ✔
- Doug Bennett (Republican Party)
Primary candidates
Democratic primary candidates
- Brad Schneider (Incumbent) ✔
Republican primary candidates
District 11
General election candidates
- Bill Foster (Incumbent) (Democratic Party) ✔
- Nick Stella (Republican Party)
Primary candidates
Democratic primary candidates
- Bill Foster (Incumbent) ✔
Republican primary candidates
District 12
General election candidates
- Mike Bost (Incumbent) (Republican Party) ✔
- Brendan Kelly (Democratic Party)
- Randy Auxier (Green Party)
| Click "Expand" to view a list of the primary candidates in this race. |
Democratic primary candidates Republican primary candidates
|
District 13
General election candidates
- Rodney Davis (Incumbent) (Republican Party) ✔
- Betsy Londrigan (Democratic Party)
= candidate completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey
Primary candidates
Democratic primary candidates
Did not make the ballot:
= candidate completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey
Republican primary candidates
- Rodney Davis (Incumbent) ✔
District 14
General election candidates
- Randy Hultgren (Incumbent) (Republican Party)
- Lauren Underwood (Democratic Party) ✔
Primary candidates
Democratic primary candidates
Republican primary candidates
- Randy Hultgren (Incumbent) ✔
District 15
General election candidates
- John Shimkus (Incumbent) (Republican Party) ✔
- Kevin Gaither (Democratic Party)
Primary candidates
Democratic primary candidates
Republican primary candidates
- John Shimkus (Incumbent) ✔
District 16
General election candidates
- Adam Kinzinger (Incumbent) (Republican Party) ✔
- Sara Dady (Democratic Party)
Primary candidates
Democratic primary candidates
Republican primary candidates
- Adam Kinzinger (Incumbent) ✔
- James Marter
Did not make the ballot:
District 17
General election candidates
- Cheri Bustos (Incumbent) (Democratic Party) ✔
- Bill Fawell (Republican Party)
= candidate completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey
Primary candidates
Democratic primary candidates
- Cheri Bustos (Incumbent) ✔
Republican primary candidates
= candidate completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey
District 18
General election candidates
- Darin LaHood (Incumbent) (Republican Party) ✔
- Junius Rodriguez (Democratic Party)
Primary candidates
Democratic primary candidates
Republican primary candidates
- Darin LaHood (Incumbent) ✔
- Donald Rients
Wave election analysis
- See also: Wave elections (1918-2016)
The term wave election is frequently used to describe an election cycle in which one party makes significant electoral gains. How many seats would Republicans have had to lose for the 2018 midterm election to be considered a wave election?
Ballotpedia examined the results of the 50 election cycles that occurred between 1918 and 2016—spanning from President Woodrow Wilson's (D) second midterm in 1918 to Donald Trump's (R) first presidential election in 2016. We define wave elections as the 20 percent of elections in that period resulting in the greatest seat swings against the president's party.
Applying this definition to U.S. House elections, we found that Republicans needed to lose 48 seats for 2018 to qualify as a wave election.
The chart below shows the number of seats the president's party lost in the 11 U.S. House waves from 1918 to 2016. Click here to read the full report.
| U.S. House wave elections | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | President | Party | Election type | House seats change | House majority[5] | |
| 1932 | Hoover | R | Presidential | -97 | D | |
| 1922 | Harding | R | First midterm | -76 | R | |
| 1938 | Roosevelt | D | Second midterm | -70 | D | |
| 2010 | Obama | D | First midterm | -63 | R (flipped) | |
| 1920 | Wilson | D | Presidential | -59 | R | |
| 1946 | Truman | D | First midterm | -54 | R (flipped) | |
| 1994 | Clinton | D | First midterm | -54 | R (flipped) | |
| 1930 | Hoover | R | First midterm | -53 | D (flipped) | |
| 1942 | Roosevelt | D | Third midterm | -50 | D | |
| 1966 | Johnson | D | First midterm[6] | -48 | D | |
| 1974 | Ford | R | Second midterm[7] | -48 | D | |
See also
- United States House of Representatives elections, 2018
- U.S. House battlegrounds, 2018
- U.S. House primaries, 2018
Footnotes
- ↑ The raw data for this study was provided by Dave Leip of Atlas of U.S. Presidential Elections.
- ↑ Chicago Tribune, "Write-in candidate joins congressional race to counter GOP Holocaust denier with neo-Nazi ties," August 8, 2018
- ↑ Chicago Tribune, "Slowik: Lipinski facing Democratic challenger Newman in March primary," July 19, 2017
- ↑ Illinois State Board of Elections, "Candidate List," accessed December 5, 2017
- ↑ Denotes the party that had more seats in the U.S. House following the election.
- ↑ Lyndon Johnson's (D) first term began in November 1963 after the death of President John F. Kennedy (D), who was first elected in 1960. Before Johnson had his first midterm in 1966, he was re-elected president in 1964.
- ↑ Gerald Ford's (R) first term began in August 1974 following the resignation of President Richard Nixon (R), who was first elected in 1968 and was re-elected in 1972. Because Ford only served for two full months before facing the electorate, this election is classified as Nixon's second midterm.
