La Shawn Ford wins Illinois 7th District primary, beating 12 other Democrats

Illinois state Rep. La Shawn Ford is projected to win the Illinois 7th Congressional District Democratic primary, defeating 12 other candidates in a race defined by outside spending.

NBC News projected Ford to win at 9:45 p.m. CST. He led over his main rival Melissa Conyears-Ervin by vote shares of 24% to 20% as of 10:00 p.m. CST.

Ford has been a state representative for Illinois’ Eighth District since 2007. He will likely replace retiring U.S. Rep. Danny Davis (D), who also endorsed Ford in a primary that featured 13 candidates. 

Conyears-Ervin is a former Illinois state representative who has been serving as the city treasurer of Chicago since 2019. She also spent 15 years working in the insurance industry.

Like many other Illinois congressional races, the 7th District contest was defined by outside super PAC spending from pro-Israel, pro-AI and pro-crypto lobbies.

AIPAC spending

United Democracy Project, the main super PAC for the American Israeli Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC), spent over $5 million in support of Conyears-Ervin in the race. In a survey conducted by WBEZ Chicago last month, Conyears-Ervin indicated that she still supports sending U.S. aid to Israel after the country’s years-long genocide campaign in the Gaza Strip. She also did not clearly indicate whether she supports conditions on that aid or whether she believes Israel has committed genocide against Palestinians.

In response to accusations that AIPAC’s support would influence her votes in Congress, Conyears-Ervin told WBEZ, “The idea that a Black woman’s vote is for sale is insulting and racist.”

In the same survey, Driver Jr., Kinna Collins, Thomas Fisher, Anabel Mendoza, Jazmin Robinson, Reed Showalter and Felix Tello indicated “yes” in all the questions posed, including if they oppose aid to Israel today, support conditions for that aid, believe genocide was committed and if they denounce AIPAC support. Ford only clearly stated “yes” to whether he supports conditions on aid to Israel.

As of Tuesday, AIPAC spent more than $22 million in support of their preferred candidates, including Conyears-Ervin, Laura Fine, Melissa Bean and Donna Miller.