Melissa Bean wins Illinois 8th District primary, set to reclaim old seat

Melissa Bean, a former three-term U.S. representative, is projected to win the Illinois 9th Congressional District Democratic primary, which makes her likely to win back the seat she held 15 years ago.

AP News declared Bean the winner of the eight-person contest at 9:17 p.m. CST Tuesday night. The centrist Democrat held off more liberal challengers like tech consultant Junaid Ahmed, Cook County Commissioner Kevin Morrison and businessman Neil Khot. A safe Democrat seat, Bean is likely to replace current U.S. Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi, who ran for U.S. Senate instead of reelection.

Corporate and lobbyist PAC money flooded the district this primary, most of it in support of Bean. As of March 12, $7 million of super PAC money went into the race, according to political consultant Frank Calabrese.

Of that, $4.6 million came from super PACs affiliated with the pro-Israel lobbying group American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC). Although not explicitly endorsed, AIPAC appears to support Bean and 9th District candidate Laura Fine through their super PAC Elect Chicago Women. Along with receiving third-party support from pro-cryptocurrency and pro-AI super PACs, pro-Bean super PAC spending reached almost $5.8 million, according to the American Prospect.

In response, national progressive senators and representatives rallied around Ahmed, one of the multiple 8th District candidates who refused to accept PAC money. Ahmed’s endorsements include Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) and Reps.Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY), Pramila Jayapal (D-WA) and Delia Ramirez (D-IL)

Bean ran on affordability and health care access this election cycle. A member of the Blue Dog Coalition of centrist Democrats while in Congress, Bean helped pass the Affordable Care Act in 2009 but frequently voted in favor of tax cuts for the wealthy. She lost her seat in 2010 to Joe Walsh in the Tea Party-fueled red wave that year.