Democratic U.S. Rep. Sean Casten has won reelection in Illinois' 6th Congressional District, defeating Republican challenger Niki Conforti to extend a winning streak that now stretches back to 2018. The district covers portions of Cook and DuPage counties in the Chicago suburbs.
County-level returns offered another snapshot of the race. In Cook County, Casten unofficially led Conforti 59.98 percent to 40.02 percent, with 98 percent of precincts reporting and 109,219 ballots cast, per Southwest Regional Publishing. In DuPage County, he held a wider 65.04 percent to 34.96 percent lead, with 123,625 votes cast.
Results Still Considered Unofficial
The outlet's report noted that those county totals would not become official until the counties ratify the ballots in the coming weeks. Illinois' 6th District includes parts of Cook and DuPage counties.
The win marks the fifth straight congressional victory for Casten in as many tries, according to the same Southwest Regional Publishing report. Casten first won the seat in 2018 by defeating then-Republican Rep. Peter Roskam, a milestone noted by Axios Chicago.
A Pattern of Growing Margins
Casten's performance this cycle continues a trend of comfortable wins in the suburban district. In 2022, he defeated former Orland Park Mayor Keith Pekau by a 54.4 percent to 45.6 percent margin, pulling in 150,496 votes, per Southwest Regional Publishing's account. Two years later, in 2024, unofficial results with 89 percent of ballots counted showed Casten ahead of Conforti 181,508 votes to 157,464, or about 54 percent of the total, according to Shaw Local's report at the time.
Casten also cruised through the 2024 primary. The 2024 primary results cited by Southwest Regional Publishing show Casten took 77.1 percent of the vote, or 56,750 ballots, while Mahoor Ahmad received 14.2 percent and Charles Hughes took 8.6 percent.
Part of a Broader Democratic Night
Casten's win fit into a larger pattern across the state this cycle. Democrats won all five U.S. House districts that were open due to retirements or primary losses, according to CBS News's live coverage of Illinois' midterm results. Casten's reelection in the 6th District kept the suburban Cook-DuPage seat in Democratic hands, as it has been since his first win over Roskam eight years ago.
